The agreements that govern your use of Lifetime.
This document sets out the agreements between you and Lifetime Tech & Events Limited. It is arranged in five volumes.
Volumes I and II are the ones most people need. Volume I is the agreement you enter into by using Lifetime. Volume II explains what we do with your information. Volumes III, IV and V are operational, and matter most to Vendors.
Throughout, a Host is the person planning a celebration, a Vendor is a business offering services, and a User is anyone using the platform.
Lifetime is a marketplace, not the provider of the services booked through it. Money is held until work is delivered. Both sides are accountable.
The agreement you enter into by using Lifetime.
Effective Date: 01/09/2026
Last Updated: 01/09/2026
PREAMBLE
Welcome to Lifetime.
Lifetime exists to make planning life’s most meaningful celebrations simpler, safer and more trustworthy.
Whether you are preparing for a wedding, engagement, birthday celebration, graduation, naming ceremony, anniversary, corporate event or any other special occasion, our goal is to connect you with qualified professionals while creating an environment built on transparency, accountability and mutual trust.
Unlike traditional classified listing websites, Lifetime is a managed digital marketplace. We carefully design our platform to encourage responsible conduct, reduce fraud, facilitate communication, support dispute resolution and promote positive experiences between Hosts and vendors.
These Terms of Service form a legally binding agreement governing your access to and use of Lifetime’s website, mobile applications, software, digital services and any related products or services provided by Lifetime Tech. & Events Limited (“Lifetime”, “we”, “our”, or “us”).
By creating an account, browsing our platform, booking a service, registering as a vendor or otherwise using any part of Lifetime, you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agree to be legally bound by these Terms.
If you do not agree with these Terms, you must not access or use the Lifetime Platform.
Lifetime exists to simplify celebration planning by connecting Hosts with trusted service providers through technology, transparency and accountability.
Our mission is to remove uncertainty from event planning while empowering reputable businesses to grow through a secure digital marketplace.
Lifetime is primarily a technology platform.
Except where expressly stated otherwise, Lifetime does not personally provide photography, catering, decoration, entertainment, transportation, makeup, event planning or other marketplace services.
Instead, Lifetime facilitates discovery, communication, booking, payment processing and customer support between Hosts and independent vendors.
Nothing within these Terms creates an employment relationship, agency relationship, partnership or joint venture between Lifetime and any vendor using the Platform.
These Terms apply to every person or organisation that accesses or uses Lifetime.
By accessing the Platform, you confirm that:
- you have legal capacity to enter into binding agreements; - the information you provide is accurate; - you will comply with these Terms; - you will comply with applicable Nigerian laws and regulations.
If you are using Lifetime on behalf of an organisation, you represent that you are authorised to bind that organisation to these Terms.
Unless otherwise permitted by applicable law:
- Users must be at least eighteen (18) years old to create an account. - Persons below eighteen may only use Lifetime under the supervision and responsibility of a parent or legal guardian. - Lifetime reserves the right to request proof of age where necessary.
Technology, regulation and marketplace practices evolve over time.
Accordingly, Lifetime may amend these Terms whenever reasonably necessary.
Where material changes are made, Lifetime will make reasonable efforts to notify users through one or more of the following:
- email; - in-app notifications; - website notices; or - other appropriate communication channels.
Continued use of the Platform after such changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
Platform means all websites, applications, software, APIs and digital services operated by Lifetime.
Host means any individual or organisation seeking or purchasing services through Lifetime.
Vendor means any verified individual or business offering products or services through Lifetime.
Booking means an agreement initiated through the Platform for the provision of a service or product.
Service means any event-related product or professional service offered through Lifetime.
Content includes text, photographs, videos, graphics, reviews, ratings, messages, audio recordings, documents and other digital materials.
Account means a registered Lifetime user profile.
Applicable Law means all laws and regulations governing the Federal Republic of Nigeria together with any other jurisdiction that lawfully applies.
These Terms are drafted in English.
Where translated versions are provided for convenience, the English version shall prevail in the event of any inconsistency.
Questions relating to these Terms may be directed to Lifetime through the official communication channels published on our website.
To access certain features of the Platform, users may be required to create a Lifetime account.
Registration may be completed through any approved method made available by Lifetime, including but not limited to:
- Email address - Mobile telephone number - Social login integrations approved by Lifetime - Future identity verification integrations introduced by the Platform
Users agree that the information provided during registration shall be complete, accurate, current and truthful.
Lifetime reserves the right to refuse registration where the information supplied appears false, misleading, incomplete, fraudulent or otherwise inconsistent with these Terms.
The Lifetime Platform serves different categories of users.
These include, but are not limited to:
A. Hosts
Individuals or organisations seeking event-related products or professional services.
B. Vendors
Individuals, professionals or registered businesses offering products or services through the Platform.
C. Corporate Users
Companies, institutions and organisations using Lifetime for commercial or corporate events.
D. Guests
Individuals who browse publicly available portions of the Platform without creating an account.
Each category of user may be subject to additional requirements, obligations or policies depending on the services accessed.
Users are responsible for ensuring that all information submitted to Lifetime remains accurate and up to date.
Users agree not to:
- impersonate another individual - create fictitious identities - use stolen identities - submit forged documents - provide misleading business information - use false contact information
Lifetime may request updated information whenever reasonably necessary.
Failure to maintain accurate records may result in restrictions on account functionality.
To maintain the integrity, safety and trustworthiness of the Platform, Lifetime may require identity verification before permitting access to certain services.
Verification requirements may differ depending on the user’s role.
For Vendors, Lifetime may request:
- Government-issued identification - National Identification Number (NIN), where applicable - Bank Verification Number (BVN), where applicable and legally permissible - Business registration documents - Tax Identification Number, where applicable - Proof of business address - Proof of bank account ownership - Portfolio of previous work - Professional licences or certifications where relevant - Social media or online business presence - Additional documentation reasonably required for compliance
For Hosts, Lifetime may request identity verification where necessary to prevent fraud, comply with law, investigate disputes, protect vendors or satisfy payment processing requirements.
Submission of verification documents does not automatically guarantee approval.
Lifetime retains sole discretion to approve, decline or request additional information during the verification process.
All vendors undergo a structured onboarding process before becoming eligible to receive bookings through Lifetime.
The onboarding process may include:
- identity verification - business verification - bank account verification - portfolio review - Host references where applicable - review of previous work - compliance screening - acceptance of Vendor Terms - acceptance of Platform Policies
Lifetime may approve, reject or defer any application based on its internal review criteria.
Lifetime is under no obligation to disclose internal risk assessment methodologies.
Users are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of their account credentials.
Users agree to:
- keep passwords secure - use strong authentication methods where available - prevent unauthorised access - notify Lifetime immediately of suspected compromise
Users remain responsible for activities conducted through their accounts until Lifetime receives notice of unauthorised access.
Lifetime shall not be liable for losses arising from a user’s failure to adequately secure their account.
Unless expressly authorised by Lifetime, individuals may not create multiple accounts for the purpose of:
- circumventing restrictions - manipulating reviews - committing fraud - evading suspension - misleading other users
Lifetime may merge, suspend or permanently remove duplicate accounts.
Businesses registering on Lifetime represent and warrant that:
- they possess the legal authority to operate - the individual creating the account has authority to bind the business - all submitted documentation is genuine - all required licences are maintained where applicable
Lifetime may request updated business documentation periodically.
Lifetime reserves the right to temporarily suspend accounts where it reasonably believes that:
- fraudulent activity may have occurred - verification is incomplete - unusual payment activity has been detected - applicable laws require temporary restriction - user conduct threatens platform integrity - additional compliance review is necessary
Suspension does not necessarily imply wrongdoing.
Lifetime may investigate before determining whether further action is appropriate.
Lifetime may permanently terminate accounts where users:
- repeatedly violate Platform policies - engage in fraud - abuse other users - manipulate bookings - submit forged documents - engage in money laundering or financial crime - use the Platform for unlawful purposes - materially breach these Terms
Where legally permissible, Lifetime may retain records relating to terminated accounts for compliance, audit, fraud prevention and dispute resolution purposes.
Every registered user agrees to:
- act honestly - comply with applicable laws - respect other users - maintain accurate information - comply with Platform policies - cooperate during investigations - provide requested documentation where reasonably required
Users remain solely responsible for activities conducted through their accounts.
Lifetime reserves the right to introduce additional verification requirements, including biometric verification, liveness detection, enhanced due diligence, sanctions screening, PEP screening, AML checks, enhanced business verification and recurring KYC reviews.
Users acknowledge that continued use of certain Platform features may depend upon successful completion of such verification processes.
Where permitted by applicable law, Lifetime may retain verification records, onboarding documentation and compliance-related information after an account has been suspended or terminated for fraud prevention, legal compliance, dispute resolution, regulatory reporting, audit requirements and enforcement of these Terms.
Such information shall be handled in accordance with Lifetime’s Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws.
Subject to compliance with these Terms, Lifetime grants users a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable licence to access and use the Platform solely for its intended purposes.
This licence does not transfer ownership of any part of the Platform or its intellectual property.
Lifetime reserves all rights not expressly granted under these Terms.
Users shall use the Platform only for lawful purposes.
Users agree not to use Lifetime in any manner that violates:
- the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria - applicable international laws where relevant - the rights of other users - contractual obligations - intellectual property rights - consumer protection laws - financial crime regulations
Users must present themselves honestly at all times.
Users shall not impersonate another person or business, misrepresent qualifications or experience, exaggerate services offered, falsify Host reviews, create misleading advertisements, falsely claim professional affiliations or use deceptive business names or branding.
Users shall not engage in any activity that interferes with the integrity, security or proper operation of the Platform.
Prohibited activities include fraud, phishing, identity theft, account sharing, account hijacking, money laundering, financing unlawful activities, spam, automated scraping, malware distribution, hacking, denial-of-service attacks, reverse engineering, unauthorised data extraction, manipulation of search rankings, fake bookings, review manipulation, fee circumvention, unauthorised bots and unauthorised commercial exploitation of Platform data.
Lifetime reserves the right to investigate suspected violations.
Users agree to interact respectfully with Hosts, vendors, employees, contractors, support personnel and representatives of Lifetime.
Harassment, intimidation, discrimination, hate speech, threats and abusive behaviour are prohibited.
Vendors shall provide accurate service descriptions, honour confirmed bookings, communicate professionally, deliver services with reasonable care and skill, maintain required licences, charge transparently, avoid misleading advertising, respond reasonably to enquiries and cooperate with dispute investigations.
Repeated poor performance may result in suspension or removal.
Hosts agree to provide accurate booking information, communicate respectfully, make payments honestly, refrain from abusive refund requests, avoid fraudulent chargebacks, cooperate during investigations and provide truthful reviews based on genuine experiences.
Hosts shall not knowingly make false allegations against vendors.
Reviews must relate to genuine transactions, be truthful and avoid defamatory, discriminatory or offensive content.
Lifetime may remove reviews that violate these Terms or applicable law.
Communications through Lifetime may be retained for customer support, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, quality assurance and legal compliance.
Messaging features must not be used for unsolicited marketing, harassment, phishing, fraud or malware distribution.
Users shall not attempt unauthorised access, probe security vulnerabilities, bypass technical protections, introduce malicious code, disrupt Platform performance or exploit software vulnerabilities.
Responsible disclosure of security vulnerabilities is encouraged.
Without Lifetime’s prior written consent, users shall not deploy bots or AI systems to disrupt operations, harvest data, manipulate search visibility, generate fake enquiries, create fraudulent accounts or interfere with marketplace fairness.
Authorised accessibility technologies are not prohibited.
Users are expected to complete transactions initiated on the Platform through Lifetime’s authorised booking and payment processes.
Knowingly circumventing Platform fees or contractual obligations may constitute a breach of these Terms.
Users are encouraged to report suspected fraud, scams, impersonation, abusive behaviour, policy violations, illegal activity and security concerns through Lifetime’s reporting channels.
Lifetime may issue warnings, remove content, restrict features, suspend or terminate accounts, cancel bookings, withhold payouts where legally permissible and cooperate with law enforcement or regulators where required by law.
Lifetime will act reasonably and proportionately.
Additional requirements are contained in Lifetime’s Acceptable Use Policy, Community Guidelines, Vendor Terms & Conditions, Privacy Policy, Payment & Settlement Policy, Cancellation, Refund & Returns Policy and other published policies.
Where inconsistent, these Terms prevail unless another policy expressly provides otherwise.
Lifetime operates as a digital marketplace that enables Hosts to discover, compare, communicate with, and book independent vendors for weddings, celebrations, corporate events, and other special occasions.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, Lifetime does not itself provide the underlying event services offered by vendors. Rather, Lifetime facilitates the booking process, payment collection where applicable, customer support, and related marketplace services.
Vendors are solely responsible for the accuracy, completeness, and legality of their listings.
Listings should accurately describe the services offered, pricing or pricing structure, package inclusions, availability, service limitations, geographic service areas, qualifications or certifications, portfolio examples, and any material terms affecting a Host’s booking decision.
Lifetime reserves the right to edit, reject, suspend, or remove listings that are misleading, incomplete, deceptive, or inconsistent with Platform standards.
Hosts may submit booking requests through the Platform using approved methods.
Submission of a booking request does not automatically create a binding contract.
A booking becomes confirmed only when the vendor accepts the request (where required), any required payment obligations are satisfied, Lifetime records the booking as confirmed, and any other applicable checkout conditions have been fulfilled.
Vendors may accept or decline booking requests, provided their decisions are not based on unlawful discrimination or prohibited conduct.
Repeated failure to honour confirmed bookings may result in suspension or removal from the Platform.
Once confirmed, both parties are expected to honour the booking in good faith.
Confirmation may be communicated through in-app notifications, email, SMS, or other approved electronic communication methods.
Hosts should promptly review booking details and report any errors.
Vendors determine the prices of their services unless otherwise stated.
Displayed prices shall be shown in the applicable currency. Taxes, service charges, Platform fees, or other applicable charges may be displayed separately where required.
Lifetime may introduce promotional pricing or discounts subject to separate terms.
Service availability reflects information supplied by vendors and may change without prior notice.
Availability is not guaranteed until a booking has been formally confirmed.
Hosts agree to provide accurate event information, disclose relevant booking requirements, respond promptly to reasonable enquiries, make payments as required, cooperate during planning and fulfilment, and refrain from providing false or misleading information.
Upon accepting a confirmed booking, vendors agree to deliver services with reasonable skill, care, and professionalism; honour agreed schedules; communicate material changes promptly; maintain professional conduct; comply with applicable laws and standards; and cooperate with Lifetime during customer support or dispute resolution.
Hosts and vendors may request modifications to confirmed bookings subject to mutual agreement, vendor availability, pricing adjustments, and Lifetime’s operational policies.
Material modifications may require updated confirmation through the Platform.
Bookings may be cancelled in accordance with these Terms, Lifetime’s Cancellation, Refund & Returns Policy, and any booking-specific cancellation terms.
Cancellation rights may vary depending on the nature of the service, timing of cancellation, vendor-specific policies, and applicable law.
Lifetime facilitates successful bookings but does not guarantee acceptance of every booking request, vendor availability, Host satisfaction in every instance, uninterrupted marketplace operations, or commercial success for vendors.
Lifetime encourages booking-related communications to occur through the Platform to support Host service, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, quality monitoring, and compliance investigations.
A booking is generally regarded as completed once the agreed service has been substantially delivered, agreed post-service obligations have been fulfilled, and no outstanding contractual obligations remain.
Completion does not affect continuing rights relating to refunds, warranties, complaints, or dispute resolution.
Neither Lifetime, the Host, nor the vendor shall be liable for failure or delay caused by events beyond reasonable control, including natural disasters, severe weather, epidemics, acts of government, war, terrorism, civil unrest, telecommunications failures, power outages, or similar unforeseen events.
Affected parties shall use reasonable efforts to minimise disruption and resume performance where practicable.
Except where expressly stated otherwise, Lifetime is not a party to the underlying service contract between Hosts and vendors.
Lifetime facilitates marketplace operations, payment administration where applicable, customer support, and dispute resolution.
Nothing in these Terms creates an employment relationship, partnership, agency, franchise, or joint venture between Lifetime and any vendor.
Lifetime provides technology that enables Hosts to make payments for eligible bookings through payment methods supported on the Platform.
To facilitate secure transactions, Lifetime may integrate with one or more licensed third-party payment service providers.
Payment processing services are subject to the terms, conditions, and operational requirements of the relevant payment provider.
Where applicable, payments for bookings may be collected through the Lifetime Platform before settlement to the relevant vendor.
Lifetime may act as a marketplace facilitator by receiving Host payments for the limited purpose of administering bookings, supporting dispute resolution, processing refunds where applicable, and facilitating settlement to verified vendors.
Lifetime does not accept deposits from the public and does not operate as a bank or other deposit-taking institution.
Hosts may pay using payment methods approved by Lifetime from time to time, including debit cards, credit cards, bank transfers, mobile money solutions, digital payment services, and other approved electronic payment methods.
Availability may vary depending on jurisdiction, payment provider, or technical availability.
Unless expressly stated otherwise:
- vendors determine the prices of their services - Lifetime may charge platform service fees where disclosed - payment processing charges may apply where permitted by law - applicable taxes may be added where required
All charges presented during checkout form part of the total amount payable.
By submitting payment through the Platform, Hosts authorise Lifetime and its payment service providers to process transactions, verify payment credentials, perform fraud prevention checks, communicate with relevant financial institutions, and complete payment processing in accordance with applicable laws and industry standards.
Hosts represent that they are authorised to use the selected payment method.
Where Lifetime facilitates payments on behalf of vendors, settlement shall be made only to verified payout destinations.
Settlement schedules may vary depending on successful payment, booking status, service completion where applicable, fraud prevention reviews, compliance checks, payment processor requirements, and applicable law.
Lifetime may delay settlement where reasonably necessary to investigate fraud, resolve disputes, comply with legal obligations, or protect Platform integrity.
Lifetime may require vendors to complete or update identity verification before receiving settlements.
Verification may include identity verification, bank account verification, business verification, tax information where applicable, and additional compliance documentation.
Failure to complete verification may delay settlement.
Where payments fail, are declined, reversed, charged back, determined to be fraudulent, or cannot be processed successfully, Lifetime may suspend the affected transaction, reverse associated records where appropriate, delay settlement, or take other reasonable protective measures.
Refund eligibility shall be determined in accordance with these Terms, Lifetime’s Cancellation, Refund & Returns Policy, applicable consumer protection laws, and the circumstances of the booking.
Submission of a refund request does not guarantee approval.
Lifetime may charge fees for booking services, vendor subscriptions, promotional services, advertising services, premium marketplace features, or other services introduced in the future.
Applicable fees shall be disclosed before becoming payable.
Users remain responsible for complying with their respective tax obligations.
Where required by law, Lifetime may collect taxes, withhold taxes, report information to competent authorities, or request tax-related information.
Nothing in these Terms constitutes tax advice.
Unless otherwise specified, payments shall be processed in the currency displayed during checkout.
Currency conversion rates and fees are determined by the relevant payment provider or financial institution.
Lifetime may implement measures designed to prevent fraud, detect suspicious activity, comply with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing requirements where applicable, satisfy payment processor requirements, and comply with lawful requests from competent authorities.
Users agree to cooperate with reasonable compliance requests.
Unless introduced under separate terms in the future, Lifetime does not provide electronic wallets, stored-value accounts, Host balances, peer-to-peer money transfers, or banking services.
Payments are processed solely for facilitating marketplace transactions.
Lifetime may maintain electronic records relating to payments, settlements, invoices, refunds, chargebacks, payout history, and transaction confirmations.
These records may be used for customer support, dispute resolution, audit, regulatory compliance, and legal proceedings where permitted by law.
Payment processing services may be provided by independent third-party providers.
Lifetime is not responsible for delays, outages, processing errors, or failures arising solely from those providers, except where required by law or directly attributable to Lifetime.
Lifetime will use reasonable efforts to assist users in resolving payment-related issues.
TERMS OF SERVICE ; 10. the rights available to Data Subjects; and 11. how individuals may contact Lifetime regarding privacy matters.
This Policy should be read together with Lifetime's Terms of Service and other applicable policies forming part of the Lifetime Public Trust & Legal Centre.
Lifetime's processing of personal information shall be conducted in accordance with applicable data protection and privacy legislation.
For operations involving Data Subjects in Nigeria, Lifetime recognises the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 (NDP Act) as a principal component of its data protection framework, together with applicable regulations, directives, guidance, and other lawful instruments issued by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission ("NDPC") or another competent authority.
Lifetime shall also take reasonable account of applicable data protection requirements in other jurisdictions where the Platform operates or where applicable law otherwise applies.
Nothing in this Policy limits any mandatory rights or protections available to a Data Subject under applicable law.
This Privacy Policy applies to personal information processed by Lifetime in connection with the Platform and related services.
It applies, where relevant, to: - Hosts; - Vendors; - Vendor representatives, employees, agents, or authorised personnel; - prospective Hosts and Vendors; - persons who communicate with Lifetime's support or administrative teams; - individuals whose information is submitted by a Host or Vendor; - individuals appearing in photographs, videos, portfolios, or other User Content submitted to the Platform; - visitors to Lifetime's websites; - users of Lifetime's mobile applications; - persons who interact with Lifetime through other authorised digital channels; and - other individuals whose personal information Lifetime lawfully receives or processes in connection with its business.
Where a person provides Lifetime with another individual's personal information, the person providing that information is responsible for ensuring that they have an appropriate lawful basis or authorisation to provide it where required by applicable law.
Lifetime's marketplace operates through two principal categories of Users.
5.1 Hosts A Host is an individual or organisation using Lifetime to plan, organise, coordinate, or otherwise arrange an event and to discover, communicate with, select, book, or obtain products or services from Vendors.
5.2 Vendors A Vendor is an individual, professional, business, organisation, or other service provider offering products or services through the Lifetime Platform.
5.3 Users A User means a Host or Vendor and, where the context permits, any other person or entity accessing or interacting with the Platform.
Different categories of Users may provide different types of personal information and may receive different information depending on their role within a particular transaction.
For purposes of this Policy, personal information means information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, or any other information treated as personal data under applicable law.
Depending on the circumstances, this may include: - a person's name; - telephone number; - email address; - residential or business address; - identification information; - account information; - payment-related information; - booking information; - photographs and videos; - communications; - device information; - online identifiers; - location information; - professional information; and - other information capable of identifying or being reasonably associated with an individual.
Information that has been irreversibly anonymised so that an individual can no longer reasonably be identified may cease to constitute personal information under applicable law.
Certain categories of personal information may attract heightened legal protection because of their potential impact on an individual's privacy, dignity, safety, or fundamental rights.
Depending on applicable law, these may include information concerning: - health; - biometric characteristics; - genetic information; - religious or philosophical beliefs; - political affiliations or opinions; - sexual or intimate information; - criminal or alleged criminal matters; and - other categories recognised as sensitive or specially protected by applicable law.
Lifetime does not seek to collect sensitive personal information merely for convenience.
Where Lifetime has a legitimate and lawful need to process sensitive or specially protected information, it shall do so only where an appropriate legal basis and applicable safeguards exist.
Lifetime may receive personal information directly from a User when the User: - creates an Account; - completes a profile; - registers as a Vendor; - submits verification information; - makes or receives a booking; - communicates with another User; - contacts Lifetime support; - submits a complaint or dispute; - provides feedback; - uploads photographs, videos, documents, or other content; - subscribes to communications; - participates in promotions or programmes; or - otherwise voluntarily provides information.
Users are expected to provide information that is accurate, complete, current, and not misleading.
Lifetime may also lawfully receive personal information from sources other than the individual concerned.
Such sources may include: - Hosts or Vendors; - authorised representatives; - payment service providers; - identity verification providers; - fraud-prevention providers; - technology and infrastructure providers; - publicly available sources; - regulatory or government authorities; - professional advisers; - other Users involved in a transaction; and - other third parties where lawful and appropriate.
Where Lifetime receives personal information from another person or organisation, Lifetime shall process that information in accordance with applicable law.
Certain information may be generated automatically when a User interacts with Lifetime.
This may include: - IP address; - browser type; - operating system; - device type; - device identifiers; - approximate location; - login activity; - session information; - pages or features accessed; - search activity; - booking activity; - transaction metadata; - error logs; - security events; and - other technical or usage information.
Such information may help Lifetime operate the Platform, understand how it is used, detect security threats, prevent fraud, improve performance, and develop products and services.
Lifetime operates a marketplace in which Hosts and Vendors may need to exchange certain information to facilitate a transaction.
Lifetime therefore seeks to apply a principle of purpose-limited visibility.
Information may be made available to another User where reasonably necessary to: - identify a participating party; - evaluate a Vendor or service; - communicate about a booking; - fulfil an agreed service; - process a transaction; - resolve a dispute; or - satisfy a legal or safety requirement.
Lifetime does not intend for Users to receive unrestricted access to personal information merely because they participate in the same marketplace.
The categories of information visible to a Host or Vendor may therefore depend upon the User's role, the transaction, the stage of the booking, Platform functionality, and applicable law.
Lifetime seeks to incorporate privacy and data protection considerations into the design and operation of its products, systems, processes, and services.
Where reasonably practicable, Lifetime may consider: - data minimisation; - purpose limitation; - access controls; - security; - retention periods; - User transparency; - privacy risks; - appropriate default settings; and - the rights and reasonable expectations of Data Subjects.
Where a proposed processing activity is likely to create a high risk to the rights and freedoms of Data Subjects, Lifetime may conduct a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) or other appropriate risk assessment where required or reasonably appropriate.
Lifetime seeks to collect and process personal information that is adequate, relevant, and reasonably necessary for identified purposes.
Lifetime does not intend to collect personal information merely because it may potentially be useful in the future.
Where information is no longer reasonably necessary for a legitimate purpose and no legal or operational requirement requires its retention, Lifetime may delete, anonymise, or otherwise securely dispose of it in accordance with its retention procedures.
Lifetime takes reasonable steps to maintain accurate and appropriate personal information.
Users are responsible for helping Lifetime maintain accurate information by: - providing truthful information; - updating account information when necessary; - correcting inaccurate information; and - promptly notifying Lifetime where material information changes.
Where Lifetime becomes aware that personal information is materially inaccurate, it may take reasonable steps to correct or update it.
Lifetime recognises that data protection is an organisational responsibility rather than solely an Information Technology function.
Accordingly, Lifetime may establish appropriate internal measures addressing: - data governance; - access management; - confidentiality; - security; - retention; - privacy requests; - incident response; - Vendor and processor oversight; - staff awareness; and - compliance monitoring.
Where required by applicable law, Lifetime shall designate or engage appropriate data protection personnel or professionals.
This Privacy Policy forms part of Lifetime's broader Public Trust & Legal Centre.
It should be read together with, where applicable: - Terms of Service; - Acceptable Use Policy; - Service Fulfilment Policy; - Cancellation, Refund & Returns Policy; - Vendor Terms & Conditions; - Vendor Verification & KYC Policy; - Payment & Settlement Policy; - Cookie Policy; - Community Guidelines; and - other privacy or data protection notices issued by Lifetime.
Where another document addresses a specific privacy matter in greater detail, that document should be read together with this Policy.
Nothing in another Lifetime policy is intended to reduce a Data Subject's mandatory statutory rights.
Lifetime may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect: - changes in law or regulatory requirements; - changes to the Platform; - new products or services; - changes in data processing activities; - changes in technology; - security developments; - organisational changes; or - improvements to privacy practices.
Where changes materially affect Users' rights or how Lifetime processes personal information, Lifetime will take reasonable steps to provide appropriate notice in accordance with applicable law.
The effective date shown on the current version of this Policy will indicate when the updated version takes effect.
Lifetime encourages Users and other Data Subjects to contact us where they have questions, concerns, complaints, or requests relating to personal information.
Lifetime will establish and maintain designated privacy contact channels through which Data Subjects may: - ask privacy questions; - request information about processing; - exercise applicable Data Subject rights; - raise concerns about privacy practices; - report suspected privacy incidents; or - submit complaints.
The relevant privacy contact details shall be published through Lifetime's official Platform and updated where necessary.
Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to exclude, restrict, or waive any right or protection that a Data Subject is entitled to under mandatory applicable law.
Where applicable law provides a Data Subject with a right or protection that is greater than the protection expressly described in this Policy, the applicable law shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency.
Lifetime's approach to privacy can be expressed simply:
Collect responsibly. Use purposefully. Share carefully. Protect diligently. Retain appropriately. Respect people's rights.
These principles guide the development and operation of Lifetime's data protection framework.
What information we collect, why, and what you can do about it.
Lifetime collects and receives different categories of information depending on how an individual interacts with the Platform. The information processed may differ between Hosts, Vendors, Vendor representatives, event participants, website visitors, and other individuals interacting with Lifetime. Lifetime does not necessarily collect every category described in this Chapter from every User.
Lifetime may collect full name, username or display name, email address, telephone number, password or authentication credentials, profile photograph, User type or role, account preferences, communication preferences, referral information, and other information required to establish an Account. Lifetime may also generate an internal Account identifier.
Lifetime may collect information necessary to support event planning and marketplace activity, including name, contact information, event date, event location, event type, estimated guest information, event preferences, budget information, selected services, booking history, communications with Vendors, payment-related information, customer support records, and other event-planning information.
Lifetime may collect individual or business name, business address, telephone number, email address, business registration information, tax-related information where applicable, professional qualifications or licences, service categories, areas of operation, pricing information, portfolio information, social media or website information, bank or payout information, ownership or control information where required, identity verification information, compliance information, booking history, reviews and ratings, and communications with Hosts and Lifetime.
For trust, safety, fraud prevention, regulatory compliance, and marketplace integrity, Lifetime may require government-issued identification, identification numbers, identity verification material, business registration documents, certificates, licences, professional credentials, tax documentation, proof of business address, bank account information, beneficial ownership information where applicable, and other verification documentation. Lifetime may verify information through authorised third-party providers or lawful sources. Further details are provided in the Vendor Verification & KYC Policy.
Lifetime may collect search and booking details, selected Vendor and service, event date and time, event location, booking status, agreed price, applicable fees, transaction references, cancellation and refund information, payment status, service-related communications, and other information necessary to administer transactions.
Lifetime may process transaction amount, currency, payment status, transaction reference, payer or recipient information, payment method, masked payment details, settlement information, refund information, chargeback information, and other transaction metadata. Where payment card information is processed directly by a licensed payment service provider, Lifetime may not receive or store full card details.
Lifetime may collect and retain messages between Hosts and Vendors, customer support communications, complaints, dispute submissions, emails, feedback, reports, enquiries, survey responses, and other communications. Communications may be processed for service delivery, support, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, quality assurance, security, and compliance.
Hosts and Vendors may provide reviews, ratings, comments, testimonials, recommendations, or other feedback. Certain reviews or ratings may be visible to other Users or the public depending on Platform functionality. Users should avoid including sensitive personal information or private credentials in publicly visible content.
Users may upload photographs, videos, documents, portfolios, logos, event materials, invoices, certificates, promotional materials, and other digital content. Users are responsible for ensuring that they have an appropriate lawful basis, permission, consent, or other lawful authority to submit another individual's personal information where required. Lifetime may process uploaded content for the purposes for which it was submitted.
Lifetime may process event type, event date, event time, event venue or location, estimated attendance, service requirements, event preferences, budget ranges, décor or design preferences, catering requirements, photography or videography requirements, logistics information, and other event-planning details.
Lifetime may process event location, Vendor service area, approximate device location, location voluntarily provided by a User, location associated with a booking, and other location information reasonably necessary for marketplace services. Where precise device location is unnecessary, Lifetime may use approximate location instead.
Lifetime may automatically receive IP address, device type, operating system, browser type, application version, device identifiers, language settings, time zone, network information, display information, crash reports, diagnostic information, login timestamps, and other technical metadata.
Lifetime may collect pages viewed, searches performed, filters used, Vendors viewed, services explored, bookings initiated or completed, features used, interactions with promotional materials, links clicked, session duration, referral sources, and other interaction information.
Lifetime may use cookies, pixels, software development kits, local storage, device identifiers, tags, and similar technologies for authentication, security, preferences, analytics, performance monitoring, personalisation, fraud prevention, and legally permitted marketing. Further information will be provided in the Cookie Policy.
Lifetime may receive information from payment processors, identity verification providers, fraud-prevention providers, analytics providers, cloud infrastructure providers, communications providers, and other technology or business service providers. This may include payment status, verification results, transaction identifiers, risk indicators, technical information, and other necessary information.
Lifetime may lawfully obtain information from public business registries, professional sources, websites, public social media profiles, regulatory sources, and other publicly accessible sources where reasonably necessary for legitimate business, verification, safety, compliance, or marketplace purposes.
Hosts may provide information about event coordinators, spouses or partners, family members, event representatives, guests, business contacts, or other persons involved in planning or fulfilling an event. Vendors may provide information concerning employees, contractors, authorised representatives, business partners, or other individuals involved in delivering services. Users should ensure such disclosure is lawful.
Lifetime may incidentally receive information concerning children in connection with events, bookings, photographs, or other User Content. Lifetime does not ordinarily require children to create Accounts or directly use the Platform independently. Users must ensure that they have lawful authority to provide children's information where required.
Lifetime may collect Account information, contact details, booking information, transaction information, screenshots, documents, communications, technical information, complaint details, and other information provided during support interactions. Support records may be retained for quality assurance, training where appropriate, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, legal compliance, and service improvement.
Lifetime may generate or infer account risk indicators, fraud or security signals, marketplace performance metrics, service preferences, booking patterns, Vendor performance indicators, aggregated statistics, and other analytical information. Where such information constitutes personal information, it will be processed in accordance with this Policy and applicable law. Lifetime will not make solely automated decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects except where legally permitted and subject to applicable safeguards.
Lifetime does not intentionally seek unnecessary personal information. Users should avoid submitting passwords, payment card security codes, unrelated medical records, private financial credentials, highly sensitive personal information unrelated to the service, or other information not reasonably requested by Lifetime.
The same information may be processed differently depending on who provided it, why it was provided, the User's role, the transaction, the legal basis, the Platform feature, and applicable law. The categories and purposes described in this Policy should therefore be understood within their specific context.
Lifetime seeks to limit collection to information that is adequate, relevant, and necessary for the identified purpose. Where information is required for legal, security, payment, verification, or contractual purposes, refusal to provide it may prevent Lifetime from providing certain services or completing certain transactions.
Users are responsible for ensuring that information provided to Lifetime is accurate and current. Lifetime may rely on information provided unless it has reasonable grounds to believe it is inaccurate, incomplete, fraudulent, or misleading. Where appropriate, Lifetime may request additional information or documentation.
As Lifetime develops new products, features, payment methods, verification processes, or marketplace services, the categories of information processed may change. Where a new processing activity materially changes how personal information is used, Lifetime will update this Privacy Policy and provide any notice required by applicable law.
Lifetime processes personal information only for purposes that are lawful, specific, reasonably necessary, and consistent with the circumstances in which the information was collected. Where Lifetime proposes to use personal information for a materially different purpose, it will assess applicable legal requirements and provide notice or obtain consent where required.
Lifetime may use personal information to create and maintain Accounts, authenticate Users, verify Account ownership, manage profiles, provide Account functionality, maintain security, communicate with Users, personalise Platform settings, and administer the User relationship.
Lifetime uses personal information to operate its marketplace and provide services, including enabling Hosts to discover Vendors, enabling Vendors to present services, facilitating communication, matching marketplace participants, supporting event planning, facilitating bookings, coordinating transaction information, providing notifications, and enabling other Platform functionality.
Information may be processed to establish party identity, communicate booking requirements, confirm availability, communicate event details, facilitate payment, administer booking status, coordinate service fulfilment, manage cancellations, process refunds where applicable, and maintain transaction records. Lifetime seeks to limit information exchanged between Hosts and Vendors to what is reasonably necessary.
Lifetime may use event type, location, service category, budget, availability, preferences, Vendor service areas, previous interactions, and other relevant information to help Hosts discover relevant Vendors. Automated systems or recommendation technologies may support marketplace matching, subject to applicable safeguards.
Lifetime may process personal information to confirm identity, verify business information, assess documentation, validate credentials, conduct KYC checks, detect inconsistencies, prevent impersonation, assess marketplace eligibility, maintain trust and safety, and satisfy legal or regulatory requirements.
Lifetime may process information to detect or investigate fraud, identity theft, impersonation, fake Accounts, misleading listings, payment abuse, suspicious transactions, Platform manipulation, harassment, prohibited conduct, attempts to circumvent Platform controls, and other threats to Users or the Platform.
Lifetime may process payment status, transaction references, booking values, fees, refunds, chargebacks, settlement information, payout information, and payment-related communications to facilitate, record, reconcile, and administer payments.
Lifetime may process information necessary to support fulfilment of services booked through the Platform, including event date, venue, relevant requirements, Host contact information, service specifications, or other information reasonably necessary for fulfilment.
Lifetime may process personal information to respond to enquiries, troubleshoot technical issues, investigate complaints, provide booking assistance, resolve payment questions, assist with Account access, address service issues, respond to privacy requests, and improve support processes.
Lifetime may process relevant personal information when investigating or resolving disputes involving Hosts, Vendors, payments, bookings, service fulfilment, refunds, cancellations, Platform conduct, or other matters arising from Platform use.
Lifetime may process information to identify, prevent, investigate, and respond to fraudulent or suspicious activity, including identity verification, transaction monitoring, Account activity analysis, device information, unusual booking patterns, payment risk indicators, duplicate Accounts, and suspicious communications.
Lifetime may process technical, Account, transaction, and usage information to protect Users, Accounts, payment processes, Platform infrastructure, databases, communications systems, and other digital assets.
Lifetime may use information to understand Platform interaction and improve products and services, including analysing feature usage, search behaviour, booking activity, marketplace performance, technical performance, User feedback, support trends, and aggregated or appropriately protected usage data.
Lifetime may process appropriate information to develop features, test functionality, identify technical problems, evaluate performance, improve User experience, conduct usability research, and develop marketplace services. Where possible, anonymised, synthetic, or minimised information may be preferred.
Lifetime may analyse marketplace demand, Vendor performance, booking trends, service categories, geographic patterns, transaction activity, Platform engagement, conversion rates, and other operational metrics. Aggregated or de-identified information may be used where appropriate.
Lifetime may use personal information to send Account notifications, booking confirmations, booking changes, payment notifications, security alerts, verification requests, dispute updates, service announcements, policy updates, maintenance notices, and other operational communications.
Where legally permitted and where an appropriate lawful basis exists, Lifetime may send information about Lifetime products, features, events, promotions, Vendor opportunities, marketplace developments, partnerships, and relevant offerings. Users will be provided appropriate mechanisms to manage or withdraw from promotional communications where applicable.
Lifetime may use information to personalise the Platform, including remembering preferences, displaying relevant services, prioritising potentially relevant Vendors, tailoring content, remembering interactions, and improving marketplace recommendations.
Lifetime may process reviews, ratings, feedback, and related information to maintain marketplace reputation systems, inform Hosts, help Vendors understand feedback, identify quality concerns, detect manipulation, investigate complaints, and improve marketplace standards.
Lifetime may process personal information to comply with laws, regulatory requirements, lawful requests, court orders, tax obligations, applicable financial or payment requirements, record-keeping obligations, investigations, and protection or exercise of legal rights.
If Lifetime is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, restructuring, sale of assets, corporate reorganisation, or similar transaction, personal information may be processed as reasonably necessary to evaluate, complete, or administer the transaction, subject to applicable safeguards and notices.
Lifetime may process personal information to establish or defend legal claims, enforce contracts, investigate misconduct, protect intellectual property, recover amounts owed, protect Platform infrastructure, prevent abuse, protect Users, or protect legitimate legal and commercial interests.
Lifetime may create aggregated, statistical, anonymised, or de-identified information from personal information where permitted by law for analytics, research, product development, marketplace insights, business planning, reporting, and performance measurement.
Lifetime may process information to identify and respond to multiple fraudulent Accounts, ranking manipulation, fee circumvention, impersonation, service misrepresentation, refund abuse, review manipulation, technical exploitation, enforcement evasion, and other conduct undermining marketplace integrity.
Lifetime may use automated systems, algorithms, machine-learning technologies, and other decision-support tools for fraud detection, security monitoring, search, recommendation, ranking, content moderation, operational risk assessment, and Platform optimisation. Applicable safeguards concerning automated decision-making will be respected.
Lifetime may process information to verify accuracy, consistency, or completeness, including comparing records, requesting documentation, verifying business information, confirming identity, checking transactions, and identifying inconsistencies requiring clarification.
Lifetime may conduct research into event planning behaviour, marketplace trends, Vendor performance, User experience, service demand, Platform effectiveness, and other matters relevant to Lifetime's development. Identifiable information will only be used where an appropriate lawful basis and safeguards exist.
Lifetime may process personal information for accounting, auditing, governance, compliance, insurance, risk management, record keeping, internal investigations, staff administration where relevant, and operational planning.
Lifetime may combine information from different lawful sources where reasonably necessary for an identified purpose, such as combining Account, booking, payment, verification, and support information to resolve a transaction or investigate a dispute.
Lifetime will seek to use personal information only for purposes for which it was collected or for compatible purposes permitted by applicable law. Where a new use is materially incompatible with the original purpose, Lifetime will assess whether additional notice, consent, or another lawful basis is required.
Lifetime does not sell Users' personal information as a commercial product. Lifetime may disclose information to third-party service providers, Vendors, advisers, regulators, authorities, or other recipients where lawful and reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy.
Where Lifetime intends to process personal information for a new purpose not reasonably foreseeable when collected, Lifetime will assess the relationship between purposes, collection context, nature of the information, potential impact, reasonable expectations, and legal requirements. Where necessary, Lifetime will provide additional information or obtain consent.
Lifetime seeks to ask five fundamental questions across processing activities: Why do we need this information? Is the processing lawful? Is the information necessary? Can we achieve the same purpose with less information? Would a reasonable User understand why we are using it?
Lifetime shall process personal information only where there is an appropriate lawful basis under applicable data protection law. The appropriate basis depends on the nature and purpose of processing, the relationship with the Data Subject, collection context, reasonable expectations, potential impact, legal obligations, and other applicable circumstances.
Subject to applicable law, Lifetime may rely on: 1. Consent; 2. Contractual necessity or performance of a contract; 3. Compliance with a legal obligation; 4. Protection of vital interests; 5. Performance of a task carried out in the public interest or exercise of official authority, where applicable; and 6. Legitimate interests, where applicable and where not overridden by the rights and freedoms of the Data Subject.
Lifetime may rely on consent where appropriate. Consent should be freely given, specific, informed, unambiguous, demonstrable where required, and capable of withdrawal where applicable. Lifetime will not ordinarily use consent where another lawful basis more appropriately governs the processing.
Where processing is based on consent, a Data Subject may withdraw consent subject to applicable law. Withdrawal does not affect processing already carried out lawfully before withdrawal. Where another lawful basis applies, withdrawal may not require Lifetime to stop that processing.
Where Lifetime relies on consent for direct marketing or optional promotional activity, Users will have an appropriate mechanism to give, refuse, or withdraw consent. Refusal of optional marketing consent should not ordinarily prevent access to core Platform services where such consent is not necessary.
Lifetime may process personal information where necessary to enter into, perform, or manage a contract or other agreement. This may include Account administration, marketplace services, bookings, booking communications, transaction information, cancellations, refunds, support, verification necessary for performance, and other contractual obligations.
Lifetime will not automatically classify every processing activity connected with a User relationship as contractually necessary. Processing must have a genuine connection to entering into, performing, or administering the relevant contractual relationship.
Lifetime may process personal information where necessary to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, including taxation, accounting, financial records, payment services, fraud prevention, regulatory reporting, lawful investigations, court orders, dispute proceedings, record retention, employment matters where applicable, and other statutory or regulatory requirements.
Lifetime may process personal information where reasonably necessary to establish, exercise, investigate, defend, or respond to legal claims, regulatory proceedings, investigations, disputes, or other lawful processes.
Lifetime may process personal information where necessary to protect the vital interests of a Data Subject or another natural person, where recognised as a lawful basis under applicable law. This basis is intended for serious threats to life, physical safety, or other legally recognised vital interests.
Where applicable, Lifetime may process personal information where necessary for a task carried out in the public interest or exercise of official authority. As a private marketplace company, this basis is expected to have limited application to ordinary commercial operations.
Lifetime may rely on legitimate interests where applicable law permits and where Lifetime has a genuine and lawful interest, including Platform security, fraud prevention, User protection, marketplace integrity, enforcing agreements, reasonable business administration, product improvement, marketplace analysis, and protection of legal rights.
Where Lifetime relies on legitimate interests for processing that may materially affect Data Subjects, Lifetime may conduct an assessment considering: 1. Purpose Test – What legitimate interest is Lifetime pursuing? 2. Necessity Test – Is processing reasonably necessary? 3. Balancing Test – Do Lifetime's interests outweigh the Data Subject's interests, rights, and freedoms? The assessment may consider information sensitivity, reasonable expectations, relationship context, consequences, safeguards, and less intrusive alternatives.
Lifetime may consider what a reasonable person would expect it to do with their information. Information provided to facilitate a booking may reasonably be used for that booking, but possession of information does not automatically make unrelated commercial uses appropriate.
Where processing involves sensitive or specially protected personal information, Lifetime will apply additional requirements and safeguards required by applicable law. A general lawful basis does not automatically authorise sensitive-data processing where additional conditions apply.
Where Lifetime processes children's personal information, it will apply additional requirements concerning children's data, considering age, processing nature, purpose, parental or guardian involvement where required, best interests, and applicable law.
A single processing activity may involve more than one lawful basis at different stages or for different purposes. For example, booking information may be processed under contractual necessity, legal obligation, legitimate interests for fraud prevention, or another applicable basis. Lifetime assesses the basis according to the specific purpose.
Lifetime may maintain internal records identifying the processing activity, purpose, information categories, Data Subjects, lawful basis, safeguards, retention requirements, and other compliance information. Where required, Lifetime shall maintain appropriate records demonstrating accountability.
Where required by law, Lifetime will provide information about the lawful basis relied upon through this Privacy Policy, contextual notices, consent requests, Account interfaces, booking notices, Vendor onboarding documents, Cookie notices, privacy-request responses, or other appropriate communications.
Certain information may need to be provided because it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract, required by law, necessary for Vendor verification, required for payment or settlement, necessary for security or fraud prevention, or required by another lawful basis. Where reasonably practicable, Lifetime will explain when information is mandatory and the consequences of refusal.
Other information may be optional, including certain marketing preferences, optional profile information, testimonials, surveys, promotional participation, personalisation preferences, and other non-essential information. Lifetime will seek to make this clear.
Where consent is withdrawn, Lifetime will identify the processing activities dependent on that consent. Lifetime may continue processing where another lawful basis applies, including contract, legal compliance, fraud prevention, security, legal claims, or another lawful purpose.
Lifetime will not rely on a lawful basis for one purpose as automatic justification for an unrelated purpose. New or materially different processing will be assessed under the applicable legal framework.
The lawful basis is relevant to how long Lifetime may retain personal information. Lifetime will seek to retain information only as long as reasonably necessary for the applicable purpose or lawful basis, subject to legal, regulatory, dispute, security, accounting, and other legitimate retention requirements.
If circumstances surrounding a processing activity materially change, Lifetime may reassess the lawful basis and, where required, provide additional notice, seek fresh consent, modify or discontinue processing, or adopt another lawful basis permitted by law.
Lifetime recognises that identifying a lawful basis is not merely a documentation exercise. Lifetime remains responsible for ensuring actual processing corresponds with the lawful basis identified. Processing activities may therefore be periodically reviewed.
Before undertaking a material processing activity, Lifetime seeks to answer: - What are we doing? - Why are we doing it? - What information do we need? - What lawful basis permits us to do it? - What impact could it have on the Data Subject? - What safeguards are appropriate? - Would the processing remain defensible if the Data Subject asked us to explain it?
Lifetime operates as a marketplace connecting Hosts with Vendors offering event-related products and services. This creates a privacy environment in which information may need to move between participants to enable discovery, communication, booking, payment, and service fulfilment. Lifetime seeks to balance marketplace transparency, informed decision-making, service fulfilment, personal privacy, security, fraud prevention, and accountability.
Lifetime provides technological and marketplace infrastructure through which Hosts and Vendors may discover one another, communicate, transact, and coordinate services. Depending on the processing activity, Lifetime may act as a data controller, data processor, joint controller where legally applicable, or another legally recognised role. Its role depends on the nature, purpose, and circumstances of processing.
Lifetime may display Vendor information reasonably necessary for Hosts to evaluate and select services, including Vendor name or business name, profile photograph or logo, service category, service description, service area, portfolio, pricing or price ranges, availability, reviews and ratings, business credentials where appropriate, verification indicators, years of experience where provided, relevant professional information, and other marketplace information intended for public or User-facing presentation. Information deliberately submitted for publication may be visible to other Users or, depending on functionality, the public.
Lifetime may provide Hosts with contact or communication functionality that allows communication with Vendors. Where reasonably possible, Lifetime may facilitate communications through Platform channels rather than expose private telephone numbers, personal email addresses, or unnecessary contact information. Where direct contact information is disclosed, the disclosure should be reasonably connected to the relevant marketplace or service purpose.
When a Host interacts with or books a Vendor, Lifetime may make certain Host information available where reasonably necessary, including Host name, relevant contact details, event date, event venue or location, event type, service requirements, booking information, agreed service details, relevant communications, and other information necessary for fulfilment. Lifetime does not intend to disclose unrelated personal information merely because a Host has booked a Vendor.
A Vendor may require certain information to deliver a service. Depending on the service, this may include event date, venue, guest numbers, dietary requirements, agreed specifications, timing, relevant contact information, access arrangements, or other information reasonably necessary for fulfilment. Lifetime may disclose such information where appropriate.
A User should receive information reasonably necessary to perform their legitimate role, not unrestricted access to everything Lifetime knows about the other User. Information unrelated to a Vendor's service should generally remain private.
Hosts may receive information reasonably necessary to evaluate Vendors and make informed booking decisions, including Vendor profile information, business or professional information, service offerings, pricing, portfolio materials, reviews and ratings, service areas, availability, verification or trust indicators, relevant qualifications, cancellation terms, service fulfilment information, and other information Lifetime makes available.
Information collected from Vendors for identity verification, KYC, fraud prevention, compliance, or security is not automatically made available to Hosts. Government identification, identification numbers, bank information, tax information, beneficial ownership information, and private verification documents may be retained confidentially and disclosed only where there is a lawful and legitimate reason. Verification status may be represented by an appropriate indicator without exposing underlying documents.
Lifetime may display indicators showing that a Vendor has completed certain verification or trust requirements. A verification indicator does not necessarily mean Lifetime guarantees services, guarantees identity beyond the scope of verification, guarantees successful fulfilment, guarantees absence of all risk, or endorses the Vendor. The meaning and scope of the indicator should be understood from Lifetime's description.
Lifetime may make Vendor reviews, ratings, feedback, and reputation information available to Hosts and, where applicable, Host reviews or ratings available to Vendors. Lifetime may moderate, remove, restrict, or investigate content that appears fraudulent, manipulated, abusive, unlawful, discriminatory, defamatory, irrelevant, misleading, or contrary to Platform policies.
Where a Host submits a review, testimonial, rating, photograph, or other content intended for publication, it may become visible to other Users or the public depending on Platform functionality. Hosts should consider whether submissions contain private contact information, financial information, identification documents, health information, information about children, family information, or other information they do not intend to make public. Lifetime may remove or restrict content creating unreasonable privacy or safety risks.
Lifetime may provide private communication functionality between Hosts and Vendors. Lifetime may access, process, preserve, or disclose communications where reasonably necessary for service fulfilment, support, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, security, investigation of suspected misconduct, legal compliance, or policy enforcement. Lifetime does not intend to use access to communications as a general licence for unrelated surveillance.
Hosts and Vendors may, where permitted, communicate outside Lifetime after establishing a legitimate business relationship. Lifetime may have limited ability to protect, monitor, investigate, or resolve interactions occurring entirely outside its systems. Users should exercise caution before sharing identification documents, financial information, passwords, authentication codes, sensitive personal information, or other confidential information.
Lifetime may limit or restrict exchange of certain contact information where reasonably necessary to protect privacy, prevent fraud, protect security, preserve transaction records, facilitate dispute resolution, or prevent circumvention of Platform processes. Technical measures may be used to detect or restrict misuse of Platform communications, subject to applicable law and Lifetime's Terms of Service.
Once a Host makes a booking or enters a transaction with a Vendor, Lifetime may disclose additional information reasonably necessary to confirm and administer the booking, including booking reference, event date, event location, service description, agreed price, relevant service requirements, contact information, booking status, and other transaction details.
Where a booking requires coordination among multiple Vendors, Lifetime may disclose limited information to participating Vendors where reasonably necessary. For example, wedding planners, decorators, caterers, photographers, and venue-related providers may need shared event information to coordinate their responsibilities. Lifetime will seek to avoid unnecessary disclosure.
Where a Host engages multiple Vendors for the same event, relevant event information may be shared among participating Vendors where reasonably necessary. One Vendor does not automatically have access to another Vendor's pricing arrangements, private contractual terms, banking information, internal business information, private communications, or unrelated Host information.
Lifetime may facilitate limited information sharing between Vendors where necessary to coordinate event services, including event date, venue, timing, logistics, service dependencies, and access arrangements. Vendors must not use information received about another Vendor for unrelated competitive, marketing, harassment, or prohibited purposes.
Where a disclosure requires Host consent under applicable law, Lifetime will seek that consent unless another lawful basis permits or requires disclosure. Where Platform functionality allows Hosts to control information-sharing settings, Lifetime will provide reasonably understandable controls.
Vendors receiving Host information through Lifetime must use it only for legitimate purposes, keep it reasonably secure, avoid unnecessary disclosure, avoid selling or exploiting it, comply with applicable data protection law, respect Host privacy, delete or return information where appropriate, and comply with Lifetime's policies and contractual obligations. Vendors must not create unrelated marketing databases without an appropriate lawful basis.
Hosts must respect information received about Vendors and must not misuse Vendor contact information, impersonate Vendors, publish private Vendor information without lawful justification, use private information for harassment, exploit confidential business information, or use information obtained through Lifetime for unlawful or unrelated purposes.
Not all Vendor information is personal information. Some information may relate primarily to a business or corporate entity. However, information concerning an identifiable individual acting for or on behalf of a business may still constitute personal information. Lifetime will assess information according to applicable law.
Vendors may provide Lifetime with information about employees, contractors, agents, or other representatives. Vendors are responsible for ensuring they have an appropriate lawful basis or authority to provide such information where required. Lifetime may process it for Vendor administration, verification, service fulfilment, communications, security, support, compliance, and other legitimate purposes.
A Host may act on behalf of another person or organisation, such as an event planner, wedding coordinator, family representative, company, or authorised party. The person creating or managing the Account must have appropriate authority to provide and manage information on behalf of others. Lifetime may request evidence of authority where reasonably necessary.
Where an organisation uses Lifetime, information may relate to the organisation and individual representatives. Lifetime may distinguish organisational information, Account administrator information, authorised representative information, and other personal information. Organisations remain responsible for ensuring their use of Lifetime and submission of personal information complies with applicable law.
Where a booking is cancelled, Lifetime may retain information relating to the Host, Vendor, booking, communications, payment, cancellation, refund, or dispute for as long as reasonably necessary for cancellation administration, refunds, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, legal compliance, accounting, security, or enforcement of contractual rights.
Following completion of a booking, Lifetime may retain relevant information to maintain transaction records, support reviews, resolve later disputes, process refunds or chargebacks, investigate fraud, meet legal obligations, improve services, and maintain appropriate business records.
Hosts and Vendors may develop direct commercial relationships outside Lifetime where permitted. However, information obtained through Lifetime remains subject to applicable privacy obligations. Neither party receives an unlimited right to reuse information obtained through Lifetime for unrelated purposes.
Lifetime will seek appropriate technical and organisational controls so Users cannot access information merely because it exists within Lifetime's systems. Access may be determined by User role, booking status, transaction relationship, Platform permissions, operational necessity, security requirements, and applicable law.
Lifetime personnel, contractors, and service providers may access personal information only where reasonably necessary for authorised functions and subject to confidentiality and security obligations. Access may be logged, restricted, monitored, or reviewed where appropriate.
Marketplace functions may require third-party providers such as payment providers, cloud providers, communication providers, identity verification providers, analytics providers, fraud-prevention providers, and other technology providers to process information on Lifetime's behalf. Lifetime will seek appropriate contractual, technical, and organisational safeguards.
Lifetime recognises that marketplace participants may have legitimate commercial interests in protecting confidential business information. Lifetime will seek to avoid unnecessarily exposing Vendor internal costs, private payout information, confidential commercial terms, private business correspondence, non-public performance data, and other commercially sensitive information.
Information obtained through Lifetime must not be exploited for purposes inconsistent with why it was provided. Prohibited conduct includes harvesting contact information, creating unauthorised marketing databases, selling User information, impersonating Users, targeting Users with fraud, harassment or intimidation, exploiting private event information, or other misuse of marketplace data. Such conduct may result in suspension or termination under applicable Lifetime policies.
If Lifetime becomes aware of a personal data breach affecting Host or Vendor information, Lifetime will respond according to its incident-response procedures and applicable law. Where notification is legally required, Lifetime will make relevant notifications within the applicable timeframe. Additional requirements are addressed in Chapter Twelve.
Hosts and Vendors may contact Lifetime regarding personal information associated with their Account or transactions. Depending on the request, Lifetime may provide access, correct information, restrict processing, delete information where legally permissible, explain the processing basis, investigate a complaint, or take another action required by law. Requests involving another person's information may be restricted where disclosure would adversely affect that person's rights or another legal restriction applies.
Lifetime's marketplace privacy model is built around a simple principle:
Enough information to build trust. Enough information to complete the transaction. No more information than reasonably necessary.
Hosts should be able to make informed decisions. Vendors should be able to fulfil their obligations. Both should be able to participate without surrendering unnecessary control over their personal information.
Lifetime operates a marketplace in which Hosts may rely on information presented by Vendors. To promote marketplace trust, safety, accountability, fraud prevention, and compliance, Lifetime may conduct verification and Know Your Customer ("KYC") processes. Verification establishes an appropriate level of confidence in relevant Vendor information and is not an absolute guarantee of identity, character, financial standing, professional competence, or future performance.
Depending on the Vendor, service category, risk profile, transaction value, applicable law, and Platform requirements, Lifetime may request full legal name, trading or business name, telephone number, email address, business address, residential address where reasonably necessary, government-issued identification, identification number, business registration documents, tax-related information, professional licences or certifications, proof of address, bank or payout information, ownership information, beneficial ownership information where applicable, authorised representative information, portfolio or service evidence, references or supporting documentation, and other information reasonably necessary for verification.
Where a Vendor operates as an individual or sole proprietor, Lifetime may verify the identity of the individual behind the Vendor Account, including name, identity document, contact information, address where necessary, payout information, and other information reasonably required to establish identity and eligibility.
Where a Vendor operates through a registered company, partnership, enterprise, or other organisation, Lifetime may collect information about the business and, where necessary, individuals authorised to represent or control it, including legal business name, registration number, registered address, directors or authorised representatives, ownership information, beneficial ownership information where applicable, business contact details, business category, licences or professional credentials, and other relevant information.
Where reasonably necessary for compliance, fraud prevention, risk assessment, or other lawful purposes, Lifetime may request information concerning individuals who ultimately own, control, or exercise significant influence over a Vendor business. Such information may be treated as confidential and will not automatically be displayed publicly.
Lifetime may verify Vendor information through information provided directly by the Vendor, authorised identity verification providers, business registries, professional or licensing bodies, payment providers, fraud-prevention services, publicly available sources, regulatory or governmental sources, and other lawful third-party sources.
Lifetime may use reasonable methods to establish whether information supplied by a Vendor corresponds with the identity the Vendor claims to represent. Depending on the process, this may involve document verification, information matching, database checks, selfie or liveness verification where appropriate, business-record checks, phone or email verification, and other proportionate methods.
Lifetime may verify that a Vendor business exists, is appropriately represented, has provided accurate registration information, operates within claimed services, possesses required licences where applicable, and has supplied information consistent with available records. Verification does not guarantee continuous compliance with every applicable business or professional requirement.
For certain services, Lifetime may request evidence of professional qualifications, licences, permits, certifications, memberships, or other credentials, particularly for regulated, technical, safety-sensitive, or specialised services. Verification indicators reflect only what was actually verified.
Where Vendors receive payments through Lifetime, Lifetime or payment partners may verify payout information such as account name, bank name, account number or equivalent identifier, payment-provider account information, settlement information, and information required to prevent fraudulent payouts. Private banking information will not be publicly displayed through the marketplace.
Payment providers may independently conduct verification, screening, risk assessment, or compliance checks. Lifetime may receive outcomes or relevant information where necessary for payment eligibility, transactions, settlements, fraud prevention, payment requirements, or disputes. Payment providers may have their own privacy policies.
Lifetime may conduct reasonable checks for potentially fraudulent, deceptive, or high-risk Vendor activity, including inconsistent identity information, duplicate Accounts, suspicious transaction patterns, unusual Account activity, payment risk indicators, repeated complaints, potentially fraudulent documents, unusual payout changes, and other reasonable fraud indicators. Risk screening does not automatically mean wrongdoing occurred.
Passing verification does not mean Lifetime guarantees the Vendor's financial standing, professional competence, successful fulfilment, service quality, absence of complaints or disputes, or absence of future risk. Hosts should consider all relevant available information.
Lifetime may use labels, badges, symbols, ratings, or other indicators to communicate aspects of Vendor verification. Lifetime may change, suspend, remove, or update an indicator where verification expires, information becomes outdated, circumstances materially change, new information raises legitimate concern, re-verification fails, or requirements are no longer satisfied.
Verification may not be a one-time event. Lifetime may require Vendors to update or resubmit information where information expires, business details change, ownership changes, payout details change, credentials expire, risk circumstances change, law changes, transaction thresholds are reached, or re-verification is reasonably necessary.
Lifetime may conduct periodic reviews based on Vendor category, transaction volume, transaction value, risk profile, Platform history, business changes, complaints or reports, regulatory requirements, or other legitimate risk factors. Vendors may not all undergo identical review frequency or depth.
Lifetime may apply enhanced verification where a Vendor or transaction presents elevated risk. This may include additional identity documents, business documents, ownership information, professional credentials, payment verification, supporting evidence, explanations concerning unusual activity, or other reasonably necessary information. Measures will be proportionate to identified risk.
Where an employee, agent, contractor, or representative acts for a Vendor, Lifetime may collect information necessary to establish identity and authority, including evidence that the representative is authorised to manage the Account, communicate with Lifetime, receive payments where applicable, manage bookings, or perform other Platform functions.
A Vendor business may have multiple individuals operating its Account. Lifetime may maintain information concerning authorised representatives, owners, controllers, or other relevant persons where reasonably necessary. Access will be limited according to role and operational necessity.
A Vendor may fail verification where information cannot reasonably be confirmed, documents appear invalid or inconsistent, required information is missing, identity cannot be established, business information cannot be verified, requirements are not satisfied, or another legitimate concern exists. Failure to verify does not necessarily mean Lifetime has concluded that fraud or misconduct occurred.
Where verification cannot be completed using initially provided information, Lifetime may request additional information or documentation and will identify, where reasonably practicable, what is required, why it is required, how it should be provided, and potential consequences of non-provision.
A Vendor may decline to provide requested information. However, where information is reasonably necessary for Account activation, payment, regulatory compliance, security, fraud prevention, service eligibility, or continued marketplace participation, Lifetime may be unable to activate, maintain, or provide certain Platform services.
Lifetime may restrict, suspend, or temporarily limit a Vendor Account while verification is incomplete, under review, being updated, subject to legitimate investigation, or otherwise required for security or compliance. Such action does not necessarily constitute a finding of wrongdoing.
Providing materially false, fraudulent, misleading, altered, or forged verification information may result in Account rejection, suspension, termination, cancellation of affected transactions, withholding or restriction of payments where legally permissible, reporting to appropriate authorities where required or justified, and other lawful enforcement action.
Lifetime or service providers may use automated tools for document verification, identity matching, fraud detection, risk scoring, anomaly detection, duplicate Account detection, and related verification activities. Where automated processing has legal or similarly significant effects, Lifetime will apply applicable legal safeguards.
Where appropriate, Lifetime may use human review where automated results are inconclusive, information conflicts, additional context is needed, an Account is subject to significant restrictions, or applicable law requires human involvement.
Lifetime may encounter sensitive or specially protected information during verification. It will not process sensitive personal information merely because it might be useful. Where sensitive information is necessary for legitimate verification or compliance, Lifetime will satisfy applicable additional legal requirements and safeguards.
Vendor KYC and verification information will generally be treated as confidential. Lifetime may disclose such information only where reasonably necessary and lawful, including to authorised employees, contracted verification providers, payment providers, professional advisers, auditors, regulators, law enforcement, courts or tribunals, or other permitted recipients.
Lifetime may retain copies or records of verification documents where reasonably necessary for verification, audit, fraud prevention, regulatory compliance, dispute resolution, security, legal claims, record keeping, or other legitimate purposes. Lifetime will seek to avoid retaining documents longer than reasonably necessary.
Lifetime may maintain records showing when verification occurred, information or documents reviewed, verification outcome, provider where applicable, review status, re-verification dates, reasons for material decisions, and relevant audit information.
KYC information will be retained according to Lifetime's data retention framework. Retention may depend on legal and regulatory requirements, payment obligations, fraud prevention, dispute periods, contractual obligations, audit requirements, security needs, and the continuing Vendor relationship.
Where KYC information is no longer reasonably required and no legal, regulatory, security, dispute, or other legitimate retention requirement applies, Lifetime may securely delete, anonymise, irreversibly de-identify, or otherwise securely dispose of it. Deletion of verification information does not necessarily delete all Vendor Account information.
A Vendor may request access to personal information Lifetime holds about them, subject to applicable law and identity verification. Requests may be limited where disclosure would adversely affect another person's rights, reveal confidential security information, compromise fraud-prevention systems, disclose legally privileged information, or otherwise be restricted by law.
Where a Vendor believes verification information is inaccurate, incomplete, or outdated, the Vendor may request correction. Lifetime may require supporting documentation. Where information came from a third-party source, Lifetime may refer the Vendor to that source or conduct appropriate verification.
Vendors are responsible for ensuring verification information is accurate, complete, current, authentic, and not misleading, and should promptly notify Lifetime of material changes.
Lifetime may make Vendor eligibility conditional upon applicable verification requirements. Different Vendor categories may have different requirements based on service type, risk, legal requirements, payment arrangements, transaction characteristics, professional requirements, and Platform policies.
Lifetime may require additional verification following changes in ownership, directors or controllers, authorised representatives, business name, business address, payout information, identification documents, licences, service category, or other material circumstances.
Lifetime may use Vendor verification as one component of its broader trust and safety programme, supporting fraud prevention, identity assurance, accountability, dispute investigation, marketplace integrity, payment security, and User protection. Verification is not a substitute for User judgment or other safeguards.
Lifetime cannot guarantee that Vendor information remains accurate after verification. Hosts should consider current reviews, service history, communications, pricing, portfolio, credentials, cancellation information, verification status, and other available information.
Lifetime seeks to apply verification requirements fairly and consistently. Decisions should be based on legitimate factors relevant to identity, eligibility, security, compliance, fraud prevention, service requirements, or other lawful marketplace considerations. Lifetime will not intentionally use protected personal characteristics as a basis for unlawful discrimination.
Where Lifetime engages third-party verification providers, those providers may process Vendor information according to their contractual role and applicable privacy obligations. Lifetime may require contractual provisions addressing confidentiality, security, purpose limitation, minimisation, retention, breach management, sub-processing, and assistance with Data Subject rights.
Lifetime may update Vendor verification requirements due to changes in law, regulatory requirements, payment-provider requirements, fraud trends, security developments, Platform changes, new Vendor categories, or other legitimate operational considerations. Material changes affecting existing Vendors will be communicated where required.
Lifetime's Vendor verification philosophy is:
Verify what matters. Protect what is private. Re-check when circumstances change. Never confuse verification with a guarantee.
The purpose of KYC is not to create an illusion of perfect certainty. It is to create a marketplace in which reasonable identity, eligibility, security, and accountability checks are performed while respecting the privacy and rights of the people behind every Vendor Account.
Lifetime facilitates a marketplace through which Hosts may purchase or book services offered by Vendors. Payment-related processing is therefore necessary for certain Lifetime services. This Chapter explains how Lifetime may collect, receive, use, disclose, protect, and retain payment and financial information in connection with Host payments, Vendor settlements, transaction processing, refunds, cancellations, chargebacks, payment disputes, fraud prevention, financial reconciliation, and related marketplace activities.
Lifetime may use licensed or appropriately authorised third-party payment service providers to process payments made through the Platform. Depending on the payment architecture adopted by Lifetime, a payment may involve a Host, Lifetime, a Vendor, a payment service provider, a bank or financial institution, and other authorised financial or technology service providers. The exact flow of funds may vary depending on transaction type, payment method, Vendor configuration, currency, applicable regulations, and payment-provider capabilities.
Lifetime may use third-party payment providers to facilitate payment processing. Such providers may process information necessary to authenticate payments, authorise transactions, process charges, detect fraud, manage refunds, administer chargebacks, settle funds, maintain payment records, and comply with applicable financial requirements. Lifetime will seek to use payment providers that maintain appropriate security and compliance standards.
How the marketplace is governed, and what Hosts and Vendors owe each other.
Lifetime operates a marketplace designed to connect Hosts seeking event-related services with Vendors capable of providing those services.
The purpose of this Volume is to establish the governance principles, standards, responsibilities and trust mechanisms through which the Lifetime marketplace operates.
Lifetime's objective is not merely to facilitate transactions. It is to create an environment in which Hosts can discover Vendors with greater confidence; Vendors can present their services professionally; transactions can occur transparently; service expectations can be understood; disputes can be addressed fairly; misconduct can be identified; marketplace abuse can be controlled; and trust can grow over time.
Lifetime is a technology-enabled marketplace connecting Hosts and Vendors within the event-services ecosystem.
Depending on the service and applicable arrangements, Vendors may include wedding planners, event planners, photographers, videographers, makeup artists, decorators, caterers, bakers, fashion designers, venues, DJs, MCs, entertainers, florists, rental providers, beauty professionals, transportation providers, invitation and stationery providers, event equipment providers, and other legitimate event-related service providers.
A Host is a User who uses Lifetime to discover Vendors, enquire about services, request quotations, compare service options, make bookings, purchase services, coordinate events, communicate with Vendors, submit reviews, or otherwise participate in the marketplace as a Host or event organiser.
The term “Host” may apply regardless of whether the User is organising an event for themselves or on behalf of another person or organisation.
A Vendor is a User who offers, advertises, supplies, coordinates, or fulfils event-related goods or services through Lifetime.
Vendors may operate as individuals, sole proprietors, partnerships, companies, professional practices, registered businesses, independent contractors, or other legally recognised business structures.
Hosts and Vendors are collectively referred to as Users.
A person may interact with Lifetime in more than one capacity where permitted. For example, a person may act as a Host for one event, operate as a Vendor for another service, or represent a Vendor organisation.
Lifetime may apply different obligations depending on the capacity in which a User is acting.
Lifetime provides the technology and marketplace infrastructure through which Hosts and Vendors may discover one another, communicate, transact, coordinate services, and build marketplace relationships.
Depending on the relevant service and arrangement, Lifetime may provide marketplace discovery, Vendor profiles, search and filtering, enquiries, booking functionality, payment facilitation, communications, reviews and ratings, dispute-resolution mechanisms, Vendor verification, trust and safety systems, customer support, transaction records, and other marketplace services.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, Lifetime is not the Vendor responsible for the underlying event service purchased from an independent Vendor.
A Vendor is generally responsible for the service they advertise, representations they make, the price they quote, the quality of their work, their availability, their professional conduct, fulfilment of their commitments, and compliance with applicable law.
Unless otherwise expressly stated, Vendors operate independently from Lifetime.
A Vendor's presence on Lifetime does not necessarily mean that Lifetime owns the Vendor's business, employs the Vendor, controls the Vendor's personnel, guarantees every Vendor service, is a partner of the Vendor, or is legally responsible for every act or omission of the Vendor.
Verification, listing, visibility, ratings, reviews, badges, or other marketplace features do not automatically constitute an unconditional endorsement or guarantee by Lifetime.
Lifetime may use such mechanisms to help Users make more informed decisions. Users remain responsible for considering the information available to them and making appropriate decisions.
Lifetime recognises that a marketplace cannot function effectively without trust.
Trust on Lifetime is supported through multiple layers, which may include Vendor verification, accurate marketplace information, transparent pricing, secure payment processes, User reviews, dispute-resolution mechanisms, service standards, fraud prevention, enforcement mechanisms, and accountable Platform governance.
No single mechanism is sufficient on its own.
Lifetime seeks to provide Users with meaningful information necessary to make informed marketplace decisions.
This may include information concerning Vendor identity, Vendor services, service descriptions, pricing, availability, location, reviews, ratings, applicable booking terms, cancellation conditions, payment requirements, and other relevant information.
Users are expected to provide information that is truthful, accurate, current, complete where required, and not materially misleading.
A User must not intentionally provide false information to obtain marketplace access, verification, payment, bookings, favourable rankings, reviews, refunds, or other Platform benefits.
A Vendor is accountable for the information and representations they place on Lifetime.
This includes service descriptions, prices, availability, portfolio materials, credentials, qualifications, business information, photographs, promotional claims, and other representations made to Hosts.
Hosts are similarly responsible for information they provide to Vendors and Lifetime.
Hosts should provide reasonably accurate information concerning event dates, event location, service requirements, guest numbers, budgets where relevant, special requirements, timing, access conditions, and other information necessary for proper service fulfilment.
Users must comply with applicable law, Lifetime's Terms of Service, this Marketplace Governance Framework, Acceptable Use requirements, applicable Vendor or Host terms, Service Fulfilment requirements, payment rules, dispute-resolution procedures, and other applicable Lifetime policies.
Users must not use Lifetime to engage in conduct that is fraudulent, deceptive, abusive, threatening, discriminatory, unlawful, materially misleading, designed to manipulate the marketplace, intended to evade legitimate Platform controls, or otherwise inconsistent with Lifetime's marketplace standards.
Lifetime may take reasonable measures to protect marketplace integrity. These measures may include verification, monitoring, risk assessment, fraud detection, content review, transaction review, User reporting, investigation, restrictions, suspension, termination, and other appropriate measures.
Lifetime may apply different levels of review or controls depending on the level of risk associated with a User, Vendor, transaction, service category, payment, complaint, security event, or another marketplace activity.
Risk-based governance does not mean that every User is treated as suspicious. It means that Lifetime allocates controls according to legitimate risk.
Lifetime may verify Vendors before or after allowing them to participate in the marketplace.
Verification may include identity verification, business verification, contact verification, professional credentials, registration information, banking information, ownership information, address information, references, portfolio review, or other appropriate checks.
Verification reduces certain marketplace risks but cannot eliminate them completely.
A verified Vendor may still fail to perform, breach a contract, provide poor service, become unavailable, make an error, commit misconduct, or experience circumstances beyond their control.
Lifetime may therefore continue monitoring marketplace activity after verification.
Lifetime may require a Vendor to undergo additional verification where information changes, verification expires, risk increases, suspicious activity is detected, a complaint raises a material concern, applicable law requires additional verification, or Lifetime otherwise reasonably determines that re-verification is appropriate.
Lifetime may determine how Vendors and services are displayed, ranked, recommended, promoted, or otherwise surfaced.
Factors may include relevance, availability, location, service category, User preferences, ratings, reviews, response behaviour, reliability, completeness of profiles, marketplace performance, paid promotion where applicable, and other legitimate factors.
Lifetime does not guarantee that a Vendor will appear first in search results, receive a particular number of enquiries, receive bookings, remain continuously visible, or receive a particular level of marketplace exposure.
Where Lifetime offers paid promotional opportunities, Lifetime may identify or distinguish paid placements where appropriate and legally required.
Paid visibility does not necessarily mean that Lifetime guarantees the quality or performance of the promoted Vendor.
Lifetime may facilitate communications between Hosts and Vendors.
Communications may include enquiries, quotations, booking discussions, service specifications, scheduling, payment-related communications, cancellation discussions, dispute communications, and support interactions.
Users must communicate professionally and lawfully.
Users must not use Lifetime's communication tools to threaten, harass, intimidate, extort, deceive, impersonate, distribute malicious content, solicit unlawful activity, or otherwise abuse another User.
Users must not intentionally circumvent identity verification, payment controls, fraud controls, transaction limits, Account restrictions, dispute procedures, security systems, or other legitimate Platform safeguards.
Lifetime may charge fees for certain marketplace services.
Applicable fees may be disclosed through the Platform, booking interfaces, Vendor agreements, pricing pages, invoices, or other applicable documentation.
Where Lifetime facilitates payments, it may establish procedures governing payment authorisation, payment processing, settlement, refunds, cancellations, chargebacks, payment disputes, transaction records, and fraud prevention.
These procedures may operate alongside the rules of applicable payment providers.
Vendors are expected to provide services professionally, safely, lawfully, in accordance with agreed specifications, within agreed timelines, and consistent with reasonable marketplace standards.
Detailed fulfilment requirements may be established in the Service Fulfilment Policy.
Hosts are expected to provide accurate instructions, communicate material changes, provide reasonable access, make required payments, cooperate with Vendors, respect agreed schedules, and avoid unreasonable demands outside the agreed scope.
Lifetime may provide mechanisms through which Hosts and Vendors can raise disputes.
These mechanisms may include direct communication, evidence submission, mediation, internal review, refund assessment, payment review, escalation, third-party resolution, or other appropriate procedures.
Lifetime may consider relevant evidence when assessing marketplace disputes.
Evidence may include booking records, payment records, messages, photographs, videos, invoices, quotations, contracts, delivery records, timestamps, User reports, Vendor records, and other relevant information.
Lifetime seeks to apply marketplace rules reasonably and proportionately.
Depending on circumstances, Lifetime may consider seriousness, intent, history, impact, evidence, recurrence, cooperation, remediation, risk to other Users, and applicable law.
Where appropriate, Lifetime may issue warnings, request corrective action, remove content, restrict features, delay or review transactions, suspend Accounts, remove Vendors, terminate Accounts, withhold or reverse Platform benefits where legally permitted, or take other lawful measures.
Where Lifetime provides an appeal process, an affected User may request review of certain enforcement decisions.
Appeal procedures may require identification of the decision, grounds for appeal, supporting evidence, and submission within a specified timeframe.
Lifetime may take reasonable measures to protect Users from foreseeable marketplace risks.
These may include risks involving fraud, impersonation, unsafe conduct, financial abuse, harassment, exploitation, malicious activity, counterfeit or misleading services, and other serious misconduct.
Where legally required or otherwise appropriate, Lifetime may cooperate with law-enforcement authorities, regulators, courts, payment institutions, financial institutions, professional bodies, and other competent authorities.
Lifetime's marketplace governance is founded on a simple principle:
“A marketplace is only as valuable as the trust people can reasonably place in it.”
Lifetime will therefore seek to balance openness with safety, growth with accountability, convenience with verification, freedom with responsibility, and commercial opportunity with public trust.
Hosts are central participants in the Lifetime marketplace. This Chapter establishes the rights, responsibilities, standards and expectations applicable to Hosts when using Lifetime to discover, evaluate, engage, book, pay for, communicate with, review, and otherwise interact with Vendors. Lifetime seeks to ensure that Hosts are able to participate in the marketplace with confidence while recognising that meaningful marketplace protection requires corresponding responsibilities.
A Host should use Lifetime honestly, responsibly, respectfully, lawfully, in good faith, and in a manner consistent with the interests of other Users and the integrity of the marketplace. Being a Host is not merely a purchasing role. A Host is a participant in a shared marketplace ecosystem.
Subject to applicable law and Lifetime's policies, a Host may have the right to: - access the marketplace; - discover eligible Vendors; - receive truthful marketplace information; - communicate with Vendors; - request quotations; - make bookings; - receive agreed services; - make payments through supported channels; - receive applicable transaction records; - raise complaints; - request refunds where applicable; - participate in dispute-resolution processes; - submit honest reviews; - exercise applicable privacy rights; and - receive fair and reasonable treatment under Lifetime's policies.
Hosts should have access to reasonably meaningful information necessary to make informed decisions. Depending on the service, this may include Vendor identity, service description, pricing, availability, service location, portfolio materials, ratings, reviews, booking requirements, cancellation terms, refund conditions, applicable fees, and other material service information.
Where Lifetime facilitates a transaction, Hosts should receive appropriate information concerning amount payable, applicable fees, payment timing, available payment methods, cancellation implications, refund implications, and other material payment conditions.
Where reasonably practicable, Lifetime may provide Hosts with records relating to transactions conducted through the Platform. These may include booking confirmations, payment confirmations, invoices, receipts, cancellation records, refund records, and relevant communications.
Hosts have applicable privacy rights concerning personal information processed by Lifetime. Those rights are addressed in Volume II — Privacy Policy & Data Protection Framework.
A Host may report concerns involving a Vendor, a transaction, a payment, a service, another User, marketplace content, suspected fraud, safety, privacy, or other Platform-related matters. Lifetime may establish appropriate reporting channels.
Where Lifetime's dispute-resolution process applies, a Host may submit relevant evidence and receive consideration of the matter in accordance with the applicable procedure. Lifetime does not guarantee that every dispute will be resolved in the Host's favour.
Marketplace participation does not guarantee that a Host will find a suitable Vendor, a Vendor will accept a booking, a particular service will be available, a Vendor will remain available, a dispute will result in a refund, or a particular marketplace outcome will occur.
Hosts must provide accurate information when creating or maintaining an Account. This may include name, contact information, billing information, location, event information, payment information, and other information reasonably required by Lifetime.
Hosts should provide Vendors with information reasonably necessary to fulfil a service. Depending on the service, this may include event date, event time, event venue, guest count, event type, service requirements, setup requirements, access restrictions, dietary or accessibility requirements, special instructions, and other material information.
A Host should promptly communicate material changes that could affect a Vendor's ability to fulfil an agreed service. Material changes may include changing the event date, changing the venue, significantly changing guest numbers, changing service requirements, changing event timing, reducing or expanding the agreed scope, or other significant changes.
Hosts are expected to cooperate reasonably with Vendors where such cooperation is necessary for service fulfilment. This may include providing access, providing required information, responding to reasonable questions, approving materials, making decisions within agreed timelines, and providing necessary instructions.
Where a Vendor requires access to an event location, the Host should provide reasonable access consistent with the agreed service. A Host should not knowingly create unnecessary access barriers that prevent a Vendor from fulfilling an agreed service.
Hosts must make required payments in accordance with applicable booking terms. A Host must not intentionally use fraudulent payment information, initiate unauthorised chargebacks, manipulate payment systems, evade legitimate fees, or falsely claim that a payment was made.
Where a Host genuinely disputes a transaction, the Host should use the appropriate dispute or payment-resolution channel. Hosts should provide accurate information when reporting unauthorised transactions, duplicate charges, incorrect amounts, non-delivery, service failures, or other payment concerns.
Hosts must not knowingly submit false claims for refunds, cancellations, non-delivery, defective services, duplicate transactions, unauthorised payments, or other financial remedies. False claims may result in enforcement action.
Hosts may cancel bookings subject to the applicable cancellation terms. Cancellation consequences may depend on when cancellation occurs, Vendor-specific terms, service type, payment status, whether work has commenced, whether costs have already been incurred, and applicable Lifetime policies.
Where a Host wishes to reschedule a service, the Host should communicate with the Vendor as soon as reasonably possible. Rescheduling is not automatically guaranteed and may depend on Vendor availability, timing, service type, additional costs, contractual terms, and other relevant circumstances.
Hosts should recognise that Vendors may incur costs and reserve personnel, equipment, venues, materials, transportation, or other resources based on a confirmed booking. A Host should therefore not treat a confirmed booking as though it carries no commitment.
Hosts should not impose material requirements on Vendors that were not reasonably contemplated by the agreed service without discussing and, where appropriate, agreeing to the change. Additional requirements may result in additional fees, revised timelines, revised scope, or refusal where the Vendor cannot reasonably accommodate the request.
Hosts must treat Vendors and their personnel with reasonable dignity and respect. Hosts must not engage in harassment, threats, intimidation, discrimination, abuse, extortion, stalking, humiliation, coercion, or other unacceptable conduct.
Hosts must not unlawfully discriminate against Vendors or Vendor personnel based on protected characteristics recognised by applicable law. Lifetime may take action concerning discriminatory conduct occurring through the Platform.
Repeated unwanted contact, threatening messages, sexual harassment, abusive language, intimidation, or other harassment may violate Lifetime's marketplace standards. Lifetime may restrict communication or take other appropriate action.
A Host must not threaten to publish knowingly false information, submit fraudulent complaints, damage a Vendor's reputation, initiate false payment disputes, or otherwise harm a Vendor unless the Vendor provides a benefit, refund, discount, service, or other concession. A genuine complaint or lawful exercise of rights is not extortion.
Hosts may be invited to provide reviews and ratings following interactions with Vendors. Reviews should reflect the Host's genuine experience.
A Host must not knowingly submit a review that contains fabricated facts, impersonates another person, is based on an experience that did not occur, was purchased or incentivised in a prohibited manner, is intended solely to manipulate rankings, contains unlawful threats, or deliberately misrepresents material facts.
A Host must not threaten to leave a negative review unless a Vendor provides an unrelated benefit. Likewise, a Host must not threaten to remove a negative review in exchange for money, services, discounts, or other improper benefits.
A Vendor may dispute a review where there is a reasonable basis to believe that the review is fabricated, violates Platform rules, contains prohibited content, is fraudulent, concerns the wrong Vendor, or otherwise materially misrepresents the transaction. Lifetime may review such reports.
Hosts may submit photographs, videos, reviews, messages, documents, event information, testimonials, and other content. Hosts are responsible for ensuring that submitted content does not unlawfully infringe another person's rights.
A Host should only upload content where they have the necessary rights, authority, permission, or lawful basis to do so. This is particularly important for photographs, videos, copyrighted materials, logos, private communications, and personal information belonging to other people.
Hosts should exercise reasonable care when providing information about event guests. Hosts should avoid providing unnecessary personal information concerning children, guests, family members, employees, attendees, or other individuals.
Hosts should communicate material special requirements as early as reasonably possible. These may include accessibility requirements, dietary restrictions, allergies, religious or cultural requirements, mobility needs, safety requirements, and other requirements that materially affect service delivery.
Hosts should provide accurate information about special requirements. A Host should not knowingly conceal information that could materially affect safety, service delivery, pricing, equipment, staffing, or Vendor preparation.
Where a service involves material safety considerations, Hosts should provide relevant information reasonably necessary to protect Vendors and attendees.
Hosts are responsible for communicating relevant venue rules to Vendors where those rules affect service fulfilment. These may include setup restrictions, access times, parking rules, noise restrictions, photography restrictions, security requirements, equipment restrictions, and other relevant conditions.
Where a Host invites guests or other persons to an event, the Host should take reasonable steps to ensure that their conduct does not materially interfere with Vendor service delivery.
Hosts must not misuse Vendor information obtained through Lifetime. This includes confidential pricing, private contact information, business documents, proprietary materials, unpublished information, and information provided solely for a transaction.
Hosts must not impersonate another Host, a Vendor, Lifetime, a financial institution, a government authority, or another person or organisation.
A Host must not create or control multiple Accounts for the purpose of evading enforcement, manipulating reviews, obtaining multiple promotional benefits, circumventing restrictions, committing fraud, or misleading Lifetime or other Users.
Hosts must not intentionally manipulate referral programmes, discounts, promotional codes, loyalty programmes, credits, rewards, or other Platform incentives.
Where Lifetime provides referral programmes, Hosts must comply with the applicable programme rules. Lifetime may restrict or reverse benefits obtained through fraudulent or abusive referrals.
Hosts must not use Lifetime to request or purchase services that are unlawful, fraudulent, prohibited by applicable law, intended to facilitate criminal activity, materially unsafe, or prohibited under Lifetime's policies.
A Host must not pressure or instruct a Vendor to perform an unlawful act. A Vendor may refuse a request that they reasonably believe is unlawful, unsafe, or materially inconsistent with their professional obligations.
Lifetime may permit Users to exchange contact information where appropriate. However, Hosts must not use contact information obtained through Lifetime to harass a Vendor, send unsolicited commercial communications unrelated to the transaction, circumvent Platform restrictions, impersonate Lifetime, or engage in unlawful conduct.
Before confirming a booking, Hosts should review service scope, pricing, date, time, location, cancellation terms, payment terms, Vendor requirements, special conditions, and other material booking information.
A quotation may not constitute a final booking unless expressly accepted and confirmed under the applicable process. Hosts should review quotation validity periods and conditions where provided.
Hosts should ensure that the agreed scope of service reasonably reflects their requirements. Where the scope is unclear, the Host should seek clarification before confirming the booking.
A Host requesting additional services after booking should recognise that the Vendor may reasonably charge additional fees, require additional time, require additional resources, decline the request, or propose an alternative.
Hosts are expected to act in good faith throughout marketplace interactions. Good faith includes communicating honestly, honouring legitimate commitments, providing material information, cooperating reasonably, avoiding manipulation, and using dispute processes honestly.
Hosts should promptly report serious concerns that may affect personal safety, financial security, privacy, Platform integrity, other Users, or lawful operation of the marketplace.
Lifetime's Platform should not be treated as a substitute for emergency services. Where there is an immediate threat to life, health, or safety, Hosts should contact the appropriate emergency authority and take reasonable steps to protect themselves and others.
Where Lifetime reasonably investigates a material complaint, fraud allegation, security incident, or dispute, Hosts may be asked to provide relevant information. Hosts should provide truthful information and must not intentionally destroy or manipulate relevant evidence.
Hosts must not knowingly submit false reports against Vendors or other Users. A report made honestly and in good faith will not violate this Article merely because Lifetime ultimately determines that the allegation was unsubstantiated.
Hosts must not use dispute, refund, chargeback, complaint, or appeal mechanisms to obtain money improperly, avoid legitimate obligations, retaliate against a Vendor, manipulate marketplace rankings, harass another User, or otherwise abuse Platform processes.
Lifetime may restrict a Host Account where reasonably necessary to protect Users, prevent fraud, investigate misconduct, protect payment systems, comply with law, enforce Platform rules, or preserve marketplace integrity.
A Host Account may be suspended or terminated for serious or repeated violations of applicable law, Terms of Service, Marketplace Governance rules, Acceptable Use requirements, payment rules, dispute procedures, or other applicable Lifetime policies.
Where reasonably practicable, Lifetime may consider proportional responses to Host misconduct. Possible measures may include warning, education, temporary restriction, feature limitation, transaction review, suspension, termination, or other appropriate action.
Lifetime will not treat a Host's good-faith complaint against a Vendor as misconduct merely because the complaint is inconvenient or results in an investigation. However, knowingly fraudulent or abusive complaints may constitute misconduct.
Where an appeal mechanism is available, a Host may request review of an applicable enforcement decision. Lifetime may require relevant evidence and may maintain reasonable deadlines for appeals.
Lifetime does not automatically presume that a Host is correct because the Host is a Host. Nor does Lifetime automatically presume that a Vendor is correct because the Vendor is verified. Disputes should be assessed according to evidence, applicable agreements, Platform records, relevant policies, circumstances, and applicable law.
The protections Lifetime provides to Hosts are accompanied by corresponding protections for Vendors. A Host's status as a paying User does not create a right to abuse a Vendor, demand unlawful conduct, obtain an automatic refund, bypass agreed terms, manipulate reviews, or receive preferential treatment in bad-faith disputes.
Lifetime may provide Hosts with educational information concerning choosing Vendors, evaluating listings, understanding booking terms, payment safety, event planning, dispute prevention, privacy, marketplace safety, and responsible Platform use.
Lifetime's Host-protection philosophy is: “A Host should never have to choose between convenience and confidence.”
Lifetime will seek to provide tools, information, processes, and safeguards that allow Hosts to participate in the marketplace with greater confidence while recognising that no marketplace can eliminate every commercial or operational risk.
Lifetime's corresponding Host-responsibility principle is: “Protection works best when responsibility is mutual.”
Hosts should therefore use the information, tools, protections, and dispute mechanisms available to them responsibly.
A Lifetime Host should be: Informed before booking. Honest when communicating. Respectful when dealing with Vendors. Responsible with payments. Careful with personal information. Fair when reviewing services. Truthful when raising disputes. And accountable for the commitments they make.
Vendors are essential participants in the Lifetime marketplace.
This Chapter establishes the rights, responsibilities, professional standards and marketplace expectations applicable to Vendors who use Lifetime to advertise, promote, offer, communicate about, receive bookings for, or fulfil goods and services.
Lifetime seeks to create an environment in which serious Vendors can build legitimate businesses, attract Hosts, demonstrate their capabilities, receive fair treatment, and grow their reputation.
In return, Vendors are expected to uphold standards appropriate to the trust placed in them by Hosts and Lifetime.
A Vendor should use Lifetime: - professionally; - honestly; - responsibly; - lawfully; - transparently; - respectfully; - in good faith; and - consistently with the standards reasonably expected of a professional service provider.
Subject to applicable law and Lifetime's policies, a Vendor may have the right to: - create or apply for a Vendor Account; - present eligible services on the marketplace; - communicate with Hosts; - receive legitimate enquiries; - receive bookings where selected by Hosts; - receive payments due to them under applicable arrangements; - access applicable transaction information; - build a marketplace reputation; - receive fair consideration in disputes; - challenge inaccurate or fraudulent reviews; - raise complaints against Hosts or other Users; - exercise applicable privacy rights; and - appeal eligible enforcement decisions.
Lifetime does not seek to exclude Vendors on unlawful discriminatory grounds.
Vendor eligibility may, however, depend on legitimate considerations including: - service category; - verification; - legal eligibility; - safety; - quality; - capacity; - compliance; - marketplace demand; - geographic availability; - risk; and - other legitimate Platform requirements.
Where applicable, Vendors should have access to information reasonably necessary to understand their participation in the marketplace.
This may include: - applicable fees; - booking requirements; - payment arrangements; - service expectations; - cancellation rules; - review procedures; - enforcement standards; - verification requirements; and - relevant Platform policies.
Subject to Marketplace rules, a Vendor may present information about their: - business; - brand; - services; - experience; - portfolio; - qualifications; - service area; - pricing; - availability; and - professional capabilities.
Vendor information must remain truthful and compliant with applicable law.
Subject to applicable law and Lifetime's Platform rules, Vendors may establish legitimate commercial terms concerning: - pricing; - service scope; - availability; - booking requirements; - minimum order requirements; - lead times; - deposits where applicable; - cancellation conditions; and - other reasonable business conditions.
A Vendor is not ordinarily required to accept every Host enquiry or booking request.
A Vendor may decline a request where: - they are unavailable; - the service falls outside their capabilities; - the request conflicts with existing commitments; - the location is impractical; - the requested scope is unsuitable; - the request is unlawful; - safety concerns exist; or - another legitimate business reason applies.
A refusal must not, however, be based on unlawful discrimination or prohibited conduct.
Vendors must provide accurate and current information when creating or maintaining a Vendor Account.
This may include: - legal name; - trading name; - business registration information; - contact details; - address; - service categories; - ownership information; - banking information; - identity information; - professional credentials; and - other information reasonably required by Lifetime.
Lifetime may require Vendors to complete verification before receiving full marketplace access.
Verification may include: - identity verification; - business verification; - ownership verification; - bank-account verification; - address verification; - professional qualification verification; - contact verification; - portfolio review; - references; and - other reasonable checks.
A Vendor must not knowingly provide false, altered, misleading, stolen, or fraudulent documents or information during verification.
This includes documents relating to: - identity; - business registration; - professional credentials; - banking; - ownership; - location; - qualifications; or - other verification requirements.
Vendor verification is not necessarily a one-time event.
Lifetime may require updated information when: - business details change; - ownership changes; - banking details change; - documents expire; - information becomes unreliable; - risk indicators arise; - applicable law changes; or - additional verification becomes reasonably necessary.
A Vendor is responsible for ensuring that qualifications, licences, certifications, registrations, awards, memberships, and professional credentials displayed on Lifetime are genuine and current where applicable.
A Vendor must not falsely represent themselves as: - licensed; - certified; - qualified; - accredited; - experienced; - affiliated with an organisation; - endorsed by another person; or - capable of providing a service
when that representation is materially false or misleading.
A Vendor's listing should accurately describe the goods or services being offered.
Listings should not materially misrepresent: - service scope; - quality; - pricing; - availability; - location; - materials; - turnaround time; - inclusions; - exclusions; or - other material characteristics.
Vendors should use photographs and portfolio materials that genuinely represent their work.
A Vendor must not knowingly present: - another Vendor's work as their own; - stock images as original work without appropriate disclosure; - substantially altered work as representative of ordinary output; or - work created by another provider without appropriate attribution or permission.
Vendors must not knowingly create, purchase, fabricate, manipulate, or commission fraudulent reviews or testimonials.
This includes arranging for persons who did not use the Vendor's services to submit reviews pretending to be genuine Hosts.
Vendors must not: - pressure Hosts into positive reviews; - offer improper incentives for positive reviews; - threaten Hosts over negative reviews; - create fake Accounts to review themselves; - arrange reciprocal fake reviews; or - otherwise manipulate marketplace reputation systems.
Vendors should present pricing accurately and transparently.
Where a displayed price is not the final price, the Vendor should clearly communicate material conditions that may affect the final amount.
Vendors should not intentionally conceal material charges until after a Host has committed to a transaction.
Additional charges should be communicated as early as reasonably practicable.
A Vendor should not materially change an agreed price after confirmation except: - where the booking terms permit it; - where the Host agrees; - where additional services are requested; - where a disclosed variable pricing mechanism applies; or - where another legitimate contractual basis exists.
A Vendor who knowingly accepts multiple commitments for the same time and resources, without a reasonable ability to fulfil them, may be subject to enforcement.
Vendors should accept bookings only where they reasonably believe they can fulfil the agreed service.
Where circumstances materially affect capacity, the Vendor should communicate promptly with affected Hosts.
Vendors should respond to Host enquiries in a reasonably professional manner.
Depending on the service, this may include: - acknowledging enquiries; - answering reasonable questions; - providing accurate quotations; - communicating availability; - confirming material requirements; and - communicating changes promptly.
Vendors must not knowingly mislead Hosts through: - false promises; - fabricated credentials; - deceptive pricing; - false availability; - misleading photographs; - impersonation; - false guarantees; or - other materially misleading representations.
Vendors must treat Hosts and their guests with reasonable dignity and respect.
Vendors must not engage in: - harassment; - threats; - intimidation; - discrimination; - abuse; - extortion; - stalking; - humiliation; - coercion; or - other unacceptable conduct.
Where a Vendor uses employees, assistants, subcontractors, freelancers, or other personnel, the Vendor remains responsible for ensuring that those persons act consistently with applicable marketplace standards while performing services for a Lifetime booking.
A Vendor should not materially subcontract a service where doing so would substantially change the nature or quality of the agreed service without appropriate disclosure or permission where required.
Where a particular individual is materially represented as the person providing a service, the Vendor should not substitute another person without appropriate notice where the identity of that individual is material to the Host's decision.
Vendors are expected to provide services with reasonable care, skill, professionalism, and consistency with the agreed scope.
A Vendor should fulfil the service substantially in accordance with: - the confirmed booking; - agreed specifications; - accepted quotation; - applicable Vendor terms; - communicated service description; and - applicable Lifetime policies.
A Vendor should communicate material changes before they materially affect the Host wherever reasonably possible.
Material changes may include: - significant scope reductions; - replacement of key personnel; - material changes in materials; - substantial delays; - relocation; - cancellation; - significant price changes; or - other changes that could reasonably affect the Host's decision.
Where a Vendor becomes aware that a service may be delayed, the Vendor should notify the Host as soon as reasonably practicable.
The Vendor should, where possible: - explain the reason; - provide an updated timeline; - propose a reasonable solution; and - minimise the impact on the Host.
Where a Vendor cannot fulfil a confirmed booking, the Vendor should notify Lifetime and the Host promptly where appropriate.
Depending on the circumstances, the Vendor may be expected to: - provide an explanation; - assist with alternatives; - refund amounts where applicable; - cooperate with dispute resolution; and - take reasonable steps to mitigate harm.
Vendor cancellations may have significant consequences for Hosts.
Lifetime may therefore apply additional review or enforcement where a Vendor repeatedly cancels confirmed bookings without legitimate reasons.
A Vendor may experience circumstances outside their reasonable control.
These may include: - natural disasters; - serious emergencies; - government restrictions; - major infrastructure failure; - sudden incapacity; - severe transportation disruption; or - other genuinely unavoidable events.
Such circumstances do not automatically eliminate every contractual or Platform consequence, but Lifetime may consider them when assessing a dispute.
Vendors should take reasonable steps to provide services safely.
Where a Host requests an activity that presents unreasonable or unlawful safety risks, the Vendor may refuse or modify the request.
Vendors are responsible for complying with laws and regulations applicable to their businesses and services.
This may include requirements relating to: - business registration; - taxation; - professional licensing; - food safety; - public health; - consumer protection; - employment; - intellectual property; - environmental requirements; - transportation; - venue operations; and - other applicable requirements.
Where insurance is legally required or reasonably appropriate for a particular service, Vendors are responsible for maintaining appropriate coverage.
Lifetime may request evidence of insurance for particular service categories where appropriate.
Vendors are responsible for ensuring that equipment used in fulfilling their services is: - suitable; - safe; - maintained; - lawfully used; and - reasonably fit for its intended purpose.
Where a Vendor supplies materials, the Vendor should ensure that the materials reasonably conform to the agreed specification.
Vendors must not knowingly offer counterfeit, stolen, unlawfully obtained, or materially misrepresented goods through Lifetime.
Vendors must respect the intellectual-property rights of others.
A Vendor must not knowingly upload or use: - copyrighted materials without permission; - trademarks without authorisation; - stolen photographs; - copied portfolios; - proprietary designs; or - other protected material
in a manner that infringes another person's rights.
Vendors retain ownership of content they own, subject to the licences and rights granted to Lifetime under applicable agreements and Platform functionality.
Vendors may receive personal information about Hosts or event attendees in order to fulfil services.
Vendors must use such information only for legitimate purposes connected with the relevant service or as otherwise permitted by law.
Vendors must not use Host information obtained through Lifetime to: - sell unrelated products; - send unrelated marketing without a lawful basis; - contact people for personal purposes; - disclose information improperly; - sell databases; - harass Users; or - otherwise misuse personal information.
Vendors may have independent obligations under applicable data-protection law depending on the information they process and their role.
Vendors should implement appropriate measures to protect personal information received through Lifetime.
Vendors should treat confidential Host information and confidential Lifetime information responsibly.
Confidential information should not be disclosed except: - to fulfil the service; - with appropriate permission; - where legally required; or - where another legitimate legal basis applies.
Vendors must not use Lifetime primarily as a mechanism for obtaining Host information and then systematically diverting transactions away from Lifetime in order to evade legitimate Platform fees or safeguards.
Lifetime does not necessarily prohibit all relationships that continue outside the Platform.
However, Vendors must comply with applicable contractual and Platform restrictions concerning: - circumvention; - fees; - payment; - safety; - data use; - dispute protections; and - marketplace integrity.
Vendors must not intentionally circumvent: - verification; - payment controls; - Account restrictions; - transaction monitoring; - dispute procedures; - fraud controls; - enforcement measures; or - other legitimate Platform safeguards.
Where Lifetime facilitates payments, Vendors must provide accurate payment information.
Vendors must not knowingly provide: - another person's bank account without authority; - fraudulent account information; - altered payment details; - accounts intended to conceal beneficial ownership; or - information designed to evade legitimate controls.
Vendor payouts may be subject to: - payment-provider rules; - verification; - transaction status; - refunds; - disputes; - chargebacks; - fraud reviews; - applicable fees; - reserves or holds where legally permitted; and - other legitimate conditions.
A Vendor must not falsely claim that: - a payment was not received; - a payment was received when it was not; - a refund was issued when it was not; - a service was completed when it was not; or - a transaction was cancelled when it was not.
Where a refund is legitimately due under applicable terms or law, the Vendor must cooperate with the relevant refund process.
Lifetime may facilitate or administer refund processes where applicable.
Vendors should cooperate honestly with payment disputes and chargeback investigations.
A Vendor must not knowingly submit false evidence to defeat a legitimate payment dispute.
Vendors may be permitted to review Hosts where Lifetime provides a two-sided review system.
Such reviews must be: - truthful; - relevant; - respectful; - based on genuine interactions; and - compliant with Platform rules.
A Vendor must not use reviews to retaliate against a Host merely because the Host: - made a legitimate complaint; - requested a lawful refund; - provided a negative review;
What happens between a confirmed booking and a delivered service.
This Chapter establishes the foundational principles governing service fulfilment on Lifetime.
It defines: - what fulfilment means; - when a service is considered fulfilled; - the relationship between booking and fulfilment; - the responsibilities of Hosts and Vendors; - the importance of agreed service scope; - the role of communication and preparation; - the distinction between substantial and incomplete fulfilment; and - the principles upon which fulfilment disputes may be assessed.
Lifetime recognises that a transaction is ultimately about delivery.
A booking creates an expectation.
A payment creates a financial commitment.
A confirmation creates an agreed arrangement.
Fulfilment occurs when the agreed service is actually delivered in accordance with the applicable terms and circumstances.
The existence of a confirmed booking does not, by itself, establish that a service has been fulfilled.
A service may only be regarded as fulfilled where the Vendor has reasonably performed the material obligations associated with the agreed transaction.
Service fulfilment is not exclusively a Vendor responsibility.
Vendors are responsible for delivering the agreed service.
Hosts are responsible for providing the cooperation, access, information, approvals, payments, Venue conditions and other requirements that they have agreed to provide.
A Vendor that accepts a Lifetime transaction should make reasonable efforts to: - provide the agreed service; - arrive or commence at the agreed time; - provide the agreed deliverables; - use reasonably appropriate personnel and equipment; - comply with applicable requirements; - communicate material problems promptly; and - complete the service in a professional manner.
A Host should make reasonable efforts to: - provide accurate information; - provide agreed access; - make required payments; - provide necessary approvals; - comply with reasonable Vendor requirements; - ensure appropriate Venue conditions where applicable; - communicate material changes; and - avoid conduct that prevents or materially interferes with fulfilment.
The relevant service for fulfilment purposes is ordinarily determined by the terms agreed between the Host and Vendor.
These may include: - the service description; - booking details; - agreed price; - scope of work; - deliverables; - date; - time; - location; - quantity; - duration; - agreed modifications; and - other material terms.
A term is material where its fulfilment or non-fulfilment could reasonably affect the Host's decision to enter into the transaction or the Vendor's ability to perform it.
A Vendor should not be expected to provide services materially beyond the agreed scope without appropriate agreement.
Likewise, a Vendor should not deliberately reduce the agreed scope without appropriate notice and, where necessary, Host agreement.
Where a service is booked through a Vendor listing, the listing may form part of the basis for determining what the Host reasonably expected to receive.
However, subsequent specific agreements between the Host and Vendor may modify the original description where legitimately agreed.
Where the Host and Vendor subsequently agree to a specific variation of the original service, that agreed variation may form part of the fulfilment standard.
A Vendor's general description, portfolio, reputation, or previous work does not automatically create an obligation to provide every feature previously displayed or performed.
The relevant obligation is ordinarily the service actually agreed for the transaction in question.
A service is considered to have commenced when the Vendor has begun performing the material obligations associated with the agreed service.
Preparation, setup, delivery, travel, installation, or other preliminary activity may constitute part of fulfilment where those activities form part of the agreed service.
A service may be considered complete where the Vendor has materially delivered the agreed service and satisfied the principal obligations arising from the transaction.
Completion does not necessarily require perfection.
A service may be regarded as substantially fulfilled where: - the principal service was delivered; - the major agreed deliverables were provided; - any deficiencies are minor; - the deficiencies do not materially defeat the purpose of the transaction; and - reasonable remediation remains possible where appropriate.
A service may be regarded as incompletely fulfilled where material elements of the agreed service were not delivered.
Examples may include: - significant deliverables being omitted; - a substantial portion of the service not being performed; - materially reduced service duration; - failure to provide essential agreed equipment; - failure to attend; or - other substantial failures.
Where only part of an agreed service is delivered, Lifetime may regard the transaction as partially fulfilled rather than fully fulfilled.
The appropriate outcome may depend on: - the proportion delivered; - importance of the omitted component; - circumstances of the failure; - Host impact; - Vendor efforts to remedy; and - applicable transaction terms.
A service may be regarded as failed where the Vendor: - does not provide the service; - abandons the service; - provides something materially different; - fails to provide essential deliverables; or - otherwise fails to perform the principal obligation.
A Vendor may be considered a no-show where it fails to attend or commence a confirmed service without a legitimate and appropriately communicated reason.
A Host may likewise be considered responsible for a no-show where the Host fails to appear, provide access, or otherwise enable the agreed service without legitimate justification.
A Vendor must not abandon a service after commencement without a legitimate reason.
Likewise, a Host should not intentionally cause a transaction to become impossible after the Vendor has reasonably commenced fulfilment.
Payment and fulfilment are related but distinct concepts.
A Vendor may receive payment without having fully fulfilled the service.
Likewise, a Vendor may incur legitimate preparation or performance costs even where the Host subsequently fails to complete its own obligations.
A Vendor's receipt of payment does not excuse failure to provide the agreed service.
Where a Host fails to make a required payment, the consequences may depend upon: - the applicable transaction terms; - whether the Vendor has already performed; - the nature of the unpaid amount; - the timing of the failure; and - applicable law.
Lifetime may rely upon reasonable evidence when determining whether a service was fulfilled.
Such evidence may include: - booking records; - transaction records; - payment records; - timestamps; - messages; - photographs; - videos; - invoices; - delivery records; - attendance records; - completion confirmations; - Venue records; - service documentation; and - other relevant information.
Where transactions occur through Lifetime, Platform records may provide useful evidence of: - what was booked; - what was agreed; - when communication occurred; - what payments were made; - whether changes were requested; and - other relevant transaction events.
Where Lifetime provides a completion or confirmation mechanism, a Host may use that mechanism to confirm that a service has been received.
Such confirmation should be made honestly.
Where Lifetime provides a Vendor completion mechanism, Vendors should use it accurately and should not falsely declare that a service has been completed.
A User must not knowingly submit a false completion confirmation or otherwise misrepresent that a service has been delivered.
A Host's confirmation that a service was completed does not necessarily prevent the Host from raising a legitimate complaint concerning: - hidden defects; - later-discovered deficiencies; - fraud; - material misrepresentation; - safety concerns; or - other circumstances that could not reasonably have been identified at completion.
Where the nature of a service permits immediate inspection, Hosts are encouraged to identify material deficiencies as soon as reasonably possible.
This allows Vendors a reasonable opportunity to correct problems where correction remains possible.
Where appropriate, a Vendor should be given a reasonable opportunity to remedy a service deficiency before a final fulfilment determination is made.
This principle does not apply where: - immediate safety concerns exist; - the Vendor cannot reasonably remedy the problem; - the event or service has already materially passed; - remediation would be meaningless; or - another legitimate circumstance makes remediation impractical.
A Vendor's willingness and ability to correct a legitimate service failure may be relevant when assessing the overall fulfilment outcome.
Some Lifetime services are inherently time-sensitive.
Examples may include: - event photography; - live entertainment; - event coordination; - catering; - Venue access; - transportation; - decoration; - event staffing; and - other services tied to a particular date or time.
For such services, late performance may materially reduce or eliminate the value of the service.
Where timing is material to the purpose of the transaction, substantial delay may constitute material non-fulfilment even where the Vendor eventually performs some or all of the service.
Where a service is intended for a specific event, fulfilment should be assessed with regard to whether the service was available when the Host reasonably needed it.
Where preparation is an agreed component of a service, preparation may form part of the fulfilment obligation.
A Vendor should not represent itself as fully prepared where it has not reasonably completed necessary preparation.
Where setup or breakdown is included in the agreed service, those activities form part of the relevant fulfilment obligation.
Where a service includes tangible or digital deliverables, the Vendor should provide those deliverables in accordance with the agreed terms.
Examples may include: - photographs; - videos; - designs; - documents; - recordings; - edited materials; - physical products; - digital files; or - other agreed outputs.
Where a deliverable is intended to be provided after the event or service date, the service may still be regarded as pending until the relevant deliverable has been reasonably provided.
Quality may form part of fulfilment where quality standards were: - expressly agreed; - materially represented; - objectively required by the nature of the service; or - reasonably expected from the service description.
Lifetime does not ordinarily require Vendors to deliver a mathematically perfect or subjectively flawless service.
The relevant question is whether the Vendor materially fulfilled the agreed service with reasonable care, skill and professionalism.
Where no specific quality standard was agreed, fulfilment may be assessed according to what would reasonably be expected from a competent Vendor providing that type of service in the circumstances.
A Host's dissatisfaction does not automatically establish service failure.
There should ordinarily be a reasonable connection between the alleged deficiency and: - the agreed service; - the Vendor's representation; - an applicable standard; or - a material failure of performance.
A service failure may exist where the Vendor clearly fails to deliver a material agreed component regardless of whether the Host expresses dissatisfaction.
Where a Vendor provides a substitute person, product, equipment item, Venue, or service component, fulfilment may depend upon whether the substitute was reasonably equivalent to what was agreed.
A materially different substitute provided without appropriate agreement may constitute a fulfilment deficiency.
A Vendor may use an equivalent substitute where: - circumstances reasonably require it; - the substitute is materially comparable; - service quality is not materially diminished; and - the Host's legitimate expectations are preserved.
A Vendor should not ordinarily be held responsible for non-fulfilment caused materially by the Host's: - non-payment; - refusal of access; - inaccurate information; - unreasonable interference; - unlawful instruction; - failure to provide agreed requirements; or - other material breach.
A Host should not ordinarily be held responsible for non-fulfilment caused materially by the Vendor's: - failure to attend; - failure to prepare; - material misrepresentation; - abandonment; - inadequate performance; - failure to provide agreed deliverables; or - other material breach.
Some fulfilment failures may result from the conduct of both Host and Vendor.
Lifetime may consider the contribution of each User when assessing the circumstances.
Where fulfilment is affected by a third party outside the reasonable control of both Host and Vendor, the circumstances may be assessed separately from ordinary Vendor or Host misconduct.
Extraordinary events may affect fulfilment obligations.
These may include circumstances such as: - severe natural events; - government restrictions; - major infrastructure failure; - serious public emergencies; - sudden Venue closure; - unavoidable transportation disruption; or - other circumstances reasonably beyond a User's control.
Such circumstances may be addressed further under the applicable force majeure provisions of this Volume.
Where a User becomes aware of circumstances likely to materially affect fulfilment, that User should communicate the issue as soon as reasonably practicable.
A User affected by a fulfilment problem should take reasonable steps to reduce avoidable harm.
This may include: - finding a replacement; - rescheduling; - notifying the other User; - providing an alternative; - preserving relevant evidence; or - seeking appropriate assistance.
Hosts and Vendors should approach fulfilment disputes in good faith.
Neither User should deliberately exaggerate, conceal, or manipulate circumstances to obtain an improper advantage.
A User must not intentionally create circumstances that make a transaction appear to have failed for the purpose of obtaining: - a refund; - compensation; - a negative review; - enforcement against another User; - cancellation benefits; or - another improper advantage.
Lifetime's fulfilment framework is designed primarily for transactions conducted within the Platform.
Where a Host and Vendor deliberately move a transaction outside Lifetime, the Platform may have reduced ability to verify: - the agreed scope; - payment; - communication; - performance; - completion; - evidence; or - the circumstances of a dispute.
Lifetime may be unable to provide the same fulfilment administration, evidence, dispute handling, or transactional protections for arrangements concluded outside the Platform.
Users should therefore keep Lifetime transactions within Lifetime's approved transaction mechanisms.
Where a User voluntarily moves a transaction outside Lifetime and a dispute subsequently arises, Lifetime does not ordinarily assume responsibility for the resulting transaction, loss, fraud, non-performance, or dispute, subject to applicable law.
Where a Host alleges that a Vendor failed to fulfil a service, Lifetime may assess: - what was agreed; - what was delivered; - what was not delivered; - why the failure occurred; - whether either User contributed to the failure; - whether the issue could have been remedied; - the evidence available; and - the appropriate outcome.
Each User should provide information and evidence reasonably available to them concerning material fulfilment disputes.
Lifetime may consider the reliability, consistency and relevance of the evidence provided.
Where Lifetime is required to make a Platform determination, it may classify the outcome as: - fulfilled; - substantially fulfilled; - partially fulfilled; - materially deficient; - failed; - cancelled; - excused due to extraordinary circumstances; or - another appropriate category.
A determination that a service was not fully fulfilled does not automatically establish legal liability, negligence, breach of statutory duty, or damages under Nigerian law.
It is primarily a Platform-level determination concerning the transaction and available remedies.
A fulfilment determination may inform the availability of Platform remedies, including where applicable: - correction; - replacement; - partial refund; - full refund; - credit; - cancellation; - dispute resolution; - Vendor restrictions; or - other appropriate measures.
Where a service was substantially delivered but contained a material deficiency, any Platform remedy should, where reasonably practicable, be proportionate to: - the deficiency; - the portion of service affected; - the amount paid; - the Host's actual impact; - the Vendor's efforts to remedy; and - the surrounding circumstances.
A User should not receive multiple Platform remedies for the same loss where doing so would create an unjustified double recovery.
Lifetime may retain fulfilment-related information for legitimate purposes including: - dispute resolution; - fraud prevention; - marketplace integrity; - enforcement; - analytics; - service improvement; and - legal compliance.
Fulfilment information may include: - booking status; - acceptance; - cancellation; - timestamps; - completion confirmations; - communications; - payment events; - complaints; - reviews; - evidence; - dispute outcomes; and - other relevant transaction information.
Vendors are encouraged to use fulfilment outcomes to improve: - preparation; - communication; - staffing; - equipment; - scheduling; - service quality; and - customer experience.
Hosts are likewise encouraged to use fulfilment outcomes to improve: - planning; - communication; - budgeting; - Venue preparation; - guest management; - Vendor coordination; and - transaction planning.
A marketplace becomes trustworthy when Users can reasonably expect that:
what is agreed will be delivered, and when it cannot be delivered, the failure will be handled honestly and responsibly.
Lifetime's role is to provide the infrastructure through which Hosts and Vendors can: - discover one another; - agree services; - document transactions; - communicate; - make and receive payments where applicable; - track fulfilment; - raise concerns; and - seek appropriate Platform remedies.
Lifetime does not become the Vendor of every service listed on the Platform merely because it facilitates the transaction.
Lifetime does not guarantee that every Vendor will successfully fulfil every transaction.
The Platform's fulfilment framework exists to establish standards, provide accountability mechanisms, and facilitate appropriate remedies where available.
The fundamental fulfilment standard is:
“A confirmed transaction creates a responsibility to deliver what was agreed.”
Vendors should deliver the service they represented.
Hosts should provide the cooperation necessary for that service to be delivered.
Where something goes wrong, both parties should communicate, mitigate the consequences and pursue a reasonable resolution.
Lifetime's fulfilment principle is:
“A booking is a promise. Fulfilment is keeping it.”
Lifetime seeks to build a marketplace where: - Hosts know what they are booking; - Vendors know what they are expected to deliver; - both parties understand their responsibilities; - service failures can be identified fairly; - legitimate problems can be remedied proportionately; and - trust is strengthened through reliable performance.
The transaction is not complete because someone clicked “Book.” It is complete when the agreed value has been delivered.
Articles 76–200
This Chapter establishes the rules governing the transition from a proposed booking to a confirmed service commitment, including confirmation, amendments, conditions, integrity and booking-specific consequences.
A booking request is an expression of intent submitted through the Platform. It should contain sufficient information for the Vendor and Platform to assess the proposed service.
A booking request is an expression of intent submitted through the Platform. It should contain sufficient information for the Vendor and Platform to assess the proposed service.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
Where Vendor acceptance is required, acceptance should be deliberate, accurate and based on actual capacity to perform the agreed service.
A Vendor may decline a request where the Vendor lacks capacity, cannot meet the requirements, or has another legitimate reason, subject to applicable law and Platform standards.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
Payment status should be determined from the authoritative transaction record and applicable payment-provider information, not from an isolated screenshot or unsupported assertion.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Lifetime expects booking information to reflect genuine capacity and genuine intent. Users must not create commitments that they do not reasonably expect to honour or use bookings to manipulate marketplace availability.
Lifetime expects booking information to reflect genuine capacity and genuine intent. Users must not create commitments that they do not reasonably expect to honour or use bookings to manipulate marketplace availability.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Where Vendor acceptance is required, acceptance should be deliberate, accurate and based on actual capacity to perform the agreed service.
A Vendor may decline a request where the Vendor lacks capacity, cannot meet the requirements, or has another legitimate reason, subject to applicable law and Platform standards.
A Vendor may decline a request where the Vendor lacks capacity, cannot meet the requirements, or has another legitimate reason, subject to applicable law and Platform standards.
Relevant booking communications and records should be maintained through the Platform where practicable so that the agreed terms can be identified if questions arise later.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Lifetime may take reasonable and proportionate action to correct a booking record, investigate risk, protect Users or address a technical error. Such action should not be treated as an automatic finding of wrongdoing.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Relevant booking communications and records should be maintained through the Platform where practicable so that the agreed terms can be identified if questions arise later.
Relevant booking communications and records should be maintained through the Platform where practicable so that the agreed terms can be identified if questions arise later.
A material amendment should be proposed clearly and accepted by the affected parties before it is treated as part of the booking. The Platform record should be updated where the system permits.
A booking request is an expression of intent submitted through the Platform. It should contain sufficient information for the Vendor and Platform to assess the proposed service.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
A material amendment should be proposed clearly and accepted by the affected parties before it is treated as part of the booking. The Platform record should be updated where the system permits.
A material amendment should be proposed clearly and accepted by the affected parties before it is treated as part of the booking. The Platform record should be updated where the system permits.
Relevant booking communications and records should be maintained through the Platform where practicable so that the agreed terms can be identified if questions arise later.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
A material amendment should be proposed clearly and accepted by the affected parties before it is treated as part of the booking. The Platform record should be updated where the system permits.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
A material amendment should be proposed clearly and accepted by the affected parties before it is treated as part of the booking. The Platform record should be updated where the system permits.
A substitute arrangement may be used only where it is equivalent or is accepted by the affected party. A material difference should not be imposed as though it were the original commitment.
A substitute arrangement may be used only where it is equivalent or is accepted by the affected party. A material difference should not be imposed as though it were the original commitment.
Where Vendor acceptance is required, acceptance should be deliberate, accurate and based on actual capacity to perform the agreed service.
A material amendment should be proposed clearly and accepted by the affected parties before it is treated as part of the booking. The Platform record should be updated where the system permits.
Where Vendor acceptance is required, acceptance should be deliberate, accurate and based on actual capacity to perform the agreed service.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
Where confirmation depends on a stated condition, that condition should be clear and its effect on the booking should be communicated. A conditional booking does not become unconditional merely through silence.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
Where confirmation depends on a stated condition, that condition should be clear and its effect on the booking should be communicated. A conditional booking does not become unconditional merely through silence.
Where confirmation depends on a stated condition, that condition should be clear and its effect on the booking should be communicated. A conditional booking does not become unconditional merely through silence.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Payment status should be determined from the authoritative transaction record and applicable payment-provider information, not from an isolated screenshot or unsupported assertion.
Payment status should be determined from the authoritative transaction record and applicable payment-provider information, not from an isolated screenshot or unsupported assertion.
Payment status should be determined from the authoritative transaction record and applicable payment-provider information, not from an isolated screenshot or unsupported assertion.
Lifetime expects booking information to reflect genuine capacity and genuine intent. Users must not create commitments that they do not reasonably expect to honour or use bookings to manipulate marketplace availability.
Payment status should be determined from the authoritative transaction record and applicable payment-provider information, not from an isolated screenshot or unsupported assertion.
Payment status should be determined from the authoritative transaction record and applicable payment-provider information, not from an isolated screenshot or unsupported assertion.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Payment status should be determined from the authoritative transaction record and applicable payment-provider information, not from an isolated screenshot or unsupported assertion.
Relevant booking communications and records should be maintained through the Platform where practicable so that the agreed terms can be identified if questions arise later.
Financial processing, settlement, refunds, chargebacks and transaction reversals are governed by the financial governance framework in Volume V and applicable payment terms. This Chapter addresses those matters only to the extent necessary to determine whether a booking is confirmed.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
After confirmation, each party should provide the information and cooperation reasonably necessary to prepare for fulfilment. Material changes or omissions should be communicated promptly.
After confirmation, each party should provide the information and cooperation reasonably necessary to prepare for fulfilment. Material changes or omissions should be communicated promptly.
Relevant booking communications and records should be maintained through the Platform where practicable so that the agreed terms can be identified if questions arise later.
After confirmation, each party should provide the information and cooperation reasonably necessary to prepare for fulfilment. Material changes or omissions should be communicated promptly.
A material amendment should be proposed clearly and accepted by the affected parties before it is treated as part of the booking. The Platform record should be updated where the system permits.
After confirmation, each party should provide the information and cooperation reasonably necessary to prepare for fulfilment. Material changes or omissions should be communicated promptly.
After confirmation, each party should provide the information and cooperation reasonably necessary to prepare for fulfilment. Material changes or omissions should be communicated promptly.
Relevant booking communications and records should be maintained through the Platform where practicable so that the agreed terms can be identified if questions arise later.
Relevant booking communications and records should be maintained through the Platform where practicable so that the agreed terms can be identified if questions arise later.
A booking must not require unlawful or materially unsafe performance. Where a safety or legal issue arises, the parties should cooperate on a lawful and proportionate alternative.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
A booking must not require unlawful or materially unsafe performance. Where a safety or legal issue arises, the parties should cooperate on a lawful and proportionate alternative.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
A booking must not require unlawful or materially unsafe performance. Where a safety or legal issue arises, the parties should cooperate on a lawful and proportionate alternative.
A booking must not require unlawful or materially unsafe performance. Where a safety or legal issue arises, the parties should cooperate on a lawful and proportionate alternative.
A material amendment should be proposed clearly and accepted by the affected parties before it is treated as part of the booking. The Platform record should be updated where the system permits.
A booking must not require unlawful or materially unsafe performance. Where a safety or legal issue arises, the parties should cooperate on a lawful and proportionate alternative.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
Cancellation after confirmation is a departure from an existing commitment and may carry consequences under the applicable cancellation and financial rules. The reason, timing and stage of preparation or fulfilment may be relevant.
Cancellation after confirmation is a departure from an existing commitment and may carry consequences under the applicable cancellation and financial rules. The reason, timing and stage of preparation or fulfilment may be relevant.
A material amendment should be proposed clearly and accepted by the affected parties before it is treated as part of the booking. The Platform record should be updated where the system permits.
Cancellation after confirmation is a departure from an existing commitment and may carry consequences under the applicable cancellation and financial rules. The reason, timing and stage of preparation or fulfilment may be relevant.
Lifetime expects booking information to reflect genuine capacity and genuine intent. Users must not create commitments that they do not reasonably expect to honour or use bookings to manipulate marketplace availability.
Lifetime expects booking information to reflect genuine capacity and genuine intent. Users must not create commitments that they do not reasonably expect to honour or use bookings to manipulate marketplace availability.
Relevant booking communications and records should be maintained through the Platform where practicable so that the agreed terms can be identified if questions arise later.
Cancellation after confirmation is a departure from an existing commitment and may carry consequences under the applicable cancellation and financial rules. The reason, timing and stage of preparation or fulfilment may be relevant.
Cancellation after confirmation is a departure from an existing commitment and may carry consequences under the applicable cancellation and financial rules. The reason, timing and stage of preparation or fulfilment may be relevant.
Once a booking is confirmed, the parties should treat the recorded terms as the operative service commitment and act consistently with them in good faith.
A booking request is an expression of intent submitted through the Platform. It should contain sufficient information for the Vendor and Platform to assess the proposed service.
Rescheduling changes the timing of an existing service commitment. It should be agreed with regard to availability, material changes, preparation already undertaken and the applicable financial rules.
Lifetime expects booking information to reflect genuine capacity and genuine intent. Users must not create commitments that they do not reasonably expect to honour or use bookings to manipulate marketplace availability.
A material amendment should be proposed clearly and accepted by the affected parties before it is treated as part of the booking. The Platform record should be updated where the system permits.
The identified term forms part of the booking commitment where it was presented, accepted or otherwise incorporated into the confirmed transaction. Material changes should not be assumed without a recorded basis.
Rescheduling changes the timing of an existing service commitment. It should be agreed with regard to availability, material changes, preparation already undertaken and the applicable financial rules.
Rescheduling changes the timing of an existing service commitment. It should be agreed with regard to availability, material changes, preparation already undertaken and the applicable financial rules.
Rescheduling changes the timing of an existing service commitment. It should be agreed with regard to availability, material changes, preparation already undertaken and the applicable financial rules.
Rescheduling changes the timing of an existing service commitment. It should be agreed with regard to availability, material changes, preparation already undertaken and the applicable financial rules.
This provision applies to confirmed booking administration and should be interpreted consistently with the booking record, applicable Platform policies, and the specialised service-fulfilment rules in Volume IV.
Users must not manipulate booking records or deliberately move material terms outside the Platform to defeat verification, fee, safety, evidence or dispute mechanisms. Relevant evidence should be preserved.
A confirmed booking is a commitment to make the agreed service happen. Confirmation moves the relationship from negotiation into preparation, performance and eventual completion.
This Chapter establishes the responsibilities of Hosts and Vendors during the period between booking confirmation and service commencement.
It addresses: - preparation; - information exchange; - Venue readiness; - access; - equipment; - personnel; - logistics; - scheduling; - special requirements; - pre-service communication; - inspections; and - failures arising from inadequate preparation.
Volume IV governs substantive service fulfilment, completion, deficiencies, remediation and service-performance assessment.
Volume V governs payment mechanics, conditional holding, release, settlement, refunds, reversals, chargebacks, payment recovery and financial records.
A financial event shall not, by itself, determine the underlying service-liability question, and a service finding shall not be implemented financially except through the applicable financial procedures and mandatory law.
How money moves: escrow, release, refunds and settlement.
Articles 1–75
This Chapter establishes the framework governing the receipt, allocation, conditional holding, release, settlement, reconciliation, protection and administration of marketplace funds processed through Lifetime.
Its purpose is to create a payment environment in which Hosts understand what they are paying, Vendors understand when they are entitled to payment, and financial movements are recorded, traceable and subject to appropriate safeguards.
This Volume shall be read together with Lifetime's Terms of Service, Service Fulfilment Policy, Marketplace Governance, Trust & Service Standards, Privacy Policy, Vendor Terms & Conditions, Vendor Verification and KYC requirements, Cancellation and Refund provisions, Dispute Resolution procedures and other applicable Platform policies.
Where a specific payment matter is addressed in greater detail by another applicable Lifetime policy, the relevant provisions should be read together.
This Volume applies, where relevant, to: - Host payments; - Vendor service fees; - Lifetime service and marketplace fees; - applicable taxes; - staged payment structures; - conditional payment holding; - Vendor settlement; - refunds; - reversals; - chargebacks; - payment disputes; - reconciliation; - payment errors; - payment-provider processing; and - other marketplace payment activity facilitated through Lifetime.
Lifetime may use appropriately authorised payment service providers, financial institutions, processors, switches, settlement partners and other payment infrastructure providers to facilitate marketplace payments.
The precise flow of funds may vary depending on the transaction, payment method, service category, jurisdiction, payment provider and applicable regulatory requirements.
Nothing in this Volume authorises Lifetime to conduct any regulated financial activity for which a licence, approval, registration, partnership or other legal authority is required unless Lifetime has obtained or operates through the appropriate authority.
Where regulated payment, settlement, custody or related functions are required, Lifetime may use appropriately authorised third-party providers or other lawful arrangements.
For purposes of this Volume, “Marketplace Escrow” refers to the contractual and technological arrangement through which an amount payable to a Vendor may be conditionally held within the applicable payment infrastructure pending satisfaction of defined release conditions.
The term does not, by itself, mean that Lifetime is a bank, deposit-taking institution, independent escrow institution or holder of regulated customer funds in its own capacity.
Conditional holding exists to provide a reasonable period during which: - the relevant service may progress; - the Vendor may request release; - the Host may confirm or raise a legitimate concern; - payment irregularities may be identified; - transaction records may be reconciled; and - appropriate safeguards may operate.
Conditional holding is not intended to create an indefinite right to withhold a Vendor's money.
A Host must pay the full amount required to confirm a transaction through the authorised Lifetime payment process.
The applicable amount may include the Vendor Service Fee, Lifetime fees, applicable taxes and other properly disclosed charges.
A transaction may contain separate financial components including: - Vendor Service Fee; - Lifetime Service Fee; - applicable VAT or other taxes; - payment-provider charges; - approved transaction adjustments; - refunds or credits; - reversals; and - other lawful and disclosed amounts.
Where practicable, the Platform should distinguish these components.
The Vendor Service Fee is the amount attributable to the service or goods the Vendor has agreed to provide under the confirmed booking.
The Vendor Service Fee is separate from Lifetime's own service or marketplace fees and from applicable taxes unless the transaction record expressly provides otherwise.
Lifetime may charge service, marketplace, booking, facilitation, commission or other applicable fees.
Any such fee should be disclosed to the Host before payment is completed, subject to applicable law and the relevant commercial arrangement.
Where VAT or another statutory tax is applicable to a transaction, Lifetime may collect the applicable amount as part of the Host's total payment.
The calculation, treatment, collection and remittance of tax shall remain subject to applicable law and the nature of the underlying transaction.
Before payment is completed, Lifetime should, where reasonably practicable, provide the Host with the total amount payable and identify the principal components of that amount.
Lifetime shall not knowingly impose undisclosed marketplace charges after a Host has completed payment, except where an additional amount arises from: - a lawful tax or statutory requirement; - a transaction amendment authorised by the Host; - a disclosed payment-provider adjustment; - an agreed additional service; or - another legitimate basis communicated to the Host.
Lifetime may support Vendor payment structures including: - 100% upfront; - 70/30; - 60/20/20; - 80/20; - 50/50; and - other approved structures.
The applicable structure shall be identified in the booking record where the Platform supports such functionality.
The payment structure selected or agreed for a booking forms part of the financial terms of that transaction.
Neither Host nor Vendor should unilaterally alter the structure after confirmation except through an authorised amendment process or where a lawful or operational requirement necessitates a change.
A payment structure establishes when money may become payable or releasable.
It does not, by itself, determine whether the underlying service has been properly fulfilled, whether a refund is due, or whether a dispute exists.
Those matters remain subject to the applicable fulfilment, cancellation, refund and dispute provisions.
Under a 100% upfront structure, the full Vendor Service Fee may be released for settlement immediately after: - the booking is confirmed; - the Host's required payment has been successfully received or otherwise reliably confirmed by the applicable payment infrastructure; and - no applicable fraud, compliance, payment, legal or other legitimate restriction prevents settlement.
Where a transaction is validly configured as 100% upfront, Lifetime may initiate settlement of the entire Vendor Service Fee without requiring a subsequent Host fulfilment confirmation.
The absence of a later confirmation does not, by itself, prevent settlement under an expressly agreed 100% upfront structure.
For purposes of the Marketplace Escrow workflow, the Platform shall distinguish, where technically practicable, between payment states including authorised, received, allocated, held, release-requested, released, settled, reversed, refunded and disputed.
A transaction state shall not be treated as another state merely because a User has received a bank alert, screenshot or informal confirmation.
Where a Vendor uses a staged payment structure, the Vendor Service Fee shall be divided into the applicable tranches identified in the confirmed transaction.
Each tranche may have its own release condition, milestone or settlement status.
Where the applicable structure provides for an automatically released first tranche, that tranche may be released once: - the Host payment has successfully completed; - the booking is confirmed; and - the Vendor satisfies applicable settlement and verification requirements.
This remains subject to legitimate fraud, compliance, payment or legal controls.
Subsequent Vendor payment tranches may be conditionally held pending the applicable release conditions.
The purpose is to connect later Vendor payments with the progression of the underlying service while preserving a clear and time-limited release process.
A subsequent tranche may be held to provide a reasonable opportunity for: - the Vendor to reach the relevant milestone; - the Vendor to request release; - the Host to review the request; - a legitimate concern to be raised; and - the Platform to apply appropriate financial safeguards.
The holding mechanism shall not be used as an indefinite payment suspension.
Where a subsequent tranche becomes eligible for release, the Vendor may submit a payment-release request through the Platform where such functionality is available.
The request should identify the relevant booking, tranche, amount and fulfilment stage and may require supporting information.
Lifetime may notify the Host when a Vendor submits a payment-release request.
The notification may identify: - the booking; - the Vendor; - the amount; - the relevant service stage; - the Host's available response options; and - the deadline applicable to the response.
Where Host confirmation is required, the Host may confirm the release through the Platform.
Such confirmation authorises release of the applicable tranche subject to applicable payment-provider, compliance and transaction controls.
A Host may expressly refuse a release request where the Host has a genuine and material reason to believe that the applicable payment condition has not been satisfied or that another legitimate concern requires review.
Where reasonably practicable, the Host should state the material reason for refusal.
A Host's failure to respond to a valid release request does not create an indefinite right to prevent payment to the Vendor.
Where the applicable conditions for automatic release are satisfied, the relevant amount may be released after the prescribed response period.
Unless otherwise stated in the applicable transaction terms, a Host shall ordinarily have up to 24 hours from the recorded delivery of a valid release notification to confirm, refuse or otherwise respond to the release request.
Where: - a valid release request has been submitted; - the Host has been properly notified; - the 24-hour response period has expired; - the Host has neither confirmed nor expressly refused the request; and - no legitimate hold, dispute, fraud, payment, safety or legal intervention applies,
Lifetime may automatically authorise or initiate release of the applicable Vendor tranche.
The 24-hour period is intended to balance: - the Host's opportunity to review and raise a genuine concern; and - the Vendor's legitimate need to receive payment without unreasonable delay.
The period is therefore a safeguard against both premature release and indefinite withholding.
A Host does not have an unlimited right to block a Vendor's payment merely by refusing to communicate.
Where a genuine concern exists, the Host should use the applicable fulfilment or dispute process and provide sufficient information for the matter to be reviewed.
Automatic release may be suspended where, before the applicable release deadline, Lifetime receives credible information indicating a material: - dispute; - fraud concern; - payment irregularity; - serious service failure; - safety concern; - unlawful activity; - account compromise; or - other circumstance reasonably requiring intervention.
A Host seeking to prevent automatic release should, where reasonably practicable, provide sufficient information to identify the concern.
A bare refusal without a meaningful basis may not, by itself, justify indefinite withholding of payment.
Where a payment hold is necessary, Lifetime should seek, where reasonably practicable, to limit the hold to the amount and duration reasonably connected to the underlying concern.
Where only part of a Vendor payment is disputed or reasonably requires protection, Lifetime may release the undisputed portion while retaining only the amount reasonably necessary for the review.
Each payment tranche may be assessed independently.
A dispute concerning one tranche does not automatically require all other tranches to be withheld unless the circumstances reasonably justify such action.
A final Vendor tranche may be requested after the applicable milestone has been reached.
Unless the transaction terms provide otherwise, the final tranche shall be subject to the same confirmation, response-period and intervention principles applicable to other conditional tranches.
A Host's confirmation of a service milestone may be treated as evidence that the relevant stage has been completed.
It does not necessarily waive rights relating to fraud, latent defects, misrepresentation, non-waivable statutory rights or other matters that could not reasonably have been identified at the time of confirmation.
A Vendor may record completion of a milestone or request payment release where the Vendor reasonably believes that the applicable condition has been satisfied.
A Vendor must not falsely represent that a service milestone has been completed.
A Vendor that knowingly submits a false, premature or manipulated release request may be subject to: - payment suspension; - reversal where possible; - Account restriction; - investigation; - removal of marketplace privileges; or - other appropriate enforcement.
A Host must not fabricate complaints, create false evidence or otherwise manipulate the release mechanism to avoid paying a legitimately due Vendor tranche.
Hosts are expected to remain reasonably responsive to material transaction communications, particularly where a response may affect a Vendor's payment or an active booking.
A Vendor's entitlement to payment arises from the confirmed booking and applicable payment structure, subject to: - satisfaction of release conditions; - legitimate disputes; - refunds; - reversals; - chargebacks; - fraud controls; - payment-provider requirements; and - applicable law.
A temporary payment hold does not, by itself, mean that Lifetime owns the underlying Vendor funds.
The legal character, ownership, custody, safeguarding and settlement of held funds shall depend on the applicable transaction structure, payment-provider arrangement, contractual terms and applicable law.
Lifetime shall not represent that it holds funds in a regulated capacity unless it is legally authorised to do so.
To the extent required by the applicable payment architecture, contractual arrangement or law, funds conditionally held for Vendor settlement shall not be treated as ordinary Lifetime operating revenue.
Lifetime's own fees, taxes and other amounts shall be accounted for separately where applicable.
Lifetime may maintain accounting distinctions between: - Vendor amounts; - Lifetime fees; - taxes; - payment-provider charges; - held amounts; - released amounts; - refunded amounts; - reversed amounts; - disputed amounts; and - transaction adjustments.
The Platform may maintain a ledger of events specifically relevant to Conditional Holds and release decisions, including the creation of a hold, eligibility of a tranche, submission of a release request, notification delivery, Host response, intervention and release authorisation.
This Article concerns the escrow workflow and does not replace the general financial-record obligations established elsewhere in the Lifetime Legal Centre.
Where the escrow workflow depends upon several records, Lifetime may determine the operative record by reference to the authoritative Platform event log and the applicable payment infrastructure record.
Where an error is demonstrated, the affected record may be corrected without altering the underlying contractual history.
Each Conditional Hold should, where reasonably practicable, be traceable to the booking and Vendor tranche that generated it.
This allocation allows a release, hold, refund or intervention affecting one transaction to be distinguished from unrelated transactions.
Where a booking contains more than one Vendor payment tranche, each tranche should have its own identifiable amount, status and applicable release condition where the Platform supports such functionality.
A later tranche shall not be treated as released merely because an earlier tranche was released.
Material changes to a tranche's escrow status should, where technically practicable, generate a traceable event showing the previous status, the new status, the relevant time and the event or decision causing the change.
Where a tranche is authorised for settlement, the Platform may record the basis for authorisation, including Host confirmation, expiry of the response period, an applicable contractual milestone or an authorised intervention decision.
The existence of a release authorisation does not guarantee the speed of final bank or provider settlement.
A release decision authorises or initiates movement of an eligible Vendor amount through the applicable payment infrastructure.
Final settlement or bank credit may occur later and shall remain subject to provider processing and lawful controls.
The payment status of a tranche shall not, by itself, determine whether a Vendor has performed, breached, or otherwise satisfied the underlying service agreement.
Questions concerning service performance shall be determined under the applicable Service Fulfilment and dispute provisions.
A tranche being held, released or settled does not, by itself, establish whether a Host is entitled to a refund.
Refund entitlement shall be determined under the applicable cancellation, refund, service-failure, dispute and legal provisions.
Where another applicable Lifetime policy determines that a refund or financial reversal is required, the Marketplace Escrow mechanism may be used to the extent technically and legally possible to give effect to that determination before a held amount is released.
This Article does not create a separate refund entitlement.
Where a legitimate refund, reversal or adjustment arises after Vendor settlement, the matter shall be administered under the applicable financial, refund, chargeback and dispute framework.
Volume V governs the escrow consequences only to the extent an amount remains within the relevant release architecture.
Where a matter concerns the technical movement of a Vendor tranche, this Volume governs the escrow mechanism. Where the matter concerns the substantive existence of a refund, service claim, chargeback or contractual remedy, the applicable specialist policy shall govern that substantive issue.
The policies shall be interpreted together so that one provision does not unintentionally duplicate or displace another.
Release of payment does not cure defective, incomplete, misleading or otherwise deficient service.
A Host may retain any rights or remedies available under the applicable transaction terms, Lifetime policies or law.
Payment release is a financial event.
It is not a guarantee by Lifetime that the Vendor will perform future obligations or that the service has been performed without defect.
Where Lifetime facilitates payment, it provides marketplace and payment-technology functionality.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, Lifetime does not thereby become the service provider responsible for the Vendor's underlying goods or services.
The Vendor remains responsible for the service or goods it has agreed to provide.
Payment facilitation does not transfer the Vendor's service obligations to Lifetime.
The Host remains responsible for: - providing accurate payment information; - paying required amounts; - maintaining an appropriate payment method; - responding to material payment requests; and - complying with the applicable booking terms.
Where a transaction originates on Lifetime and Lifetime provides an authorised payment process, Users should not move the financial transaction off-platform for the purpose of circumventing: - Platform fees; - verification; - transaction records; - fraud controls; - refund mechanisms; - dispute procedures; or - other marketplace protections.
Where Users knowingly move a Lifetime-originated transaction outside authorised Platform payment channels, they may lose access to payment records, safeguards, dispute infrastructure and other protections associated with the Platform.
Such conduct may also constitute a breach of applicable Lifetime terms.
Lifetime should provide, where reasonably practicable, information concerning whether a payment is: - received; - pending; - allocated; - conditionally held; - requested for release; - released; - settled; - refunded; - reversed; or - disputed.
Lifetime may use: - in-app notifications; - email; - SMS; - push notifications; - Platform messages; or - other appropriate communication channels
to communicate material payment events.
Lifetime may retain records showing when payment-related notifications were generated, sent, delivered, opened, acknowledged or otherwise processed, subject to applicable privacy and data-retention requirements.
Where a payment rule depends upon a time period, the relevant period shall ordinarily be calculated using the timestamp recorded by the Platform or applicable payment infrastructure.
Where a material Platform or payment-system failure prevents a required action from occurring within the applicable period, Lifetime may reasonably adjust the processing timeline to account for the period of demonstrated technical unavailability.
Where Lifetime has properly initiated or authorised a payment but a bank, processor, switch or other payment provider delays completion, the payment may remain pending until the relevant provider confirms completion.
Where a payment is described as “released” or “settled” by Lifetime, that status means that the applicable settlement process has been authorised or completed according to the relevant payment infrastructure.
It does not necessarily mean that the Vendor's bank account has already been credited.
Lifetime's payment principle is:
“The Host should never be asked to pay blindly. The Vendor should never be left unpaid indefinitely. And Lifetime should never move money without a clear record of why, when, and to whom it moved.”
“A payment should follow the promise. A held payment should have a reason. A release should have a record. And no legitimate Vendor payment should be trapped indefinitely simply because someone stopped responding.”
Articles 76–150
This Chapter establishes the rules governing Vendor payment structures, tranche allocation, automatic settlement, conditional payment release, payment milestones, and the relationship between a confirmed booking and the Vendor's entitlement to receive payment.
Its purpose is to ensure that: - Hosts understand how their payments are allocated; - Vendors understand when they become entitled to receive each portion of their service fee; - payment structures are established before or at booking confirmation; - automatic settlement operates predictably; - conditional balances are not unnecessarily withheld; - payment obligations correspond with the commercial terms of the booking; and - both Hosts and Vendors have a reliable financial record of the transaction.
Where a Vendor offers multiple payment structures, the structure selected or otherwise agreed for a particular booking forms part of the material financial terms of that booking.
Once a booking is confirmed, the applicable payment structure should not be changed unilaterally by either the Host or Vendor except where: - both parties agree to the change; - Lifetime permits the change; - the change is required by law or a payment provider; - the original structure becomes technically unavailable; or - another legitimate circumstance requires an adjustment.
Depending on the service category, Vendor, booking value, transaction risk and Platform configuration, Lifetime may support payment structures including: 1. 100% Upfront; 2. 70/30; 3. 60/20/20; 4. 80/20; 5. 50/50; and 6. other payment structures approved by Lifetime.
The availability of a particular structure is not guaranteed for every Vendor, service or booking.
A payment structure determines how the Vendor's service fee is divided into payment tranches and when those tranches become eligible for settlement.
A payment structure does not, by itself, determine: - whether a service has been properly performed; - whether a refund is available; - whether a cancellation is permitted; - whether a dispute exists; or - whether Lifetime may intervene in exceptional circumstances.
Those matters remain governed by the applicable Lifetime policies and the circumstances of the transaction.
For purposes of this Volume, the Vendor Service Fee means the amount attributable to the service or goods being provided by the Vendor under the confirmed booking.
The Vendor Service Fee is distinct from: - Lifetime's service or marketplace fees; - applicable taxes; - payment-provider charges; - refunds; - reversals; - penalties or adjustments; and - other amounts separately identified in the transaction.
Lifetime may charge a Host a separate service, marketplace, facilitation, booking, commission or other applicable Platform fee.
Unless the transaction terms expressly provide otherwise, Lifetime's own service fee is not treated as part of the Vendor's escrow balance merely because both amounts are paid in the same transaction.
Where taxes, including VAT or other applicable statutory charges, are required to be collected in connection with a transaction, Lifetime may collect such amounts as part of the Host's total payable amount.
The treatment, calculation, collection, remittance and accounting of taxes shall be subject to applicable law and the relevant tax treatment of the underlying transaction.
Where a Host completes a Lifetime transaction, the amount payable may consist of: - the Vendor Service Fee; - Lifetime's applicable service or marketplace fee; - applicable VAT or other taxes; - payment-provider charges where disclosed and applicable; - approved transaction adjustments; and - any other lawful amount properly disclosed before payment.
The transaction record should, where reasonably practicable, distinguish these components.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, the payment percentages described in a Vendor payment structure apply to the Vendor Service Fee, rather than automatically to Lifetime's own fees or applicable taxes.
Accordingly, a 70/30 Vendor payment structure ordinarily means that the Vendor Service Fee is divided into: - a first tranche representing 70%; and - a subsequent tranche representing 30%.
It does not necessarily mean that the Host's entire transaction total is divided in the same proportions.
Under a 100% upfront structure, the entire Vendor Service Fee becomes eligible for immediate settlement once: - the Host has successfully completed the required payment; - Lifetime or its payment infrastructure can reliably confirm receipt or successful settlement of the applicable Host payment; - the booking has been confirmed; and - no applicable fraud, compliance, payment, legal or other legitimate restriction prevents settlement.
Where Article 85 applies, Lifetime may automatically authorise or initiate settlement of the entire Vendor Service Fee without waiting for a subsequent Host confirmation of fulfilment.
The absence of a later Host confirmation does not, by itself, prevent settlement where the booking was expressly configured as 100% upfront.
Where all applicable conditions for settlement have been satisfied, Lifetime should not unnecessarily delay payment to a Vendor merely because the service date has not yet occurred.
This does not prevent a lawful or necessary intervention arising from: - suspected fraud; - payment reversal; - chargeback; - identity or account concerns; - regulatory requirements; - sanctions or compliance restrictions; - material booking irregularity; or - another legitimate risk requiring intervention.
Under a 70/30 structure: - 70% of the Vendor Service Fee constitutes the first payment tranche; and - 30% constitutes the subsequent payment tranche.
Subject to the applicable transaction conditions, the first tranche may be automatically released when the booking is confirmed and the required Host payment has been successfully received.
The subsequent tranche is ordinarily subject to the conditional release mechanism established under this Volume.
Under a 60/20/20 structure: - 60% of the Vendor Service Fee constitutes the first tranche; - 20% constitutes the second tranche; and - 20% constitutes the final tranche.
The first tranche may be automatically released following successful payment and booking confirmation.
The subsequent tranches may be conditionally held pending the applicable service milestone and release process.
Under an 80/20 structure: - 80% of the Vendor Service Fee constitutes the first tranche; and - 20% constitutes the subsequent tranche.
The first tranche may be automatically released following successful payment and booking confirmation.
The remaining 20% is ordinarily subject to the conditional release process applicable to subsequent tranches.
Under a 50/50 structure: - 50% of the Vendor Service Fee constitutes the first tranche; and - 50% constitutes the subsequent tranche.
The first tranche may be automatically released following successful payment and booking confirmation.
The remaining 50% is ordinarily subject to the conditional release process.
Lifetime may introduce additional payment structures where commercially, operationally or legally appropriate.
Any additional structure should clearly identify: - the number of tranches; - the percentage or amount attributable to each tranche; - the event or milestone associated with each tranche; - whether the tranche is automatically released or conditionally held; and - any special conditions applicable to settlement.
Except where the transaction terms provide otherwise, the first Vendor payment tranche is intended to provide the Vendor with an initial payment following successful booking confirmation.
Where the applicable structure permits automatic release, Lifetime may initiate settlement of that tranche without requiring a separate Host approval.
The automatic release of an initial tranche recognises that Vendors may incur legitimate costs in preparing for a booking, including: - reserving dates; - purchasing materials; - securing staff; - arranging equipment; - preparing designs; - procuring inventory; - reserving transportation; - allocating production capacity; and - undertaking other preparatory work.
The first tranche therefore represents part of the Vendor's commercial commitment and preparation for fulfilment.
Where a payment structure contains subsequent tranches, those amounts may be conditionally held until the relevant release conditions are satisfied.
The purpose is not to deprive the Vendor of earned funds.
The purpose is to create a controlled payment sequence in which later payments correspond reasonably with the progression of the underlying service.
Where a staged booking specifies milestones, each subsequent tranche may be associated with a defined stage of fulfilment.
Examples may include: - commencement of preparation; - completion of a design stage; - delivery of specified materials; - completion of pre-event arrangements; - arrival at a Venue; - commencement of the event service; - completion of the principal service; - delivery of agreed outputs; or - another objectively identifiable contractual milestone.
A payment milestone should be described with sufficient clarity that a reasonable Host and Vendor can understand what event or stage is intended to trigger the corresponding payment.
Lifetime should discourage milestones that are: - deliberately vague; - impossible to verify; - internally contradictory; - dependent entirely on one party's undisclosed discretion; or - designed to frustrate the payment process.
Where a booking contains payment terms that differ from Lifetime's default structure, the booking record shall govern to the extent those terms were validly agreed and are consistent with applicable Lifetime policies and law.
A Vendor must not unilaterally change the percentage or amount of a payment tranche after confirmation merely because: - preparation costs increased; - the Vendor's internal costs changed; - the Vendor prefers earlier payment; - the Vendor's cash flow changed; or - another booking has affected the Vendor's finances.
Any material change should be agreed and recorded through the Platform where practicable.
A Host must not unilaterally refuse an agreed payment tranche merely because the Host subsequently prefers a different payment arrangement.
Where a legitimate service issue exists, the Host should use the applicable fulfilment, cancellation or dispute mechanism.
Where the Platform supports staged payment functionality, the Host should be able to see, where reasonably practicable: - total Vendor Service Fee; - payment structure; - amount of each tranche; - amount already paid; - amount pending; - amount conditionally held; - amount released; - applicable payment dates or milestones; and - relevant transaction status.
Vendors should likewise have access, subject to Platform functionality, to information showing: - the Vendor Service Fee; - applicable payment structure; - amounts received; - amounts pending; - amounts conditionally held; - release status; - settlement status; - adjustments; - refunds or reversals; and - other material payment information.
Where a transaction qualifies for automatic settlement, the settlement process may be initiated by Platform rules or connected payment infrastructure without requiring an employee to manually approve each individual payment.
Automatic processing remains subject to: - transaction status; - applicable release conditions; - fraud controls; - payment-provider rules; - account verification; - compliance requirements; and - system availability.
An automatically generated settlement instruction remains subject to appropriate controls.
Lifetime may suspend, delay or prevent an automatic settlement where there is a reasonable basis to believe that completing the settlement could: - facilitate fraud; - result in an erroneous payment; - violate applicable law; - breach payment-provider requirements; - compromise Platform integrity; - prejudice a legitimate dispute; or - create a material and avoidable financial risk.
Lifetime should not treat an attempted, pending or failed Host payment as equivalent to confirmed receipt of funds.
Settlement eligibility ordinarily arises only after the relevant payment infrastructure provides sufficient confirmation of successful payment or settlement.
Where a payment provider, bank, processor, switch or other authorised payment infrastructure is responsible for processing the transaction, Lifetime may rely upon the authoritative status returned by that infrastructure.
A Host's screenshot, bank notification, debit alert or other independently supplied evidence may assist an investigation but does not necessarily establish that Lifetime has received cleared funds.
The authoritative transaction record shall ordinarily determine payment status.
Similarly, a Vendor's screenshot or bank notification does not by itself establish that Lifetime has authorised or completed a settlement.
Settlement status shall ordinarily be determined from the relevant Platform and payment-provider records.
A settlement instruction is an instruction or process through which an eligible amount is authorised for transfer to the Vendor's designated payout destination.
The issuance of a settlement instruction does not necessarily mean that the Vendor's bank has already credited the funds.
Settlement shall be considered completed when the applicable payment infrastructure confirms completion according to its transaction status and applicable processing rules.
Where a bank or payment provider subsequently reverses or rejects the transaction, Lifetime may treat the payment as unsettled or reversed, subject to the applicable circumstances.
A Vendor is responsible for providing accurate and valid payout information required for settlement.
Such information may include: - account name; - bank name; - account number; - payment identifier; - wallet details; - authorised business payout information; or - other information required by the applicable payment infrastructure.
Lifetime or its payment partners may require verification of a Vendor's payout destination before settlement.
Verification may include: - account-name matching; - identity checks; - business verification; - ownership confirmation; - transaction-history checks; - bank validation; or - other lawful verification measures.
A Vendor should not change payout information immediately before an expected settlement without completing any verification process required by Lifetime or its payment provider.
Lifetime may delay settlement where a payout destination has recently changed and additional verification is reasonably required.
Where a Vendor supplies incorrect payout information and the payment cannot be completed, Lifetime may: - retry settlement where technically possible; - request corrected information; - require additional verification; - return the funds to the applicable transaction balance where possible; or - take another reasonable step consistent with the payment provider's procedures.
A Vendor remains responsible for ensuring that the payout information associated with its Account is accurate and current.
Lifetime is not responsible for losses caused solely by a Vendor's provision of materially incorrect payout information where Lifetime used the information provided through the applicable Platform or payment process.
The currency applicable to a transaction shall ordinarily be the currency displayed and accepted at the time the booking is confirmed.
Where currency conversion is required, the applicable exchange rate, conversion process and provider charges may be determined by the relevant payment infrastructure.
Where Lifetime supports transactions involving foreign currencies, additional requirements may apply, including: - exchange-rate adjustments; - international payment processing; - settlement timing; - identity verification; - regulatory requirements; - transaction limits; - payment-provider restrictions; and - applicable taxes or charges.
Lifetime does not guarantee that a Vendor's bank account will be credited immediately after a settlement instruction is generated.
Actual crediting may depend upon: - banks; - payment processors; - switches; - settlement systems; - weekends and public holidays; - technical availability; - reconciliation; - compliance reviews; and - other circumstances outside Lifetime's direct control.
Where a settlement is delayed after Lifetime has properly authorised it, Lifetime may provide the Vendor with the relevant transaction status where reasonably available.
A delay caused by an external payment provider does not necessarily constitute a breach by Lifetime.
Transactions may be subject to the operational, technical and compliance requirements of the payment providers and financial institutions involved.
Where those requirements conflict with a Platform workflow, Lifetime may modify or suspend the affected workflow to maintain lawful and operationally reliable payment processing.
Lifetime may modify payment structures, settlement processes, verification requirements or payout procedures where required to comply with: - applicable Nigerian law; - regulatory directives; - payment-system requirements; - tax requirements; - anti-money-laundering obligations; - sanctions requirements; - court orders; - lawful government requests; or - binding requirements imposed by an authorised payment provider.
A User must not attempt to circumvent payment controls by: - manipulating booking amounts; - splitting transactions to avoid controls; - creating false bookings; - using another person's payment account without authority; - directing payments through undisclosed channels; - submitting false payment evidence; or - otherwise interfering with the payment architecture.
Users must not manipulate payment structures for the purpose of defeating: - fraud controls; - payment limits; - refund rights; - dispute procedures; - verification requirements; - fees; - taxes; or - other legitimate Platform controls.
Where a Host and Vendor enter into multiple bookings, each booking may have its own payment structure and settlement record.
Funds relating to one booking should not automatically be treated as payment for another booking merely because the same Host and Vendor are involved.
Lifetime may apply a cross-booking adjustment only where: - the parties have validly agreed to it; - the adjustment is expressly authorised by applicable terms; - it is necessary to correct an identifiable payment error; or - applicable law or a payment-provider process requires it.
A Vendor must not instruct Lifetime to redirect funds from one Host booking to another booking merely because the Vendor believes the Host owes money elsewhere.
Any such adjustment must occur through an authorised Platform mechanism or lawful process.
A Host likewise must not unilaterally deduct amounts from a Vendor's payment because of an unrelated transaction, complaint or disagreement unless the deduction is authorised under the applicable transaction or dispute process.
Cancellation of a booking may affect amounts that have: - already been settled; - remain conditionally held; - become refundable; - become non-refundable; - become subject to Vendor compensation; or - become subject to further review.
The applicable Cancellation and Refund framework shall determine the substantive outcome.
A Vendor's receipt of an initial or subsequent payment does not prevent the Host from raising a legitimate service-fulfilment concern.
Likewise, the existence of a service complaint does not automatically establish that every unpaid tranche should be withheld.
The financial consequence should be determined according to the facts and applicable policies.
Where a dispute arises concerning a payment tranche, the dispute may be handled under the applicable Lifetime dispute-resolution and service-fulfilment procedures.
The payment system may temporarily restrict the affected amount while the issue is reviewed where reasonably necessary.
Where only part of a Vendor's payment is genuinely disputed, Lifetime should, where reasonably practicable, avoid unnecessarily withholding amounts that are not subject to the dispute.
This supports proportionality and prevents an isolated disagreement from freezing an entire transaction.
Lifetime may release an undisputed portion of a payment while retaining only the amount reasonably connected to: - the disputed service component; - a potential refund; - a suspected payment error; - a chargeback; - a fraud concern; or - another legitimate financial risk.
Where a Vendor has incurred legitimate preparation costs before a later payment tranche becomes due, those costs do not automatically entitle the Vendor to immediate release of the remaining tranche.
The agreed payment structure remains controlling unless amended through an authorised process.
A Vendor must not pressure, threaten or improperly induce a Host to release a future payment before the applicable milestone has been reached.
This includes attempts to: - misrepresent fulfilment; - create artificial urgency; - threaten service withdrawal without contractual basis; - fabricate completion evidence; or - otherwise manipulate the Host's payment decision.
A Host should not refuse an otherwise properly due payment solely because the Host would prefer to retain control of the money.
Where the relevant milestone has genuinely been satisfied, the Host should use the applicable Platform process rather than artificially obstruct settlement.
Once a payment structure has been incorporated into a confirmed booking, the structure shall remain fixed unless changed through an authorised amendment accepted by the relevant parties or required by law, provider architecture or another legitimate intervention.
A User must not describe a transaction as one payment structure while privately operating it as another arrangement intended to defeat Platform controls, fees, refund rules, verification or dispute safeguards.
The amount assigned to each tranche shall correspond with the confirmed Vendor Service Fee and the applicable percentage or fixed amount stated in the booking record.
Where an arithmetic or configuration error is identified, Lifetime may correct the transaction record and communicate the correction to affected Users.
Where percentage-based tranches produce a minor rounding difference, the Platform may allocate the difference to one tranche using a consistent calculation method disclosed or reasonably determinable from the transaction record.
A rounding adjustment shall not materially alter the agreed commercial structure.
Each conditional tranche should, where practicable, be mapped to a specific contractual milestone, event or release condition before the booking is confirmed.
The purpose of the mapping is to prevent later disagreement about what event permits a Vendor to request release.
A Vendor must not create or materially alter a milestone after a release request has become disputed solely to make the request appear eligible.
Any legitimate amendment shall be recorded as an authorised booking change.
Where the parties validly amend the scope, price, timing or other material term of a booking, the associated payment structure may be recalculated or reconfigured where the Platform permits.
Any resulting change should be traceable to the authorised amendment.
An additional service shall not automatically become part of an existing Vendor tranche merely because the same Vendor provides it.
Additional charges should be separately authorised and recorded where required by the applicable booking terms.
Where a discount, promotion or negotiated reduction applies to the Vendor Service Fee, the tranche calculations may be based on the adjusted amount reflected in the confirmed transaction record.
Lifetime may establish consistent rounding and allocation rules for promotional transactions.
A booking may use terms such as deposit, advance, instalment or tranche, but the applicable legal and financial treatment shall depend on the transaction terms, payment-provider architecture and applicable law rather than terminology alone.
The label attached to a payment shall not by itself determine whether the amount is refundable, non-refundable, conditionally held or immediately settled.
Those consequences shall arise from the applicable transaction terms and policies.
A Vendor's decision to incur preparation costs remains a commercial risk unless the applicable booking terms expressly allocate that risk differently.
The existence of a first-tranche payment does not guarantee recovery of every preparation expense.
A Host should review the payment structure, milestone requirements and applicable cancellation terms before confirming a booking.
A Host's later dissatisfaction does not automatically rewrite the agreed payment structure.
Payment structures shall be administered consistently across comparable transactions, subject to legitimate differences in service type, risk, booking terms, provider requirements and applicable law.
Lifetime may refine technical implementation of a structure provided that material financial terms are not changed retrospectively without proper authority.
The payment architecture established by Lifetime is founded upon a simple principle:
“The first payment should move when the booking is validly confirmed. Later payments should move when their agreed conditions are satisfied. A Host should have a meaningful opportunity to raise a genuine concern. But silence should never become a permanent veto over a Vendor's legitimate payment.”
The detailed mechanics governing conditional holding, release requests, Host confirmation, the 24-hour rule, exceptions, disputes and intervention shall be established in the Chapters that follow.
“A payment structure should create clarity, not uncertainty. A first payment should give the Vendor confidence to begin. A later payment should follow the progress of the promise. And when the conditions for payment have been met, the money should move.”
This Chapter establishes the rules governing the conditional holding of Vendor payment amounts, the submission and validation of Vendor release requests, notification to Hosts, Host confirmation or refusal, the operation of the twenty-four-hour response period, automatic release following non-response, and exceptional circumstances in which release may be suspended.
This Chapter applies principally to Vendor payment amounts that are not automatically settled upon successful booking payment and that, under the applicable payment structure, are subject to a subsequent release condition.
The conditional holding process shall operate according to the payment structure attached to the relevant booking.
Where a booking specifies 70/30, 60/20/20, 80/20, 50/50, or another staged structure, the applicable tranche shall become subject to the relevant release mechanism at the point established by the booking terms.
For purposes of this Policy, a Conditional Hold means a payment status in which an amount attributable to a Vendor has been received or allocated in connection with a booking but is not yet authorised for settlement to the Vendor because an agreed release condition remains outstanding.
A Conditional Hold does not, by itself, constitute forfeiture, cancellation, refund, reversal, or permanent withholding of the Vendor’s payment entitlement.
No payment amount shall ordinarily remain in Conditional Hold indefinitely merely because a Host has failed to respond to a properly delivered release notification.
Conditional Holding exists to create a reasonable connection between the progress of a booking and the release of later Vendor payments while preserving a meaningful opportunity for a Host to identify a genuine material concern.
The existence of a Conditional Hold shall not be interpreted as a representation that Lifetime independently owns, deposits, invests, or otherwise has unrestricted beneficial control over the underlying funds.
The actual custody, safeguarding, movement, settlement, reconciliation, or release of funds may be performed through payment processors, payment service providers, settlement institutions, banks, or other appropriately authorised infrastructure engaged or permitted by Lifetime.
Where the technical or contractual architecture of the relevant payment provider differs from the terminology used in this Policy, Lifetime may implement equivalent controls using the terminology and mechanisms supported by that provider.
A Vendor payment amount may enter Conditional Hold where:
1. the booking has been validly confirmed; 2. the Host’s payment has been successfully received or authoritatively confirmed; 3. the applicable payment structure requires staged settlement; 4. the relevant tranche has not yet become eligible for automatic settlement; and 5. no overriding payment, compliance, fraud, dispute, cancellation, safety, or legal restriction prevents the holding arrangement.
Each held amount shall, where reasonably practicable, be associated with:
1. the relevant booking; 2. the Vendor; 3. the applicable tranche; 4. the amount; 5. the transaction currency; 6. the applicable release condition; and 7. the date and time at which the amount entered Conditional Hold.
A Conditional Hold shall ordinarily relate to the specific booking and payment tranche from which it arose.
A held amount from one booking shall not automatically be treated as payment for another booking, debt, invoice, dispute, or transaction.
Where practicable, Lifetime shall maintain an accounting distinction between Vendor amounts subject to Conditional Hold and Lifetime’s own service fees, taxes, provider charges, refunds, reversals, or other transaction components.
A payment identified as “Held,” “Pending Release,” “Conditional,” or substantially equivalent terminology shall mean that the payment has not yet completed the applicable Vendor settlement process.
Lifetime shall not intentionally represent a payment as released where the applicable settlement instruction has not been authorised or completed according to the relevant payment infrastructure.
Where reasonably practicable, the Vendor shall be able to view the applicable payment status through the Platform or another authorised communication channel.
Where reasonably practicable, the Host shall be able to understand that a staged Vendor payment remains subject to a later release condition.
The fact that a payment is held shall not, by itself, constitute evidence that the Vendor has failed to perform or that the Vendor has lost its contractual entitlement to the amount.
A Vendor tranche becomes eligible for a release request when the applicable booking condition or milestone has been reached and the Vendor has satisfied the requirements applicable to requesting payment.
The applicable milestone may include:
1. completion of preparatory work; 2. delivery of agreed materials; 3. completion of design or planning; 4. commencement of on-site services; 5. Venue arrival; 6. performance of an agreed event stage; 7. delivery of agreed outputs; 8. completion of services; or 9. another clearly defined contractual event.
A release milestone shall, where practicable, be sufficiently clear that a reasonable Host and Vendor can determine whether it has occurred.
A Vendor shall not manufacture, manipulate, falsely declare, or artificially accelerate a milestone solely to obtain early payment.
The Vendor remains responsible for the accuracy of any completion or milestone information submitted in support of a release request.
Lifetime may require reasonable evidence that a release condition has been satisfied where the booking terms, transaction risk, dispute history, or payment architecture reasonably requires verification.
Evidence may include:
1. booking records; 2. Platform communications; 3. photographs; 4. delivery records; 5. completion confirmations; 6. invoices or receipts; 7. agreed work products; 8. attendance or service records; or 9. other relevant transaction evidence.
Lifetime shall seek to avoid imposing unnecessary evidentiary requirements where the milestone is objectively apparent from the booking record or Platform activity.
A Vendor’s ability to submit a release request does not itself guarantee that the amount will be released where a legitimate payment, fraud, compliance, dispute, cancellation, refund, safety, legal, or technical intervention applies.
Eligibility shall ordinarily be assessed separately for each tranche.
Subject to the applicable booking terms, a Vendor may request release of a subsequent payment tranche when the relevant release condition has been satisfied.
A release request may require:
1. booking identification; 2. tranche identification; 3. requested amount; 4. applicable milestone; 5. confirmation that the milestone has occurred; and 6. supporting information reasonably required by Lifetime.
Where the functionality is available, release requests shall be submitted through the Platform or another authorised Lifetime channel.
Lifetime may decline to treat informal messages, personal calls, social media messages, or other unauthorised communications as valid release requests.
A release request shall be considered valid only when it contains sufficient information for Lifetime to identify the transaction, the tranche, and the basis upon which release is being requested.
An incomplete release request may be returned to the Vendor for correction before the twenty-four-hour Host response period begins.
A Vendor shall not submit repeated or duplicate requests for the same tranche merely to create multiple notification events or manipulate the twenty-four-hour period.
Where a genuine error exists, the Vendor may correct the request before release, provided that the correction does not constitute manipulation of the payment process.
A premature release request may be rejected, deferred, or returned without triggering the automatic release period.
A knowingly false, misleading, fabricated, or materially premature release request may constitute a breach of Vendor obligations and may result in suspension, reversal, payment restriction, investigation, or other appropriate action.
Upon receipt of a release request, Lifetime or its payment infrastructure may conduct an initial validation to determine whether:
1. the booking exists; 2. the Vendor is the relevant service provider; 3. the tranche exists; 4. the requested amount corresponds with the booking; 5. the milestone is applicable; 6. the payment remains available for release; and 7. any obvious restriction applies.
Initial validation is an administrative payment-control process and does not constitute a final determination of whether a Host’s complaint or Vendor’s performance claim is legally or factually correct.
A release request that passes initial validation may proceed to Host notification.
A request that does not satisfy applicable requirements may be rejected or returned to the Vendor with a reasonable explanation where practicable.
The Platform may record the exact date and time at which a valid release request was submitted.
For purposes of the twenty-four-hour response period, the relevant starting point shall ordinarily be the recorded timestamp at which the Host is properly notified of the valid release request, rather than merely the time at which the Vendor created or submitted the request.
This distinction exists to ensure that the Host does not lose response time because of internal validation, processing, or notification delays occurring before the Host is actually notified.
Lifetime may maintain an electronic record showing:
1. request submission; 2. validation; 3. notification; 4. delivery status; 5. Host response; 6. reminders; 7. release authorisation; and 8. settlement status.
Where a dispute exists concerning the timing of a payment release process, Lifetime may rely on its authoritative Platform and payment-provider records, subject to correction of demonstrated technical errors.
Lifetime may apply reasonable technical controls to prevent manipulation of timestamps, duplicate requests, notification records, or response status.
Where a valid Vendor release request requires Host confirmation or provides the Host with a right to object, Lifetime shall ordinarily notify the Host through an authorised communication channel.
The notification should, where practicable, identify:
1. the booking; 2. the Vendor; 3. the relevant service stage; 4. the amount proposed for release; 5. the response deadline; 6. the available response options; and 7. the consequences of non-response.
The Host should be given reasonably clear options to:
1. confirm release; 2. refuse release; or 3. provide a material concern requiring review.
The Platform should not intentionally design the release process so that a reasonable Host cannot understand whether an action constitutes confirmation.
Notification may be delivered by:
1. in-app notification; 2. email; 3. SMS; 4. push notification; or 5. another authorised communication channel.
Where the Platform supports multiple channels, Lifetime may designate one channel as the primary transaction notification channel.
Lifetime may use additional channels as reminders or supplementary notices.
Where reasonably available, Lifetime may record whether a notification was successfully transmitted, delivered, opened, viewed, or otherwise acknowledged.
A Host shall not ordinarily be permitted to defeat the response period merely by asserting that the Host personally did not read a properly delivered notification.
Where Lifetime receives a reliable indication that a notification could not be delivered through the designated channel, Lifetime may take reasonable steps to use another authorised channel.
The Host shall ordinarily have up to twenty-four hours from the recorded delivery of a valid release notification to confirm or refuse the proposed release.
The twenty-four-hour period begins at the recorded time at which the valid notification is delivered through the applicable authorised communication mechanism.
The twenty-four-hour period shall not ordinarily begin merely because the Vendor submitted a request.
The twenty-four-hour period shall not ordinarily begin merely because Lifetime or a payment provider completed internal validation.
The twenty-four-hour period shall not begin from the date on which the original booking was created unless the booking terms expressly establish another mechanism.
Unless otherwise required by law, payment-provider rules, or system failure, the twenty-four-hour period shall ordinarily run continuously.
Weekends and public holidays shall ordinarily count toward the twenty-four-hour period unless the applicable payment infrastructure, law, or a documented system interruption requires otherwise.
The Platform may calculate the deadline using the timestamp recorded by its authoritative transaction system.
The Platform may designate an official system time for calculating release deadlines.
Where appropriate, Lifetime may display the applicable deadline in the Host’s relevant local time while retaining the underlying authoritative system timestamp.
Lifetime shall not ordinarily extend the response period merely because a Vendor would prefer additional time before automatic release.
Lifetime shall not intentionally shorten the Host’s full twenty-four-hour response opportunity by incorrectly recording the notification timestamp.
Where a material technical delay occurs between creation of a release request and Host notification, the response period shall ordinarily be calculated from actual valid notification rather than request creation.
Lifetime may send a reminder before expiry of the response period.
A reminder shall not ordinarily restart or extend the twenty-four-hour period unless Lifetime expressly states otherwise.
A Host may respond at any time during the twenty-four-hour period.
Where the Host confirms release before expiry, Lifetime may proceed with release subject to applicable payment, compliance, fraud, and technical controls.
Where the Host refuses release before expiry, automatic release shall ordinarily be suspended for the affected amount pending review.
Silence by the Host shall not ordinarily constitute a permanent refusal to release the Vendor payment.
The silence rule exists to prevent a Vendor’s legitimate payment from being trapped indefinitely where the Host has been given a reasonable opportunity to respond but does not do so.
A Host may confirm release of the applicable tranche through the authorised Platform mechanism.
A valid Host confirmation authorises Lifetime to proceed with the applicable release process, subject to payment-provider, compliance, fraud, reconciliation, and other legitimate controls.
Confirmation of one tranche does not constitute confirmation of all future tranches or unrelated charges.
Confirmation shall ordinarily relate only to the identified booking and Vendor payment.
A Host’s confirmation of a payment release does not automatically constitute a waiver of every future contractual, statutory, fraud-related, consumer, or service-quality right.
A Host shall not be required to confirm release through threats, harassment, intimidation, deception, or unlawful pressure.
A Vendor shall not interfere improperly with the Host’s ability to make an independent release decision.
Lifetime may retain the Host’s confirmation, including the applicable timestamp and transaction reference.
A Host may seek to withdraw or challenge a confirmation where there is evidence of fraud, account compromise, technical error, coercion, or another legitimate basis.
Withdrawal of confirmation does not automatically reverse a completed settlement but may trigger review under the applicable dispute, refund, reversal, or payment-recovery procedures.
A Host may refuse a proposed Vendor payment release where the Host has a genuine material concern relating to the relevant service, milestone, payment, booking, fraud, safety, or other legitimate transaction issue.
Where reasonably practicable, the Host should provide a concise explanation of the material reason for refusing release.
A bare refusal without meaningful information may be insufficient to justify an indefinite payment hold.
A refusal to release a tranche does not automatically establish that the Host is entitled to a refund.
A Host’s refusal does not automatically establish that the Vendor breached the booking.
A refusal may trigger review of the relevant transaction under the applicable fulfilment, dispute, cancellation, refund, fraud, or payment procedures.
The review should ordinarily concern the specific payment tranche and issue giving rise to the refusal.
Where a Host’s concern affects only part of a payment or service, Lifetime should, where reasonably practicable, avoid withholding amounts unrelated to the identified concern.
Lifetime may authorise release of an undisputed portion while retaining only the amount reasonably connected to the unresolved concern.
A Host’s right to object is a protection against paying for an unresolved material failure. It is not an unlimited right to retain a Vendor’s money without explanation.
The 24-hour clock belongs to the Host, not the Vendor. It begins when the Host is properly notified of a valid release request—not when the Vendor submits it.
A Host should have a meaningful opportunity to raise a genuine concern. A Vendor should have a reliable path to legitimate payment. And where the Host has been properly notified, has neither confirmed nor raised a genuine objection, and no legitimate intervention applies, silence should not become a permanent veto over payment.
Articles 251–350
This Chapter establishes the exceptional intervention framework applicable where a payment, Vendor tranche, settlement instruction or related financial event presents a credible material risk requiring temporary protective action.
Its purpose is not to create a general right to delay payment. Its purpose is to protect the transaction where ordinary payment processing cannot safely continue without additional review.
This Chapter supplements the conditional-holding, release-request and twenty-four-hour rules established in the preceding Chapters.
The ordinary rule remains that a valid Vendor payment should proceed when the applicable conditions have been satisfied. Exceptional intervention is an exception and shall therefore be applied only on a legitimate basis.
Exceptional intervention means a temporary financial control applied because Lifetime or an authorised payment infrastructure provider has credible reason to believe that continuing normal payment processing may cause material financial, legal, regulatory, security, fraud, service, consumer-protection or operational harm.
An intervention may include a temporary hold, delayed settlement, enhanced verification, evidence request, payment-provider review, restricted release, reversal review or other proportionate protective measure.
Lifetime shall seek to apply the least intrusive control reasonably capable of addressing the identified risk.
Where a risk can be managed by holding a specific tranche, Lifetime should not ordinarily hold unrelated amounts. Where a risk can be managed by verification, verification should be preferred to an indefinite financial freeze.
Exceptional intervention may arise where there is credible information concerning: - fraud or attempted fraud; - payment irregularity; - account compromise; - identity or authority concerns; - payment-provider alerts; - regulatory restrictions; - legal restrictions; - sanctions or prohibited transactions; - serious safety concerns; - serious service failure; - chargeback or reversal risk; - duplicate funding; - incorrect allocation; - material system anomalies; - cybersecurity incidents; or - another comparable circumstance presenting a material and reasonably identifiable risk.
Information supporting intervention should be sufficiently reliable, specific or corroborated to identify a genuine concern.
Credible information may originate from the Platform's records, a Host or Vendor, a payment provider, a financial institution, a regulator or lawful authority, transaction-monitoring systems, security systems, communications, service evidence or other reasonably reliable sources.
An intervention should not ordinarily be imposed for a trivial, speculative or purely technical concern that presents no material risk to the transaction.
The greater the financial or legal consequence of an intervention, the stronger the basis should ordinarily be for imposing and continuing it.
Where delay could materially increase the risk of fraud, loss, unlawful payment, account compromise, safety harm or irreversible financial movement, Lifetime or the relevant payment provider may act before obtaining a complete evidentiary record.
An urgent intervention must still be reviewed as soon as reasonably practicable.
Payment integrity risk includes circumstances suggesting that the amount, source, destination, authorisation, allocation, timing or status of a payment may not accurately reflect the underlying transaction.
An integrity concern does not itself establish wrongdoing.
Fraud indicators may include unusual payment behaviour, inconsistent identity information, suspicious device or Account activity, contradictory transaction information, manipulated evidence, unexplained payment reversals, unauthorised access indicators, or patterns reasonably associated with financial abuse.
A fraud indicator is a reason for examination, not a final finding of fraud.
A payment irregularity may include an unexplained duplicate payment, amount mismatch, unexpected reversal, inconsistent provider status, misapplied funds, unauthorised payment attempt or other material discrepancy.
Where the irregularity can be corrected without a prolonged hold, correction should be preferred.
Where there is credible evidence that a Host or Vendor Account may have been compromised, Lifetime may temporarily restrict financial actions associated with the Account while verifying authority and protecting affected funds.
The restriction should be limited to what is reasonably necessary.
Where identity, authority or ownership information is materially inconsistent with the transaction, Lifetime may require additional verification before release.
Additional verification shall not be used merely to create an unnecessary barrier to legitimate payment.
A payment provider may generate a fraud, compliance, security, settlement or processing alert.
Where the provider's lawful or contractual rules require a pause, Lifetime may comply with that requirement while maintaining accurate records and communicating what can lawfully be disclosed.
Where a regulator imposes or communicates a binding restriction affecting a payment or transaction, Lifetime may restrict processing to the extent required.
A regulatory restriction does not require Lifetime to invent a broader restriction than the underlying requirement.
A court order, lawful government direction, statutory prohibition or other binding legal restriction may require a payment to be frozen, redirected, withheld, reversed or otherwise controlled.
Lifetime may comply with such requirement and may be unable to disclose confidential details where disclosure is legally restricted.
Where release of funds is reasonably connected to a serious and credible safety concern, Lifetime may temporarily restrict the affected payment while the underlying matter is assessed.
Safety intervention shall not be used as a substitute for ordinary payment administration where no genuine safety issue exists.
A material service failure may justify temporary financial intervention where there is a credible connection between the failure and an unpaid tranche, potential refund, material remediation obligation or other financial consequence.
A service complaint alone does not automatically justify withholding every amount in the transaction.
Where a payment is subject to a credible and material chargeback risk, Lifetime may apply proportionate controls consistent with the payment provider's rules.
A chargeback risk is not itself proof that a Host acted fraudulently.
Where the same transaction appears to have received duplicate funding, Lifetime may temporarily prevent duplicate settlement and investigate the correct financial position.
The objective is correction, not financial punishment.
Where funds appear to have been allocated to the wrong booking, User, Vendor, tranche or financial component, Lifetime may restrict further movement until the correct allocation is established.
Where the error is clear, Lifetime may correct it without waiting for a full dispute process.
A technical anomaly may justify temporary intervention where it creates a material risk that the displayed or recorded payment state does not match the underlying financial state.
Minor interface defects that do not affect financial integrity should not ordinarily result in a financial hold.
Where a Platform or payment system may have produced inaccurate financial instructions, duplicated actions or inconsistent transaction states, Lifetime may temporarily suspend affected financial actions until system integrity is restored.
The original financial evidence shall be preserved.
Where a legitimate intervention ground is identified before a Vendor tranche is released, Lifetime may temporarily suspend release of the affected amount while the concern is assessed.
The ordinary release process should resume when the intervention ground is resolved or no longer justifies restriction.
A release authorisation does not prevent intervention where a new and material risk arises before settlement completion.
Any intervention after authorisation should be recorded with the reason, timing and affected amount.
A temporary hold is a protective control and not a determination that a User has lost an entitlement.
Unless applicable law, a provider rule or the transaction terms require otherwise, the affected amount remains subject to the eventual financial outcome established by the review.
A hold shall identify the booking, payment, tranche or amount affected.
Lifetime should avoid applying a transaction-wide hold where a narrower hold can adequately address the identified risk.
The amount held should be reasonably connected to the risk being managed.
Where only a portion of a Vendor payment is potentially affected, the remainder should ordinarily remain eligible for release unless another legitimate ground exists.
A hold shall last no longer than reasonably necessary to resolve the underlying concern, subject to provider, regulatory, legal or dispute-process requirements.
The existence of an investigation does not create an unlimited right to delay payment indefinitely.
The internal record of every material hold should identify the trigger, date and time, affected transaction, affected amount, decision authority, review path and next required action.
Where disclosure is permitted, the User should receive a meaningful explanation of the hold.
Where reasonably practicable and legally permissible, affected Users should be notified that a financial intervention has occurred, what part of the transaction is affected, and what response or evidence may be required.
Where a Vendor payment is held, the Vendor should ordinarily receive sufficient information to understand that settlement has been paused and what legitimate next step is required.
Confidential fraud, security or regulatory information may be withheld where disclosure would be unlawful or would materially compromise an investigation.
Where the intervention affects a Host's payment, refund, release response or financial obligation, the Host should ordinarily receive sufficient information to understand the practical effect and any response required.
An explanation should be sufficiently meaningful to allow the affected User to understand the operational consequence without requiring Lifetime to disclose security-sensitive detection rules, confidential third-party information or legally protected material.
Lifetime may withhold confidential information where disclosure would breach a legal obligation, reveal fraud-detection methods, compromise cybersecurity, disclose another person's confidential information, interfere with a lawful investigation or violate a payment provider's confidentiality requirements.
The existence of confidentiality does not remove the obligation to keep an internal record of the decision.
Lifetime may request evidence reasonably necessary to determine the financial position of a transaction.
Examples include payment confirmations, booking communications, milestone evidence, identity or authority documents, provider records, invoices, receipts, service records and other relevant materials.
Evidence requests should be proportionate to the issue under review.
Lifetime should not require extensive personal, financial or operational information where a narrower record can reasonably resolve the question.
A Vendor receiving an evidence request should respond within the stated period or explain why additional time is reasonably required.
Failure to respond may affect the ability to establish entitlement, but should not automatically be treated as proof of wrongdoing.
A Host receiving an evidence request should provide relevant information within the stated period or explain why additional time is reasonably required.
A Host's non-response does not automatically establish Vendor entitlement, but it should not create an indefinite hold.
Response periods should be reasonable having regard to the urgency, complexity, amount at risk and type of evidence requested.
Where a User requests additional time in good faith, Lifetime may grant a reasonable extension where doing so does not create disproportionate risk.
A review should have a defined purpose, responsible function and next action.
Where the evidence does not justify continued intervention, normal processing should resume.
Every material intervention should have a responsible review function or designated decision-maker.
Financial decisions should not remain indefinitely in an unowned queue.
The initial review should determine whether the intervention was properly triggered, what amount is affected, what evidence is available, whether immediate release is safe and whether enhanced review is required.
Enhanced review may be appropriate where the initial review identifies unresolved fraud, identity, payment, legal, regulatory, security or material service concerns.
Enhanced review should remain focused on the identified issue.
Lifetime may refer a matter to a specialist function, including legal, compliance, security, finance, risk, trust and safety or another appropriately qualified team.
Where the issue concerns payment authentication, settlement status, chargeback, reversal, card scheme rules or other provider-controlled information, Lifetime may rely on the relevant provider's formal process.
Lifetime should not represent a provider-controlled decision as if it were independently determined by Lifetime.
A compliance review may be required for sanctions, anti-money-laundering, identity, prohibited activity or regulatory concerns.
Where compliance obligations legally restrict payment, the affected amount may remain restricted for as long as required by law or applicable provider rules.
Where the financial issue depends on whether a service milestone was achieved, the payment review may refer the substantive fulfilment question to the Service Fulfilment or marketplace governance process.
Financial review should not independently invent a service standard that contradicts the governing booking terms.
Where a material dispute exists, the financial review may be coordinated with the applicable dispute-resolution process.
The financial hold should remain proportionate to the financial consequence of the dispute.
Payment review, service review, fraud review, provider review and dispute processes may occur in parallel where necessary.
The existence of multiple processes does not justify duplicative evidence requests or contradictory decisions.
Where an amount is not materially connected to the intervention, Lifetime should, where reasonably practicable, release or settle that amount in accordance with the ordinary payment structure.
Lifetime may release an undisputed portion while retaining the amount reasonably required to address the unresolved issue.
Partial release should be preferred where it materially reduces unnecessary financial harm without undermining the review.
A hold may be limited to a disputed service component, a potentially refundable amount, a suspected duplicate, an amount connected to a chargeback, a suspected erroneous allocation or another identifiable financial exposure.
Each tranche should be assessed separately unless the intervention genuinely affects multiple tranches.
A problem with one milestone does not automatically establish a problem with every other milestone.
An intervention on one booking should not ordinarily restrict an unrelated booking merely because the same Users are involved.
Cross-booking restrictions require a specific legal, contractual, fraud, recovery or provider-based justification.
If a booking is cancelled while a payment is held, the financial outcome shall be determined under the applicable cancellation and refund framework.
The existence of a hold does not itself determine whether the amount is refundable.
Where the booking is rescheduled, Lifetime may update the financial milestone and hold status to reflect the authorised amendment.
The amendment should not erase the original payment history.
Where a refund becomes due while an amount is held, the held amount may be applied toward the refund where the applicable refund process authorises it.
Any remaining balance should be handled according to the applicable financial policy.
Where a chargeback is initiated while a Vendor amount is held, Lifetime may coordinate the hold with the provider's chargeback process.
The chargeback shall not automatically be characterised as fraud.
A payment reversal may change the amount legitimately available for Vendor settlement.
Lifetime may update the transaction record to reflect the reversal and may correct downstream settlement entries where necessary.
Where fraud concerns are investigated and the evidence does not establish a continuing basis for restriction, the affected amount should be released or otherwise processed according to the underlying transaction terms.
A suspicion that is not substantiated should not become a permanent financial penalty.
A Vendor retains its underlying contractual and payment rights while a fraud review is pending, subject to legitimate temporary controls.
A fraud investigation does not automatically cancel Vendor entitlement.
A Host retains applicable consumer, refund, dispute and payment rights while a fraud review is pending, subject to legitimate provider, legal and security controls.
Knowingly fabricated, altered or misleading evidence may result in rejection of the evidence and appropriate enforcement under Lifetime's governance policies.
Any financial consequence should be based on the evidence and applicable rules, not on accusation alone.
Incomplete evidence may prevent Lifetime from establishing entitlement or resolving a review.
Where reasonably practicable, Lifetime should identify the missing information rather than simply closing the review without explanation.
Where credible evidence conflicts, Lifetime may assess authenticity, chronology, source reliability, transaction records, provider records, communications and consistency with the booking terms.
A conflict should not automatically be resolved in favour of either party merely because that party submitted evidence first.
Lifetime may take reasonable steps to assess whether submitted evidence is genuine, complete and relevant.
Where authenticity cannot reasonably be established, the evidence may be given reduced weight.
Relevant communications may form part of the evidence record where lawfully collected and retained.
Privacy, confidentiality and data-minimisation obligations remain applicable.
Where a payment depends on a milestone, the review may consider the booking record, agreed milestone, completion evidence, Host communications, Vendor submissions and other relevant records.
Lifetime may consider evidence supplied by payment providers, financial institutions, venue operators, service partners, regulators or other relevant third parties where lawfully available.
If a Host does not respond to a material review request, Lifetime may proceed using the available evidence after a reasonable opportunity has been provided.
Host silence shall not automatically determine the substantive dispute, but it shall not create an indefinite hold.
If a Vendor does not respond to a material review request, Lifetime may determine the matter using available evidence and applicable booking terms.
Vendor silence shall not automatically establish wrongdoing.
Where a User cannot be reached, Lifetime may use the contact information and notification methods available through the Account.
Unreachability does not, by itself, transfer ownership of funds or determine a dispute outcome.
Suspension of an Account may occur for governance, security or compliance reasons while a financial review continues.
Financial entitlements and obligations should be assessed separately from the mere existence of the suspension.
Suspension does not automatically extinguish a legitimate Vendor payment entitlement or Host refund entitlement.
Lifetime may, however, restrict financial movement where the suspension itself is connected to a legitimate payment, fraud, legal or security risk.
Closure of an Account does not erase transaction records, payment obligations, refund rights or lawful recovery rights.
Where necessary, Lifetime may retain records for the period required by law, contract, dispute, security or financial-record obligations.
Where a User dies or becomes legally incapable, Lifetime may require appropriate evidence of authority before releasing funds or processing a material financial change.
Applicable succession, agency and other legal requirements shall govern the final entitlement.
Where a Vendor business ceases operation, payment processing may be subject to verification of the proper payout recipient, lawful successor or other authorised destination.
Dissolution does not automatically eliminate legitimate contractual rights or liabilities.
Where a payout destination fails, is frozen, closed or becomes unavailable, Lifetime may pause settlement until a valid replacement destination is verified.
A provider account failure should not be treated as Vendor misconduct unless evidence supports that conclusion.
A Vendor requesting a payout-account change may be required to complete verification before a material settlement is redirected.
Where a change appears suspicious, Lifetime may apply an appropriate security hold.
An emergency intervention may be used where immediate action is reasonably necessary to prevent serious financial loss, unlawful payment, account takeover, major security harm or another urgent risk.
Emergency action should be reviewed promptly after the immediate risk is contained.
A payment may be placed on immediate protective hold before full review where delay would materially increase the risk of irreversible loss or unlawful movement.
The hold should be limited to the affected transaction or amount wherever practicable.
Where a payment is materially connected to an immediate or serious safety concern, Lifetime may restrict processing and escalate the matter through appropriate safety, trust, legal or emergency procedures.
Financial intervention should remain proportionate to the identified safety risk.
Where a lawful law-enforcement request requires preservation, restriction, disclosure or other financial action, Lifetime may comply to the extent legally required.
Lifetime should not voluntarily disclose more information than law permits or requires.
A valid court order or regulatory direction may supersede an ordinary Platform payment workflow to the extent required by law.
The transaction record should preserve the existence and effect of the intervention.
Where applicable sanctions, anti-money-laundering or prohibited-transaction requirements restrict a payment, Lifetime may prevent, suspend, reject or otherwise control the affected transaction.
Such controls shall be implemented according to applicable law and provider requirements.
Lifetime may restrict or refuse payment where the underlying transaction is unlawful or prohibited by applicable law, binding regulatory requirements or the Platform's lawful prohibited-activity rules.
The restriction should be documented and handled consistently with any applicable reporting or recovery obligation.
A widespread technical, financial or security incident may justify temporary restrictions affecting multiple transactions where necessary to protect financial integrity.
Affected Users should be informed of material operational consequences as soon as reasonably practicable.
A payment-provider outage may temporarily prevent settlement or confirmation.
Lifetime should distinguish provider unavailability from a User's failure to pay or a Vendor's failure to fulfil.
A cybersecurity incident affecting payment systems may justify temporary suspension of affected financial actions while the integrity of the environment is assessed.
Incident response shall remain subject to applicable privacy, security and regulatory obligations.
Once the intervention ground has been resolved or no longer justifies restriction, Lifetime should restore ordinary processing without unnecessary delay.
Restoration should include reconciliation of any financial events that occurred while processing was restricted.
Where review establishes that a Vendor payment is due and no legitimate restriction remains, the affected amount should be released or settled according to the applicable payment structure.
The decision should be recorded.
A hold may continue after an initial review only where a specific unresolved ground remains.
The record should identify the continuing ground and the next review action.
Where a material hold remains unresolved beyond the ordinary review period, the matter should be escalated to an appropriately senior or specialist decision-maker.
Escalation should not be used merely to delay an otherwise clear payment.
Senior review may reconsider the basis for intervention, proportionality, duration, evidence, partial-release options and the continuing need for restriction.
Where appropriate, Lifetime may rely on an external payment provider, regulator, mediator, professional adviser, court or other competent decision-maker for an issue outside Lifetime's authority.
The external determination should be reflected accurately in the transaction record.
Before a material adverse financial decision is finalised, affected Users should, where reasonably practicable and legally permissible, receive a meaningful opportunity to provide relevant information.
This requirement may be limited where immediate action is required for fraud, security, sanctions, legal or other urgent reasons.
Where a material review produces a final or materially consequential decision, Lifetime should provide a decision notice stating, to the extent lawfully disclosable: - the outcome; - the affected amount; - the principal reason; - the effective date; and - the available next step or review route.
Reasons should be sufficiently clear to distinguish payment failure, service dispute, refund determination, fraud concern, provider restriction, legal restriction, technical correction or another material basis.
Reasons should not be deliberately vague where greater clarity can safely be provided.
Every material exceptional intervention should leave a durable record identifying the transaction, intervention trigger, relevant timestamps, affected amount, evidence considered, decision-maker or responsible function, notifications, review actions, outcome, release, refund, reversal or recovery action, and final disposition.
The record should be sufficient for Lifetime to explain, after the transaction has ended, why the intervention occurred and how the financial position was ultimately resolved.
“Exceptional intervention exists to protect a payment when ordinary processing is no longer safe—not to create a second, indefinite payment system.
A hold should have a reason. A reason should have evidence. Evidence should lead to a decision. A decision should lead to an outcome. And when the reason for the hold disappears, the hold should disappear with it.
THE GOVERNING PRINCIPLE: PROTECT THE MONEY WITHOUT PUNISHING THE USER. INVESTIGATE THE RISK WITHOUT MANUFACTURING THE CONCLUSION. AND WHEN THE TRUTH IS ESTABLISHED, LET THE PAYMENT MOVE TO ITS PROPER FINANCIAL POSITION.”
Articles 351–450
This Chapter establishes the financial mechanics governing refunds, reversals, chargebacks, payment recoveries, financial adjustments and related movements of money arising from Lifetime transactions.
Its purpose is to ensure that where a transaction gives rise to a legitimate financial adjustment, the movement of money accurately reflects the underlying transaction, the applicable contractual rights, the relevant service outcome and the authorised payment process.
This Chapter does not independently create a substantive right to a refund where no such right otherwise exists.
A distinction shall be maintained between:
- the determination that a User is entitled to a financial remedy; and - the actual movement, return, reversal, recovery or adjustment of funds.
The first concerns the substantive basis for the remedy.
The second concerns the payment mechanics through which the remedy is implemented.
Whether a Host is entitled to a refund shall ordinarily be determined by the applicable:
- booking terms; - cancellation provisions; - Service Fulfilment Policy; - dispute outcome; - Vendor obligations; - applicable transaction terms; - statutory rights; or - other lawful basis.
This Chapter governs the financial implementation of an established entitlement.
The fact that money remains:
- held; - pending; - unreleased; - settled; - partially settled; - reversed; or - subject to a chargeback
does not, by itself, determine whether a refund is legally or contractually due.
Where a Host becomes entitled to a refund before the relevant Vendor funds have been released, the applicable held amount may, where lawful and technically possible, be used to facilitate the refund.
Where the held amount is sufficient, the refund may be processed without first settling the corresponding Vendor tranche.
Where the relevant Vendor amount remains conditionally held, Lifetime may prevent or cancel settlement of that amount to the extent reasonably necessary to implement an approved refund.
The amount retained or redirected shall be limited to the amount reasonably required for the applicable financial adjustment.
Where part of a Vendor Service Fee has already been settled and another part remains held, an approved refund may be applied first against the amount that remains available within the transaction.
Any remaining amount shall be addressed through the applicable recovery or adjustment process.
Where a refund becomes due after the relevant Vendor amount has already been settled, Lifetime may administer the financial adjustment through:
- Vendor recovery; - payment-provider processes; - future settlement adjustments; - approved offsets; - direct repayment arrangements; - chargeback procedures; or - another lawful recovery mechanism.
A refund of a Vendor Service Fee does not automatically require reversal of Lifetime's own service, marketplace or facilitation fee unless:
- the applicable transaction terms provide otherwise; - Lifetime determines otherwise; - the fee is legally required to be refunded; or - the underlying basis for the fee has itself been invalidated.
Where a refund affects an amount on which tax was charged or collected, the applicable tax component shall be adjusted, retained, returned or otherwise accounted for in accordance with applicable law and the relevant transaction structure.
Payment-provider charges incurred in processing a transaction may be treated separately from the substantive refund amount.
Whether such charges are refundable shall depend upon:
- the applicable transaction terms; - the payment-provider rules; - the reason for the refund; - applicable law; and - the relevant commercial arrangement.
A User shall not obtain or retain more than the amount properly recoverable from the same underlying transaction through overlapping:
- Platform refunds; - chargebacks; - bank reversals; - insurance; - Vendor repayments; - credits; or - other recovery mechanisms.
Where overlapping recovery occurs, Lifetime may reconcile the resulting amounts.
Where technically possible, a refund should ordinarily be returned through the original payment method or another authorised payment method reasonably associated with the Host and transaction.
Lifetime may require additional verification before changing the destination of a refund.
A refund may be directed to a different payment method where:
- the original payment method is unavailable; - the payment provider requires another route; - the original account has been closed; - the transaction architecture requires another method; - fraud or security controls require it; or - another legitimate reason exists.
Lifetime may undertake reasonable verification before processing a refund where necessary to confirm:
- the identity of the recipient; - the original transaction; - the amount payable; - the legitimacy of the refund; - the payment destination; or - the absence of conflicting recovery activity.
Lifetime shall not knowingly direct a refund to a payment destination that presents a credible risk of:
- fraud; - unauthorised access; - misappropriation; - identity abuse; or - other material financial harm.
The amount refunded shall ordinarily correspond to the amount determined to be refundable under the applicable transaction terms and financial remedy decision.
A refund shall not exceed the amount properly attributable to the relevant transaction unless an error or other legitimate adjustment requires otherwise.
A refund may be partial where:
- only part of the service was affected; - part of the Vendor Service Fee remains properly earned; - certain deliverables were successfully provided; - a cancellation policy permits retention of part of the payment; - a financial remedy decision requires proportional adjustment; or - another legitimate basis exists.
Where a transaction is only partially affected, the financial adjustment should, where reasonably practicable, correspond to the affected portion rather than unnecessarily reversing the entire transaction.
Where the amount refundable is clear and undisputed, Lifetime should not ordinarily delay payment of that amount merely because another portion of the transaction remains under review.
An approved refund shall be represented within the applicable payment infrastructure by an appropriate refund instruction, adjustment, reversal or other recognised transaction event.
A refund shall ordinarily require an authorised basis recorded through the Platform, payment infrastructure or applicable financial process.
The transaction record should, where practicable, identify:
- original transaction; - refund amount; - refund reason or basis; - authorisation; - date and time; - payment method; - refund status; and - resulting transaction balance.
A refund may have separate statuses including:
- requested; - under review; - approved; - initiated; - processing; - completed; - failed; - reversed; or - otherwise adjusted.
The initiation of a refund does not necessarily mean that the Host has received the money.
The refund shall be regarded as completed only when the applicable payment infrastructure records the relevant completion or equivalent successful status.
Refund timing may depend upon:
- payment providers; - banks; - card schemes; - payment methods; - settlement systems; - weekends or public holidays; - technical processing; or - other financial infrastructure.
Lifetime shall not represent a provider-dependent refund as completed before confirmation is available.
Where a refund fails, Lifetime may:
- retry the refund; - request updated payment information; - use another authorised payment route; - refer the matter to the payment provider; or - apply another lawful corrective mechanism.
Where an incorrect refund amount is processed, Lifetime may reconcile the transaction and, where appropriate:
- issue an additional refund; - recover an excess payment; - correct the transaction record; or - apply another lawful adjustment.
Where a completed refund is subsequently reversed by a payment provider or financial institution, the underlying transaction may be restored to the extent necessary to accurately reflect the reversal.
A refund instruction may supersede an existing conditional hold where the applicable refund entitlement has been validly established.
Where a refund matter arises while a Vendor release request is pending, Lifetime may suspend the affected release to the extent reasonably necessary to determine and implement the financial adjustment.
The ordinary 24-hour automatic release mechanism does not require Lifetime to release a Vendor tranche where, before release, a legitimate refund entitlement or material financial intervention has arisen.
Where a Vendor tranche has already been automatically released and a subsequent refund becomes due, the matter shall be handled through the applicable post-settlement recovery mechanisms.
Where cancellation gives rise to a refund, the financial movement shall reflect the cancellation outcome determined under the applicable cancellation provisions.
Volume IV governs the service circumstances surrounding cancellation; this Chapter governs the resulting payment mechanics.
Where a service failure gives rise to a financial remedy, the payment adjustment shall reflect the remedy determined under the applicable service and dispute framework.
Rescheduling does not automatically constitute a refund event.
Where rescheduling results in a price adjustment, credit, partial refund or other financial consequence, the resulting amount shall be processed through the applicable transaction mechanism.
Where Hosts and Vendors mutually agree to a financial adjustment, Lifetime may process the agreed adjustment where:
- the agreement is adequately recorded; - it does not violate applicable law or Platform rules; - the amount can be properly identified; and - payment-provider requirements can be satisfied.
Users should not attempt to bypass Lifetime's payment process by privately arranging refunds outside the Platform where the underlying transaction was processed through Lifetime.
Where a User voluntarily accepts an off-platform repayment arrangement, Lifetime may be unable to verify the payment, enforce the agreed adjustment or reconcile the transaction accurately.
Once a refund is successfully completed, the relevant transaction record should be updated to reflect:
- the amount returned; - remaining transaction balance; - Vendor settlement impact; - applicable fees; - applicable tax adjustments; and - any outstanding recovery.
For purposes of this Chapter, a payment reversal is a financial event through which a previously recorded payment is cancelled, returned, unwound or otherwise removed or adjusted by the applicable payment infrastructure.
A reversal may arise from:
- payment failure; - bank action; - provider action; - duplicate processing; - fraud controls; - technical error; - transaction cancellation; - chargeback; - unauthorised payment; - regulatory intervention; or - another legitimate basis.
Where a Host payment is reversed before Vendor settlement, Lifetime may prevent the affected Vendor amount from being released and may restore the transaction to the appropriate unpaid or reversed state.
Where a payment is reversed after Vendor settlement, Lifetime may initiate appropriate recovery, adjustment or reconciliation measures.
Vendors shall cooperate with legitimate reversal and recovery processes relating to transactions conducted through Lifetime.
Where a Host payment is reversed without a corresponding lawful refund or cancellation basis, the Host may remain responsible for the underlying transaction amount.
A reversed payment shall remain part of the transaction record.
The reversal shall be recorded as a subsequent financial event rather than treated as though the original payment never existed.
A payment reversal may affect the status of the associated booking where the payment was required to confirm or maintain that booking.
A Vendor shall not be treated as having received final settlement merely because the Platform previously recorded a payment that was subsequently reversed.
Lifetime may reconcile:
- original payment; - Vendor allocation; - Lifetime fees; - taxes; - settlement; - reversal; - refund; - recovery; and - resulting balance
to determine the accurate financial position of the transaction.
A chargeback is a payment dispute initiated through a card scheme, bank, payment provider or other authorised financial process through which a payment may be reversed, withheld or recovered from the merchant or relevant payment recipient.
A chargeback does not, by itself, establish that the Host acted fraudulently or that the Vendor or Lifetime acted improperly.
The underlying circumstances shall be assessed where appropriate.
Where Lifetime receives a chargeback notice, it may record the transaction as subject to chargeback review and apply appropriate temporary controls.
Lifetime may provide the relevant payment provider or financial institution with appropriate evidence, including:
- booking records; - payment records; - transaction history; - communications; - fulfilment evidence; - cancellation records; - refund records; - Vendor records; and - other relevant information.
A Vendor may be required to provide evidence reasonably necessary to respond to a chargeback involving the Vendor's transaction.
A Host may also be asked to provide information or evidence where necessary to clarify the basis of a chargeback or distinguish a legitimate dispute from an abusive or mistaken claim.
Lifetime may review whether the chargeback relates to:
- unauthorised payment; - non-receipt; - service failure; - duplicate payment; - incorrect amount; - cancellation; - refund not received; - fraud; - processing error; or - another recognised basis.
Where a chargeback creates a credible risk to funds otherwise payable to a Vendor, Lifetime may temporarily restrict the affected settlement to the extent reasonably necessary and permitted by the applicable payment architecture.
Where a chargeback occurs after Vendor settlement, Lifetime may pursue appropriate recovery from the Vendor where permitted by the applicable contractual arrangement, payment-provider rules and law.
A chargeback does not automatically establish that a Vendor owes Lifetime money.
Any recovery shall be based upon the applicable transaction, payment-provider determination, contractual rights, evidence and law.
A chargeback does not automatically establish that a Host acted improperly.
A Host who raises a legitimate payment dispute in good faith shall not be penalised merely for using an available lawful payment-dispute mechanism.
Where evidence establishes that a Host intentionally initiated a fraudulent or abusive chargeback to obtain an unjustified financial benefit, Lifetime may take appropriate action under its fraud, enforcement and financial-integrity provisions.
Where a chargeback is withdrawn, resolved or otherwise cancelled, the transaction shall be reconciled to reflect the resulting financial state.
Where a payment provider determines a chargeback, Lifetime may record and implement the resulting financial outcome subject to any applicable appeal, review or correction mechanism.
Where a Host has already received a Platform refund and subsequently receives a chargeback for the same amount, the resulting duplicate recovery may be reconciled.
Where a chargeback results in an amount that Lifetime is required to bear or recover after Vendor settlement, Lifetime may pursue recovery in accordance with the applicable payment-provider and contractual framework.
Where payment-provider or chargeback-related costs arise, their allocation shall depend upon:
- provider rules; - applicable transaction terms; - the reason for the chargeback; - responsibility established through review; and - applicable law.
Lifetime may retain appropriate records of:
- chargeback notices; - evidence submitted; - responses; - provider decisions; - financial adjustments; and - resulting recovery.
A payment-provider chargeback outcome does not necessarily determine whether a Vendor breached its service obligations or whether Lifetime bears responsibility for the underlying service.
Service liability shall be assessed under the applicable service and marketplace framework.
A chargeback determination may be treated as financially operative once the applicable payment infrastructure records the outcome, subject to any available correction, appeal or lawful review process.
Payment recovery exists to correct a financial position where money has already been released or settled but a subsequent legitimate event establishes that some or all of the amount must be returned, adjusted or otherwise accounted for.
Where recovery is required, Lifetime should not necessarily deduct the entire amount immediately where doing so would be disproportionate or would create an unreasonable financial consequence inconsistent with the transaction.
Where permitted by the applicable Vendor agreement and law, Lifetime may apply an established recovery amount against future Vendor settlements.
Any recovery should be traceably connected to the underlying transaction, payment event, refund, reversal, chargeback, error or other legitimate basis.
Where reasonably practicable, a Vendor subject to a recovery should receive information identifying:
- the transaction; - the amount; - the reason; - the relevant financial event; - the amount already recovered; and - any outstanding balance.
A Vendor may challenge a recovery where the Vendor reasonably believes that:
- the amount is incorrect; - the transaction is incorrectly attributed; - the recovery has already been satisfied; - the underlying financial event was reversed; - the recovery is otherwise unsupported; or - another material error exists.
Where a material recovery is challenged, Lifetime may review the underlying transaction and supporting records before taking further recovery action, subject to applicable provider deadlines.
Lifetime should not automatically transfer a recovery obligation from one transaction to another merely because the same Vendor is involved.
Any cross-transaction adjustment must have an appropriate contractual, accounting or legal basis.
Where cross-booking recovery is permitted, Lifetime should identify the original transaction giving rise to the recovery and the subsequent transaction against which the adjustment is applied.
A recovery should not be presented as an unexplained reduction in Vendor earnings.
Where reasonably practicable, the Vendor should be able to identify the basis and amount of the adjustment.
Where a Vendor receives a duplicate settlement, Lifetime may recover the duplicate amount or otherwise reconcile the transaction.
Where a Vendor receives more than the amount properly payable due to a calculation, allocation, processing or system error, Lifetime may correct the overpayment.
Where funds are settled to a Vendor as a result of:
- fraud; - account compromise; - unauthorised activity; - false information; - system manipulation; or - another illegitimate event,
Lifetime may take appropriate recovery and protective measures.
Where a Host receives a refund after Vendor settlement, the Vendor may be required to return the amount properly attributable to the refund, subject to the applicable contractual terms and determination of responsibility.
Where a service dispute results in a financial remedy after Vendor settlement, the financial recovery shall reflect the remedy determined under the applicable service and dispute framework.
Where a chargeback results in an amount that Lifetime is required to bear or recover after Vendor settlement, Lifetime may pursue recovery in accordance with the applicable payment-provider and contractual framework.
Where a settled payment is subsequently reversed, Lifetime may reconcile the Vendor settlement against the reversed payment and pursue any resulting legitimate shortfall.
Where a reconciliation error results in an incorrect settlement, Lifetime may correct the financial records and recover or return the difference as appropriate.
Where a technical failure results in an incorrect financial movement, Lifetime may correct the transaction while maintaining an audit trail of the original and corrected entries.
Lifetime shall not recover more than the amount reasonably established as owing from the relevant financial event, except where further amounts arise from a separate lawful basis.
Where legitimate recovery exceeds the amount currently available for Vendor settlement, the Vendor's Account may reflect an outstanding negative balance, subject to the applicable contractual arrangement.
Where reasonably practicable, Lifetime should notify the Vendor when a material negative balance arises and identify the underlying transaction or transactions.
Where permitted, future Vendor settlements may be applied against an established negative balance before additional amounts are released to the Vendor.
A negative balance shall not be created or maintained without a traceable financial basis.
A Vendor may challenge a negative balance in accordance with the applicable review process.
Where a material error is identified, the balance shall be corrected.
The closure, suspension or deactivation of a Vendor Account does not automatically extinguish a valid outstanding financial obligation arising from a Lifetime transaction.
Where a legitimate recovery remains outstanding after Account closure, Lifetime may pursue available lawful recovery mechanisms.
A refund, reversal, chargeback or recovery process shall not be used to create an unjustified financial gain for Lifetime, a Vendor or a Host.
The objective is to restore the transaction to the financially correct position.
Following a refund, reversal, chargeback or recovery event, Lifetime should, where reasonably practicable, reconcile:
- Host payment; - Vendor allocation; - Vendor settlement; - Lifetime fees; - taxes; - refunds; - reversals; - chargebacks; - recoveries; - adjustments; and - outstanding balances.
The resulting transaction record should reflect the final known financial position.
A refund should return what is properly refundable.
A reversal should reverse what was actually reversed.
A chargeback should be treated according to the financial process that produced it.
A recovery should recover only what is legitimately owed.
And no financial adjustment should leave the transaction in a position that is materially inconsistent with what actually happened.
The governing principle is:
“When money moves backwards, it should move for a reason, in the right amount, through the right channel, and with a record that explains where it went.”
A payment should move forward when it is earned. A refund should move backward when it is due. A reversal should correct what went wrong. A chargeback should be treated according to the evidence and the payment system that governs it. And when money has already moved, recovery should restore—not punish—the transaction to its proper financial position.
Lifetime's objective is not merely to move money. It is to ensure that every movement of money remains connected to the truth of the transaction.
Articles 451–550
This Chapter establishes the framework governing Vendor settlement, payout calculation, settlement instructions, financial reconciliation, transaction balances, settlement records, statements, accounting corrections and the preservation of an auditable financial history for Lifetime transactions.
Its purpose is to ensure that money payable to a Vendor is calculated accurately, released through an authorised process, properly recorded and capable of being reconciled against the underlying transaction.
For purposes of this Policy, payment refers primarily to the Host's payment into the applicable transaction and payment infrastructure.
Settlement refers primarily to the subsequent movement or allocation of the amount payable to a Vendor through the applicable settlement mechanism.
A Host payment and Vendor settlement are therefore separate financial events.
A Vendor's contractual entitlement to payment and the actual settlement of that payment are distinct.
A Vendor may have an established entitlement while settlement remains temporarily subject to:
- processing; - verification; - reconciliation; - payment-provider requirements; - a legitimate hold; - refund or reversal activity; - chargeback processes; - fraud controls; or - another lawful restriction.
The amount available for Vendor settlement shall ordinarily be determined by:
- the confirmed booking; - the applicable Vendor Service Fee; - the agreed payment structure; - amounts already settled; - approved adjustments; - refunds; - reversals; - chargebacks; - recoveries; - applicable deductions; and - other legitimate transaction events.
Vendor settlement shall follow the payment structure attached to the confirmed booking unless that structure is subsequently amended through an authorised process.
A payment structure shall not be altered merely because settlement becomes inconvenient to either party.
Where a Vendor has selected or been assigned a 100% upfront payment structure, the full Vendor Service Fee may be submitted for settlement once:
- the Host payment has been successfully received; - the booking is confirmed; - the Vendor's settlement requirements have been satisfied; and - no legitimate financial, compliance or system intervention applies.
Where the booking uses a staged payment structure, each Vendor tranche shall be accounted for separately.
The settlement of one tranche shall not automatically constitute settlement of another tranche.
Where a Vendor tranche has passed the applicable release process under Chapter Three, the tranche may proceed from release authorisation into settlement.
Release authorisation and settlement completion shall remain separately recorded events.
A settlement instruction may identify:
- Vendor; - booking; - transaction reference; - tranche; - amount; - currency; - payout destination; - settlement date; - applicable adjustments; and - other information necessary for processing.
The creation or submission of a settlement instruction does not necessarily mean that the Vendor has received the funds.
Settlement is complete only when the applicable payment infrastructure records the relevant successful settlement event.
The gross Vendor amount is the amount attributable to the Vendor under the confirmed transaction before applicable adjustments, reversals, refunds, recoveries or other lawful deductions.
The net Vendor settlement is the amount actually payable to the Vendor after applicable transaction adjustments have been accounted for.
Where practicable, Lifetime should distinguish gross amounts from net settlement amounts.
Lifetime should not ordinarily reduce a Vendor settlement through an unexplained deduction.
Where a material deduction applies, the relevant financial record should identify its basis where reasonably practicable.
Settlement amounts may be adjusted for:
- approved refunds; - reversals; - chargebacks; - recovery obligations; - duplicate payments; - calculation errors; - payment-provider adjustments; - taxes or statutory obligations where applicable; - agreed credits; - contractual deductions; or - other lawful transaction adjustments.
Lifetime's own service or marketplace fees shall be accounted for separately from the Vendor Service Fee where the transaction architecture permits.
The Vendor should not be treated as having earned or lost Lifetime's own fee merely because the fee forms part of the Host's total payment.
Where tax forms part of the Host's payment, the relevant tax component shall be accounted for separately where practicable and handled according to applicable law.
Payment-provider charges may affect the financial movement associated with a transaction where the applicable provider arrangement permits or requires such treatment.
Any adjustment applied to a Vendor settlement should have a legitimate basis connected to the transaction or the applicable contractual arrangement.
Lifetime shall not arbitrarily reduce a Vendor's legitimate settlement merely because a reduction is operationally convenient.
Where reasonably practicable, Lifetime should maintain sufficient information to reconstruct how the final settlement amount was calculated.
A Vendor shall provide an eligible payout destination capable of receiving settlements through the applicable payment infrastructure.
The Vendor is responsible for providing accurate and current:
- account information; - account-holder information; - bank information; - payment-provider information; - currency information; and - other required payout details.
Lifetime or its payment provider may verify a Vendor's payout destination before settlement.
Verification may include identity, account ownership, banking information or other information reasonably necessary to protect the transaction.
Where a payout destination cannot be adequately verified, settlement may be delayed or suspended until the relevant information is corrected or verified.
A Vendor may request a change to its payout destination subject to applicable verification and security procedures.
Where a payout destination is changed shortly before a scheduled settlement, Lifetime or its payment provider may apply a temporary security control where reasonably necessary to reduce the risk of unauthorised diversion.
A Vendor is responsible for protecting access to the Account and payout information used to receive settlements.
A Vendor that reasonably suspects that its payout information has been compromised should notify Lifetime promptly.
Lifetime may apply an appropriate temporary settlement restriction while the matter is assessed.
Where settlement fails because the Vendor supplied incorrect payout information, Lifetime may require the Vendor to correct the information before another settlement attempt is made.
Where funds are successfully settled to an incorrect destination because of inaccurate information supplied by the Vendor, Lifetime may take reasonable steps to recover or correct the affected amount.
Vendor settlement shall occur according to the applicable transaction structure, Platform settlement schedule and payment-provider processing requirements.
A Vendor shall not assume that settlement instruction means immediate bank credit.
The final availability of funds may depend upon external payment infrastructure.
Settlement may be affected by:
- bank processing; - payment-provider processing; - settlement cycles; - weekends; - public holidays; - compliance checks; - technical interruptions; - banking cut-off times; or - other financial infrastructure conditions.
Where a settlement date is displayed, it should ordinarily represent the date on which Lifetime or the relevant payment infrastructure expects the settlement process to occur, rather than a guarantee of final bank credit.
Where settlement is delayed for reasons outside Lifetime's reasonable control, Lifetime may rely upon the applicable provider's processing timelines.
Where a material settlement delay results from an avoidable error within Lifetime's control, Lifetime should take reasonable steps to identify, correct and, where appropriate, communicate the delay.
Where settlement is delayed because of:
- incomplete information; - inaccurate payout details; - failed verification; - Vendor Account restrictions; - Vendor-requested changes; or - other Vendor-related circumstances,
the delay may continue until the relevant issue is resolved.
Settlement may be delayed where reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law, regulatory requirements, sanctions controls, fraud controls, identity requirements or other mandatory restrictions.
Unless expressly required by law or agreed under the applicable transaction arrangement, a Vendor shall not automatically be entitled to interest or additional compensation merely because settlement takes longer than anticipated.
Where reasonably practicable, Lifetime should communicate material settlement delays where the delay is known and materially affects the Vendor.
Reconciliation is the process of comparing transaction records, payment records, settlement records and related financial events to determine whether the recorded financial position accurately reflects what occurred.
Reconciliation exists to identify and correct discrepancies involving:
- payments; - allocations; - Vendor settlements; - refunds; - reversals; - chargebacks; - recoveries; - fees; - taxes; - adjustments; and - balances.
Where practicable, financial reconciliation should be capable of being performed at the individual booking or transaction level.
For staged payment structures, each tranche should be capable of being reconciled independently.
The record should identify whether each tranche was:
- allocated; - held; - released; - settled; - refunded; - reversed; - recovered; or - otherwise adjusted.
A transaction record should maintain a traceable relationship between:
- Host; - Vendor; - booking; - service; - agreed price; - payment; - applicable tranche; - settlement; and - subsequent financial events.
Where practicable, every Vendor settlement should be traceable to the Host payment or payments from which the Vendor amount arose.
Where practicable, every settlement should identify the payout instruction through which the funds were directed to the Vendor.
Lifetime may perform reconciliation:
- continuously; - periodically; - after settlement; - after material financial events; - following provider reports; - following identified discrepancies; or - whenever reasonably necessary.
Lifetime may use automated systems to reconcile transactions and settlements.
Automated reconciliation shall not prevent correction where a material error is identified.
Where automated systems cannot resolve a discrepancy, Lifetime may conduct manual reconciliation or refer the matter to the relevant payment provider.
Lifetime may maintain a financial record for each relevant transaction containing, where practicable:
- transaction reference; - Host; - Vendor; - amount; - currency; - payment status; - payment structure; - tranche information; - settlement information; - refund information; - reversal information; - chargeback information; - recovery information; and - adjustments.
Lifetime may maintain a settlement ledger recording relevant Vendor settlement events.
The ledger may include:
- amount payable; - amount released; - settlement instruction; - settlement status; - settlement completion; - adjustments; - recoveries; and - resulting balance.
Where records conflict, Lifetime may rely upon the authoritative records generated by the Platform and applicable payment infrastructure, subject to correction where an error is established.
Where relevant, payment-provider records may constitute authoritative evidence of:
- payment receipt; - settlement initiation; - settlement completion; - reversal; - refund; - chargeback; - payment failure; or - other provider-controlled financial events.
Material financial events should, where technically practicable, carry a timestamp identifying when the event occurred or was recorded.
Material changes to transaction status should be traceable.
A transaction should not move from one material financial state to another without an identifiable system event, authorised action or provider event.
Where a financial record contains an error, Lifetime may correct the record.
The correction should not unnecessarily erase the original record where preservation of the audit trail is reasonably practicable.
Where a material financial correction is made, the record should, where practicable, preserve:
- original entry; - corrected entry; - reason for correction; - date and time of correction; and - authorised source of correction.
Lifetime should not intentionally erase material historical financial events merely to make the transaction appear as though an error never occurred.
The objective is to preserve an accurate history, including corrections.
Financial records shall be maintained in a manner reasonably designed to preserve their:
- accuracy; - consistency; - traceability; - integrity; and - usefulness for legitimate financial and operational purposes.
Where the Platform provides Vendor financial information, the Vendor should be able to view relevant settlement information associated with its transactions.
Lifetime may provide or make available a settlement statement showing relevant financial activity over a defined period.
A settlement statement may include:
- opening balance; - transaction amounts; - settlements; - refunds; - reversals; - recoveries; - fees; - adjustments; - deductions; - closing balance; and - pending amounts.
An amount displayed as pending should not be represented as finally settled.
An amount displayed as held should not be represented as immediately available to the Vendor.
An available balance should represent the amount that the applicable financial system has determined is available for settlement or withdrawal, subject to any applicable processing conditions.
A statement is a presentation of financial information.
Where a statement contains an error, the underlying authoritative transaction record may be used to determine the correct position, subject to correction procedures.
Vendors are encouraged to review settlement information and report material discrepancies within a reasonable period after becoming aware of them.
A Vendor may request clarification concerning:
- an unexpected settlement amount; - a missing settlement; - an adjustment; - a recovery; - a refund; - a reversal; - a negative balance; or - another material financial discrepancy.
A Vendor's request for clarification does not automatically suspend otherwise valid settlements unless the query identifies a material issue requiring intervention.
A financial discrepancy may arise where:
- payment records do not match; - settlement amounts differ from the booking; - a tranche is duplicated; - an expected settlement is missing; - a refund is incorrectly recorded; - a reversal is not reflected; - a recovery is incorrectly applied; or - another material inconsistency exists.
When a material discrepancy is identified, Lifetime may compare:
- booking records; - payment records; - settlement records; - provider records; - transaction history; and - relevant financial adjustments.
Minor differences caused by rounding, currency conversion or payment-provider calculation conventions may be reconciled using the applicable transaction and provider rules.
Where a material calculation error is identified, Lifetime may correct the affected settlement and financial record.
Where a Vendor was underpaid due to an established Lifetime or payment-processing error, Lifetime may arrange an additional settlement or other appropriate correction.
Where a Vendor was overpaid, Lifetime may recover or otherwise reconcile the excess in accordance with Chapter Five and the applicable contractual arrangement.
Where a settlement that should have occurred is not recorded as completed, Lifetime may investigate whether the issue arose from:
- failed processing; - provider delay; - payout information; - compliance controls; - system error; or - another cause.
Where the same Vendor amount is settled more than once, Lifetime may treat the additional settlement as an overpayment subject to reconciliation and recovery.
Where a payment has been allocated to the wrong Vendor, booking or tranche, Lifetime may correct the allocation and associated settlement records.
Where a currency conversion or currency allocation error occurs, Lifetime may correct the affected financial records subject to applicable provider rules and exchange-rate conditions.
A material refund should trigger reconciliation of the affected transaction where reasonably practicable.
A payment reversal should be reconciled against any Vendor allocation or settlement arising from the reversed payment.
A chargeback should be reconciled against the affected transaction, including any Vendor settlement and subsequent recovery.
Where a recovery is made, the relevant transaction and Vendor balance should be updated to reflect the recovered amount.
Where a settlement is corrected, the corrected amount should be reflected in the relevant transaction and Vendor records.
A transaction may experience multiple financial events over its lifetime.
Lifetime may maintain a chronological financial history rather than replacing each earlier event with only the latest balance.
Where practicable, the transaction record should preserve the sequence of:
1. Host payment; 2. allocation; 3. conditional hold; 4. release request; 5. release authorisation; 6. settlement; 7. refund, reversal, chargeback or recovery; 8. subsequent adjustment; and 9. final reconciliation.
The final transaction balance should represent the known financial position after applicable payments, settlements, refunds, reversals, recoveries and adjustments have been accounted for.
Financial reconciliation shall not, by itself, determine whether a Vendor performed its service properly or whether a Host was entitled to a service remedy.
Those matters remain governed by the applicable service and dispute frameworks.
The act of reconciling a transaction does not independently create a new right to payment, refund, compensation or other financial remedy.
Lifetime may maintain an audit trail sufficient to reconstruct material financial events associated with a transaction.
An audit trail may include:
- system-generated events; - user actions; - payment-provider events; - settlement instructions; - approvals; - financial adjustments; - corrections; - timestamps; and - relevant transaction references.
Messages, confirmations, invoices, receipts and other financial records submitted through the Platform may form part of the transaction history where relevant.
Provider-generated records may be considered when determining whether a payment, refund, reversal or settlement actually occurred.
Lifetime may retain financial records for periods reasonably necessary for:
- accounting; - reconciliation; - dispute resolution; - fraud prevention; - regulatory compliance; - legal obligations; - tax purposes; and - legitimate business operations.
Financial records shall be handled in accordance with applicable privacy, data-protection and information-security requirements.
The existence of a financial record does not create unrestricted permission to disclose it.
A User may receive financial information relating to that User's own transactions where reasonably appropriate and subject to:
- identity verification; - privacy obligations; - security requirements; - legal restrictions; and - protection of other Users' information.
A settlement may be treated as financially completed once the applicable payment infrastructure confirms successful settlement.
Settlement finality does not prevent correction where a material error, reversal, fraud event, chargeback or other legitimate financial event subsequently establishes that the recorded position must be adjusted.
The objective of reconciliation is not merely to make the numbers balance.
It is to ensure that the financial record accurately explains:
- what the Host paid; - what the Vendor was entitled to; - what was held; - what was released; - what was settled; - what was refunded or reversed; - what was recovered; and - what ultimately remained payable.
A Vendor should know what it has earned.
A Host should know what it has paid.
Every settlement should have a transaction behind it.
Every adjustment should have a reason.
Every material correction should leave an audit trail.
And the final financial record should tell the truth about where the money came from, where it went, and why.
The governing principle is:
“Settlement is not merely the movement of money. It is the completion of a financial promise—and every completed promise should leave a record that can be understood, reconciled and trusted.”
The Host's payment should be traceable. The Vendor's entitlement should be calculable. The settlement should be attributable. The adjustment should be explainable. The reconciliation should be accurate. And the record should remain strong enough that, months later, Lifetime can still explain exactly what happened to every material naira in the transaction.
A marketplace earns financial trust not simply by paying Vendors, but by making every payment understandable.
CHAPTER 7 PAYMENT SECURITY, FRAUD PREVENTION & FINANCIAL INTEGRITY
ARTICLE 551 — PURPOSE OF THIS CHAPTER This Chapter establishes the financial-security and financial-integrity standards applicable to payment activity conducted through Lifetime. It is intended to reduce payment fraud, financial abuse, manipulation of transaction records, misuse of payment instruments, and other conduct capable of undermining the integrity of marketplace transactions.
ARTICLE 552 — MEANING OF FINANCIAL INTEGRITY For purposes of this Chapter, financial integrity means the condition in which payment activity is genuine, properly authorised, accurately represented, appropriately recorded, and reasonably consistent with the underlying transaction.
ARTICLE 553 — LEGITIMATE TRANSACTION PURPOSE Payments made through the Platform should correspond to legitimate bookings, services, fees, adjustments, refunds, settlements, or other lawful marketplace purposes. Users must not use the Platform primarily to create artificial financial activity or obtain financial benefits unrelated to legitimate transactions.
ARTICLE 554 — PAYMENT AUTHENTICITY A payment must represent a genuine financial event. Lifetime may apply reasonable controls where available information suggests that a payment, payment confirmation, settlement instruction, refund request, or other financial event may not accurately represent what occurred.
ARTICLE 555 — TRANSACTION CONSISTENCY Lifetime may consider whether the financial characteristics of a transaction are reasonably consistent with the booking, Account information, service arrangement, payment structure, and other relevant transaction records.
ARTICLE 556 — FINANCIAL GOOD FAITH Users are expected to act in good faith in relation to payments, refunds, settlements, chargebacks, payment confirmations, payout information, and other financial processes. A User must not knowingly provide false, misleading, incomplete, or manipulated information for the purpose of obtaining a financial advantage or avoiding a legitimate financial obligation.
ARTICLE 557 — UNUSUAL ACTIVITY IS NOT AUTOMATICALLY FRAUD An unusual transaction, payment pattern, or Account behaviour does not by itself establish fraud or financial abuse. Legitimate transactions may appear unusual because of transaction value, timing, location, payment method, booking characteristics, business practices, or other circumstances.
ARTICLE 558 — RISK-BASED FINANCIAL CONTROLS Lifetime may use proportionate, risk-based controls to identify transactions requiring additional authentication, verification, review, temporary restriction, or other protective action.
ARTICLE 559 — NO PREJUDGMENT The detection of a financial risk indicator does not automatically establish wrongdoing. Where reasonably practicable, Lifetime should distinguish between an indication requiring review and an established finding of financial abuse.
ARTICLE 560 — PROTECTION OF LEGITIMATE TRANSACTIONS Financial-security controls should be designed and administered in a manner that protects legitimate Users and legitimate transactions while reducing the opportunity for fraud, manipulation, abuse, and unlawful financial activity.
ARTICLE 561 — MEANING OF PAYMENT FRAUD Payment fraud includes intentional conduct involving deception, unauthorised payment activity, manipulation of financial information, or other dishonest conduct designed to obtain an improper financial benefit or cause another party to suffer an improper financial loss.
ARTICLE 562 — UNAUTHORISED PAYMENT ACTIVITY A User must not knowingly initiate, facilitate, or retain a payment made without the authority of the person or entity whose payment instrument, Account, or funds are used.
ARTICLE 563 — STOLEN PAYMENT CREDENTIALS Users must not use stolen, unlawfully obtained, or knowingly compromised payment credentials to make or facilitate transactions through the Platform.
ARTICLE 564 — COMPROMISED PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS Where Lifetime or a payment provider reasonably identifies a payment instrument as potentially compromised, Lifetime may apply appropriate protective controls consistent with applicable law, provider requirements, and the transaction circumstances.
ARTICLE 565 — PAYMENT CREDENTIAL MISREPRESENTATION A User must not falsely represent ownership, authority, control, or permission in relation to a payment instrument or payment Account.
ARTICLE 566 — FABRICATED TRANSACTIONS Users must not create fabricated bookings, payments, refunds, settlements, or other financial events for the purpose of generating artificial transaction history, obtaining incentives, extracting funds, or creating another improper financial benefit.
ARTICLE 567 — ARTIFICIAL TRANSACTION VALUES Users must not intentionally manipulate transaction values, fees, service amounts, discounts, or other financial fields to create an improper financial advantage or distort the true economic value of a transaction.
ARTICLE 568 — FALSE PAYMENT CONFIRMATION A User must not knowingly provide a false payment confirmation, fabricated receipt, manipulated screenshot, falsified transfer record, or other misleading evidence of payment.
ARTICLE 569 — MANIPULATION OF PAYMENT STATUS Users must not intentionally manipulate, interfere with, or misrepresent the status of a payment, settlement, refund, reversal, or other financial event.
ARTICLE 570 — DELIBERATE PAYMENT FAILURE A User must not intentionally initiate or structure transactions in a manner designed to cause a payment to fail after obtaining a benefit that depends upon the appearance or expectation of successful payment.
ARTICLE 571 — DUPLICATE FINANCIAL BENEFIT Users must not intentionally obtain or retain duplicate financial benefits arising from duplicate payments, duplicate refunds, duplicated settlements, system errors, or related transaction events.
ARTICLE 572 — REFUND ABUSE Refund processes must not be used dishonestly to obtain money to which the User is not entitled, including through fabricated claims, duplicate claims, manipulated transaction information, or intentional misrepresentation of service circumstances.
ARTICLE 573 — CHARGEBACK ABUSE A User must not knowingly misuse a chargeback process to obtain an improper financial benefit where the User knows that the underlying transaction or payment does not support the claimed basis.
ARTICLE 574 — COLLUSIVE FINANCIAL ACTIVITY Users must not collude with other Users or third parties to manipulate bookings, payments, refunds, settlements, reviews, chargebacks, or other Platform processes for an improper financial purpose.
ARTICLE 575 — RELATED-PARTY FINANCIAL MANIPULATION Transactions involving related persons, businesses, Accounts, or payment instruments may receive additional scrutiny where their structure reasonably suggests an attempt to manipulate marketplace records, financial outcomes, incentives, or controls.
ARTICLE 576 — SELF-DEALING Users must not use multiple roles, Accounts, identities, or related parties to create artificial transactions with themselves or associated persons for the purpose of obtaining improper financial benefits.
ARTICLE 577 — TRANSACTION LAUNDERING The Platform must not be used to disguise the true nature, origin, destination, ownership, or purpose of funds or transactions.
ARTICLE 578 — CIRCUMVENTION OF FINANCIAL CONTROLS Users must not intentionally structure transactions, Accounts, payment methods, or other financial activity to evade verification, risk controls, settlement restrictions, payment limits, or other legitimate financial safeguards.
ARTICLE 579 — MANIPULATION THROUGH MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS The use of multiple Accounts to bypass financial controls, duplicate benefits, conceal transaction relationships, or otherwise distort financial activity may constitute financial abuse.
ARTICLE 580 — FINANCIAL ABUSE THROUGH PLATFORM FEATURES Users must not exploit promotions, credits, refunds, settlement mechanisms, referral systems, payment structures, booking amendments, or other Platform features to obtain improper financial benefits.
ARTICLE 581 — PURPOSE OF TRANSACTION RISK INDICATORS Transaction risk indicators are signals that may justify additional attention to a payment or financial event. They are not, by themselves, findings of fraud or financial misconduct.
ARTICLE 582 — UNUSUAL PAYMENT PATTERNS Lifetime may identify unusual payment patterns, including transaction activity that materially differs from the ordinary financial behaviour associated with an Account, transaction type, or marketplace activity.
ARTICLE 583 — ABNORMAL TRANSACTION VELOCITY An unusually high frequency of payments, refunds, cancellations, settlements, or related financial events within a short period may justify additional review.
ARTICLE 584 — REPEATED FAILED PAYMENTS Repeated payment failures may be considered as a risk indicator where the pattern is materially inconsistent with ordinary transaction behaviour or suggests attempted circumvention of payment controls.
ARTICLE 585 — SUDDEN TRANSACTION-VALUE CHANGES Material and unexplained changes in transaction values may justify additional verification or review, particularly where the changes appear connected to other financial risk indicators.
ARTICLE 586 — INCONSISTENT PAYER INFORMATION Material inconsistencies between payer information, Host information, Account information, payment credentials, or transaction details may justify additional verification.
ARTICLE 587 — THIRD-PARTY PAYMENT RISK Payments made by persons or entities other than the relevant Host may require additional attention where authority, relationship, or transaction purpose is unclear.
ARTICLE 588 — UNUSUAL PAYOUT BEHAVIOUR Unusual Vendor payout patterns, including materially inconsistent payout frequency, value, destination, or timing, may justify additional verification or review.
ARTICLE 589 — SUSPICIOUS PAYOUT-DESTINATION CHANGES A sudden or unusual change to a Vendor's payout destination may trigger additional verification, particularly where the change occurs close to a material settlement event.
ARTICLE 590 — MULTIPLE ACCOUNTS AND FINANCIAL PATTERNS Financial activity across multiple Accounts may be assessed together where reasonably available information suggests that the Accounts may be connected for financial purposes.
ARTICLE 591 — UNUSUAL TRANSACTION SEQUENCING Unusual sequences involving payment, cancellation, refund, chargeback, settlement, or payout events may be reviewed where the sequence creates a material financial risk.
ARTICLE 592 — RAPID FINANCIAL CYCLING Rapid movement of funds through successive transactions, refunds, reversals, or settlements may constitute a risk indicator where the activity lacks an apparent legitimate marketplace purpose.
ARTICLE 593 — HIGH-VALUE TRANSACTION REVIEW High-value transactions may be subject to additional verification or review proportionate to the financial exposure, applicable legal requirements, provider requirements, and transaction risk.
ARTICLE 594 — REPEATED REFUND ACTIVITY Repeated refund requests or unusually frequent refunds may justify additional review where the pattern suggests possible misuse of refund mechanisms.
ARTICLE 595 — REPEATED CHARGEBACK ACTIVITY Repeated chargebacks or unusual chargeback patterns may justify additional review, without treating the existence of a chargeback as proof of fraud.
ARTICLE 596 — SETTLEMENT IRREGULARITIES Irregularities in Vendor settlement, payout instructions, tranche allocation, payment status, or reconciliation may trigger financial review or protective intervention.
ARTICLE 597 — FINANCIAL BEHAVIOURAL PATTERNS Lifetime may consider relevant financial patterns over time where doing so is reasonably necessary to identify material risk, subject to applicable privacy, data-protection, contractual, and legal requirements.
ARTICLE 598 — AUTOMATED RISK DETECTION Lifetime may use automated systems, rules, models, alerts, or other technology to identify potential financial risks and prioritise transactions for review.
ARTICLE 599 — HUMAN REVIEW Where appropriate, automated risk signals may be subject to human review before material adverse action is taken, particularly where the consequences for the User or transaction are significant.
ARTICLE 600 — FALSE POSITIVE SAFEGUARD A risk indicator that proves inaccurate or insufficient should not be treated as conclusive evidence of financial abuse. Lifetime may correct, remove, or limit the effect of an erroneous risk determination where appropriate.
ARTICLE 601 — PURPOSE OF PAYMENT AUTHENTICATION Payment authentication exists to establish, where reasonably practicable, that a payment or payment-related instruction is being initiated or authorised through a legitimate source.
ARTICLE 602 — PAYMENT CONFIRMATION Lifetime may rely on payment-provider confirmation, transaction records, authorised system responses, or other reliable payment evidence to determine whether a payment has been successfully processed.
ARTICLE 603 — IDENTITY AND PAYMENT CONSISTENCY Where reasonably necessary, Lifetime may assess whether the identity or Account information associated with a payment is materially consistent with the transaction and the authority claimed by the User.
ARTICLE 604 — THIRD-PARTY PAYMENTS A Host may, where permitted by the applicable payment infrastructure, arrange for a third party to make payment on the Host's behalf. Lifetime may require reasonable information confirming the payment authority or relationship where necessary.
ARTICLE 605 — ORGANISATIONAL PAYMENTS Where a payment is made by a company, organisation, employer, family office, representative, or other entity on behalf of a User, Lifetime may require reasonable confirmation of authority or relationship where the circumstances justify it.
ARTICLE 606 — HIGH-VALUE PAYMENT VERIFICATION Higher-value transactions may be subject to enhanced payment or identity verification proportionate to the transaction value and applicable risk.
ARTICLE 607 — VERIFICATION OF PAYMENT AUTHORITY Lifetime may request reasonable evidence that a User or payer has authority to initiate or control a payment where such authority is material to the transaction.
ARTICLE 608 — VERIFICATION THROUGH PAYMENT PROVIDERS Lifetime may rely on verification, authentication, fraud-screening, or other controls applied by an appropriately authorised payment provider, subject to the provider's systems and applicable law.
ARTICLE 609 — ENHANCED FINANCIAL VERIFICATION Where a transaction presents materially elevated financial risk, Lifetime may require additional information or verification before allowing the relevant financial event to proceed.
ARTICLE 610 — VERIFICATION INFORMATION Any information requested for financial verification should be reasonably related to the transaction, the identified risk, applicable provider requirements, or legal obligations.
ARTICLE 611 — FAILED VERIFICATION Where required verification cannot be completed successfully, Lifetime may delay, restrict, or decline the relevant payment, payout, settlement, refund, or other financial event to the extent reasonably necessary.
ARTICLE 612 — VERIFICATION DOES NOT ESTABLISH FRAUD A failed, incomplete, or inconclusive verification process does not automatically establish that a User has committed fraud or financial abuse.
ARTICLE 613 — PAYOUT VERIFICATION Lifetime may verify a Vendor's payout destination, account information, ownership, authority, or other relevant settlement information before processing a payout.
ARTICLE 614 — VERIFICATION FOLLOWING PAYOUT-DESTINATION CHANGE A material change to a Vendor payout destination may require additional verification before a pending or subsequent settlement is completed.
ARTICLE 615 — VERIFICATION RECORDS Material verification events may be recorded in the transaction or Account history to support auditability, reconciliation, dispute handling, security review, and compliance.
ARTICLE 616 — PROVIDER-CONTROLLED AUTHENTICATION Where authentication is performed by a payment provider or financial institution, the provider's authentication process and records may govern the relevant payment event to the extent applicable.
ARTICLE 617 — AUTHENTICATION FAILURE Authentication failure may prevent or delay completion of a payment or financial instruction until the relevant issue is resolved or an alternative lawful process becomes available.
ARTICLE 618 — NO CIRCUMVENTION OF AUTHENTICATION Users must not attempt to bypass or defeat payment authentication, verification, security challenges, transaction controls, or related protective mechanisms.
ARTICLE 619 — SECURITY OF AUTHENTICATION INFORMATION Users must protect authentication credentials, one-time codes, payment information, and other security information and must not knowingly disclose them in a manner that compromises payment security.
ARTICLE 620 — FINANCIAL VERIFICATION PRINCIPLE Financial verification should be sufficient to address the identified risk without becoming an unnecessary obstacle to legitimate marketplace activity.
ARTICLE 621 — TRANSACTION MONITORING Lifetime may monitor transaction and payment activity for security, fraud prevention, financial integrity, legal compliance, provider requirements, and protection of Users and the Platform.
ARTICLE 622 — SCOPE OF MONITORING Monitoring may include payment initiation, payment completion, refunds, reversals, chargebacks, settlements, payout activity, transaction relationships, and other financial events reasonably relevant to financial integrity.
ARTICLE 623 — RISK-BASED MONITORING Monitoring should be risk-based and proportionate. Not every transaction requires the same level of scrutiny.
ARTICLE 624 — TRANSACTION RISK ASSESSMENT Lifetime may assess transaction risk using relevant transaction characteristics, payment information, Account information, provider signals, historical patterns, and other lawful information available to it.
ARTICLE 625 — AUTOMATED FINANCIAL CONTROLS Lifetime may use automated controls to block, delay, flag, authenticate, or route financial transactions for further review where reasonably necessary.
ARTICLE 626 — MANUAL ESCALATION Transactions presenting material or unresolved financial risks may be escalated for manual or specialist review.
ARTICLE 627 — TEMPORARY FINANCIAL RESTRICTION Lifetime may temporarily restrict a payment, payout, settlement, refund, or related financial event where reasonably necessary to protect the transaction from a material financial risk.
ARTICLE 628 — SCOPE OF FINANCIAL RESTRICTION A financial restriction should be limited, where practicable, to the payment, transaction, tranche, Account function, or financial activity reasonably connected to the identified risk.
ARTICLE 629 — PROTECTION OF UNAFFECTED FUNDS Where a financial concern relates only to a specific transaction or amount, Lifetime should, where reasonably practicable, avoid unnecessarily restricting unrelated legitimate financial activity.
ARTICLE 630 — MONITORING DOES NOT EQUAL INTERVENTION The existence of monitoring or a risk alert does not necessarily result in a financial restriction.
ARTICLE 631 — MONITORING DOES NOT EQUAL INVESTIGATION A transaction may be monitored without becoming the subject of a formal investigation.
ARTICLE 632 — NOTIFICATION OF MATERIAL FINANCIAL RESTRICTIONS Where reasonably practicable and legally permissible, a User affected by a material financial restriction should receive appropriate information regarding the restriction and the next available process.
ARTICLE 633 — CONFIDENTIALITY OF SECURITY CONTROLS Lifetime may withhold detailed information about security rules, detection methods, risk thresholds, or control logic where disclosure could materially undermine payment security, fraud prevention, or regulatory obligations.
ARTICLE 634 — REVIEW OF FINANCIAL RESTRICTIONS Material financial restrictions should remain subject to appropriate review so that protective controls do not continue longer than reasonably necessary.
ARTICLE 635 — RESTORATION OF NORMAL PROCESSING Where the basis for a financial restriction is resolved, disproved, or no longer applicable, Lifetime may restore normal payment, settlement, payout, or other financial processing, subject to any remaining lawful or contractual requirements.
ARTICLE 636 — FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION TRIGGER Lifetime may initiate a financial investigation where available information reasonably indicates possible payment fraud, financial abuse, manipulation, unauthorised activity, or another material financial-integrity concern.
ARTICLE 637 — INVESTIGATION SCOPE A financial investigation should be directed toward the relevant transaction, Account activity, payment event, settlement, payout, refund, chargeback, or related financial circumstances giving rise to the concern.
ARTICLE 638 — PRESERVATION OF FINANCIAL EVIDENCE Lifetime may preserve relevant transaction records, payment records, system logs, communications, verification records, settlement instructions, and other evidence reasonably necessary to establish what occurred.
ARTICLE 639 — USER COOPERATION Users may be required to provide reasonable information or cooperation necessary to clarify material financial questions, subject to applicable law and the limits of the relevant investigation.
ARTICLE 640 — PAYMENT-PROVIDER EVIDENCE Where permitted, Lifetime may obtain or rely upon relevant information from payment providers, processors, financial institutions, settlement partners, or other authorised financial infrastructure.
ARTICLE 641 — COMMUNICATION EVIDENCE Relevant communications, notices, confirmations, support interactions, and other transaction-related records may be considered where they assist in determining the authenticity or purpose of a financial event.
ARTICLE 642 — INVESTIGATION CONFIDENTIALITY Lifetime may limit disclosure of investigative information where disclosure could compromise evidence, facilitate further abuse, expose security controls, breach legal obligations, or interfere with a provider or regulatory process.
ARTICLE 643 — INVESTIGATION OUTCOME An investigation may result in a finding that no material financial abuse occurred, that additional controls are appropriate, or that financial abuse is established to the extent supported by the available evidence.
ARTICLE 644 — NO PREJUDGMENT DURING INVESTIGATION Protective measures applied during an investigation should not be treated as a final finding of fraud unless and until the relevant evidence supports such a finding.
ARTICLE 645 — FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION RECORD Material financial investigations should be recorded sufficiently to explain the concern, relevant evidence, protective actions, outcome, and material financial consequences.
ARTICLE 646 — CONSEQUENCES OF ESTABLISHED FINANCIAL ABUSE Where financial abuse is established, Lifetime may apply appropriate consequences under the applicable policies, including payment restrictions, settlement restrictions, recovery measures, Account restrictions, termination, or other lawful protective action.
ARTICLE 647 — FINANCIAL RECOVERY FOLLOWING ABUSE Where financial abuse results in an improper financial benefit or loss, Lifetime may pursue appropriate recovery, reversal, adjustment, or other corrective measures in accordance with the applicable financial and dispute policies.
ARTICLE 648 — REFERRAL TO PAYMENT PROVIDERS OR AUTHORITIES Where appropriate, Lifetime may refer suspected or established financial abuse to payment providers, financial institutions, regulators, law-enforcement bodies, courts, or other competent authorities, subject to applicable law.
ARTICLE 649 — CORRECTION FOLLOWING MISTAKEN INTERVENTION Where a financial intervention is determined to have been mistaken or unsupported, Lifetime may correct the affected transaction, restore appropriate processing, update the relevant records, and take reasonable steps to remedy material consequences.
ARTICLE 650 — FINAL FINANCIAL INTEGRITY PRINCIPLE Lifetime's financial system should be difficult to manipulate, but not impossible to correct.
A suspicious transaction should be examined without being prematurely condemned.
A legitimate User should not be treated as fraudulent merely because a system detected an anomaly.
A genuine financial threat should not be ignored merely because the transaction appears ordinary.
And when financial abuse is established, the resulting action should be proportionate, traceable and directed toward restoring the integrity of the transaction.
The governing principle is:
“Protect the payment without prejudging the person. Investigate the anomaly without manufacturing the conclusion. And when the truth is established, let the financial record reflect it.”
A payment system earns trust not merely by allowing money to move.
It earns trust by knowing when a payment appears genuine, when it requires another question, when it must be protected, and when it is safe to proceed.
The purpose of financial security is not to make legitimate transactions difficult. It is to make illegitimate transactions difficult without making legitimate Users carry the burden of suspicion forever.
Lifetime shall therefore seek to maintain a financial environment in which:
legitimate payments move, suspicious payments are examined, fraudulent payments are stopped where reasonably possible, legitimate Users are protected, improper financial benefits are recoverable, and every material financial decision remains capable of being explained.
Financial integrity is not the absence of risk. It is the disciplined management of risk without losing sight of fairness.
CHAPTER 8 PAYMENT PROCESSING FAILURES, SYSTEM ERRORS & OPERATIONAL CONTINUITY
ARTICLE 651 — PURPOSE OF THIS CHAPTER This Chapter establishes the framework governing payment-processing failures, technical errors, interrupted transactions, system discrepancies, provider disruptions, processing delays, and other operational events capable of affecting the movement or accurate recording of marketplace payments.
ARTICLE 652 — PAYMENT PROCESSING Payment processing refers to the technical and operational steps through which a payment instruction is initiated, authenticated, transmitted, received, processed, confirmed, allocated, settled, rejected, reversed, or otherwise recorded.
ARTICLE 653 — PROCESSING DOES NOT EQUAL COMPLETION The initiation of a payment instruction does not necessarily mean that payment has been successfully completed. A transaction may remain pending, fail, be declined, be reversed, require additional verification, or otherwise remain incomplete.
ARTICLE 654 — AUTHORITATIVE PAYMENT STATUS The authoritative status of a payment shall ordinarily be determined by the applicable payment infrastructure, provider confirmation, and Lifetime's transaction records rather than by screenshots, informal messages, assumptions, or temporary displays.
ARTICLE 655 — PENDING PAYMENT STATUS A payment may remain pending where the payment provider, financial institution, Platform, or relevant payment infrastructure has not yet produced a final processing result.
ARTICLE 656 — NO ASSUMPTION FROM DELAY A delayed payment confirmation does not automatically establish either successful payment or payment failure. The transaction should remain subject to the applicable processing status until a reliable result becomes available.
ARTICLE 657 — PAYMENT PROCESSING UNCERTAINTY Where the final status of a payment cannot immediately be established, Lifetime may temporarily prevent dependent financial actions from proceeding until sufficient confirmation is available.
ARTICLE 658 — DEPENDENT TRANSACTION ACTIONS Where a booking, Vendor settlement, refund, release, or other financial action depends upon successful payment confirmation, Lifetime may defer that action until the underlying payment status is sufficiently established.
ARTICLE 659 — NO DOUBLE PROCESSING Lifetime should take reasonable steps to prevent the same payment instruction from being processed more than once merely because of a technical interruption, delayed response, repeated request, or communication failure.
ARTICLE 660 — PROCESSING INTEGRITY Payment processing should preserve the relationship between the payment instruction, transaction, Host, Vendor, amount, currency, payment method, and resulting financial status.
ARTICLE 661 — ERROR DETECTION Lifetime may use automated and manual controls to identify payment-processing errors, inconsistencies, incomplete transactions, unexpected outcomes, and other operational anomalies.
ARTICLE 662 — ERROR CORRECTION Where a processing error is identified, Lifetime may take reasonable corrective action to restore the transaction to the financial position that should have existed had the error not occurred.
ARTICLE 663 — NO FINANCIAL WINDFALL FROM SYSTEM ERROR A User should not obtain an improper financial benefit merely because a technical, administrative, or processing error occurred.
ARTICLE 664 — NO UNFAIR FINANCIAL LOSS FROM SYSTEM ERROR Likewise, a User should not ordinarily bear an improper financial loss solely because of an error attributable to Lifetime's payment-processing systems or an associated payment infrastructure, subject to applicable law, provider rules, and the circumstances of the transaction.
ARTICLE 665 — OPERATIONAL FAIRNESS PRINCIPLE Payment-processing failures should be addressed by restoring the transaction to its proper financial position wherever reasonably possible, rather than allowing technical failure to create an unintended financial windfall or unfair financial burden.
ARTICLE 666 — FAILED PAYMENT A payment may be treated as failed where the applicable payment infrastructure provides a final indication that the transaction was not successfully completed.
ARTICLE 667 — DECLINED PAYMENT A payment may be declined by a payment provider, financial institution, card network, bank, or other applicable payment infrastructure.
ARTICLE 668 — REASON FOR PAYMENT FAILURE Where available and appropriate, Lifetime may communicate the general reason for a payment failure or direct the User to the relevant payment provider for further information.
ARTICLE 669 — RETRYING A FAILED PAYMENT A User may be permitted to retry a failed payment through an available authorised payment method, subject to applicable transaction terms and payment controls.
ARTICLE 670 — NO ASSUMPTION OF SUCCESS AFTER RETRY A repeated payment attempt must not be treated as successful merely because the User initiated another attempt. Each attempt should have its own authoritative processing result.
ARTICLE 671 — PAYMENT RETRY DUPLICATION Lifetime should take reasonable measures to distinguish legitimate payment retries from duplicate successful payments.
ARTICLE 672 — PENDING PAYMENT Where a payment remains pending, Lifetime may defer dependent booking, settlement, release, or other financial actions until the payment reaches a sufficiently reliable state.
ARTICLE 673 — PENDING PAYMENT DURATION The duration of a pending payment may depend upon the payment provider, payment method, financial institution, transaction characteristics, technical circumstances, and other factors outside Lifetime's direct control.
ARTICLE 674 — PROVIDER-DEPENDENT PROCESSING Where payment processing depends upon an external provider, Lifetime cannot guarantee that the provider will process or confirm a payment within a particular period unless such timing has been expressly guaranteed.
ARTICLE 675 — INTERRUPTED PAYMENT A payment may be interrupted by connectivity failure, application failure, provider disruption, authentication interruption, timeout, device failure, or another technical event.
ARTICLE 676 — PAYMENT TIMEOUT A timeout does not necessarily establish whether the payment succeeded or failed. Lifetime may await or obtain authoritative confirmation before determining the final transaction status.
ARTICLE 677 — USER SHOULD NOT IMMEDIATELY REPEAT UNCERTAIN PAYMENTS Where a payment appears technically interrupted but its final status remains uncertain, the User should, where reasonably practicable, avoid repeatedly initiating the same payment until the status can be established.
ARTICLE 678 — DUPLICATE PAYMENT RISK Where repeated payment attempts create multiple successful charges for the same financial obligation, the resulting transaction history should be reviewed and corrected in accordance with the applicable financial procedures.
ARTICLE 679 — PAYMENT REVERSAL FOLLOWING FAILURE Where a payment is initially recorded but subsequently reversed or rejected by the payment infrastructure, Lifetime may update the transaction status and take any consequential financial action reasonably required.
ARTICLE 680 — PAYMENT CONFIRMATION DELAY A delay between payment execution and confirmation should not by itself be treated as evidence of wrongdoing by the Host or Vendor.
ARTICLE 681 — BOOKING DEPENDENCE ON PAYMENT Where successful payment is a condition of booking confirmation, Lifetime may prevent the booking from becoming fully confirmed until the required payment status has been established.
ARTICLE 682 — VENDOR ACTION DURING UNCERTAIN PAYMENT A Vendor should not treat an unconfirmed payment as irrevocably received merely because a Host provides informal evidence or because the Platform temporarily displays incomplete information.
ARTICLE 683 — HOST ACTION DURING UNCERTAIN PAYMENT A Host should not assume that a payment has failed merely because confirmation is delayed.
ARTICLE 684 — PAYMENT STATUS UPDATE Once authoritative confirmation becomes available, Lifetime may update the relevant payment and transaction records and process dependent financial events accordingly.
ARTICLE 685 — FINALITY OF PROCESSING STATUS A final payment status should be based on the most reliable available transaction information and may be corrected where a subsequent authoritative provider event establishes that the earlier status was inaccurate.
ARTICLE 686 — DUPLICATE PAYMENT A duplicate payment occurs where more than one successful payment is applied to the same financial obligation without a legitimate contractual or transaction basis.
ARTICLE 687 — IDENTIFICATION OF DUPLICATE PAYMENTS Lifetime may identify duplicate payments through transaction records, provider notifications, reconciliation, User reports, automated controls, or other reliable evidence.
ARTICLE 688 — DUPLICATE PAYMENT CORRECTION Where a duplicate payment is established, Lifetime may take appropriate corrective action, including refund, reversal, adjustment, recovery, or other lawful financial correction.
ARTICLE 689 — NO AUTOMATIC LOSS FROM DUPLICATION A User should not ordinarily be required to bear the financial consequences of a duplicate payment caused solely by a technical or processing error, subject to applicable provider rules and legal requirements.
ARTICLE 690 — DUPLICATE PAYMENT CAUSED BY USER ACTION Where a duplicate payment resulted from repeated User instructions after the User had sufficient reason to know that the first payment had succeeded, the resulting financial consequences may be assessed according to the circumstances.
ARTICLE 691 — INCORRECT PAYMENT AMOUNT Where a payment is processed for an amount different from the amount properly due, Lifetime may investigate and correct the discrepancy.
ARTICLE 692 — OVERPAYMENT An overpayment may be returned, credited, refunded, or otherwise corrected in accordance with the applicable transaction and payment rules.
ARTICLE 693 — UNDERPAYMENT Where a payment is less than the amount properly due, the outstanding amount may remain payable unless the transaction has been otherwise amended, cancelled, refunded, or resolved.
ARTICLE 694 — MISAPPLIED PAYMENT A payment may be treated as misapplied where funds are correctly received but associated with the wrong booking, Account, Vendor, tranche, or financial obligation.
ARTICLE 695 — CORRECTION OF MISAPPLIED PAYMENT Lifetime may correct a misapplied payment where sufficient information exists to establish the intended transaction.
ARTICLE 696 — PAYMENT ALLOCATION ERROR An allocation error occurs where a received payment is incorrectly divided between Vendor fees, Lifetime fees, taxes, tranches, or other financial components.
ARTICLE 697 — CORRECTION OF ALLOCATION ERROR Where an allocation error is identified, Lifetime may correct the relevant ledger and downstream financial records without erasing the original transaction history.
ARTICLE 698 — INCORRECT CURRENCY PROCESSING Where a payment is processed in an incorrect currency or converted contrary to the applicable transaction terms, Lifetime may review the event and apply an appropriate correction where reasonably possible.
ARTICLE 699 — ROUNDING ERRORS Minor rounding differences arising from legitimate payment, currency, tax, or accounting calculations may be corrected through appropriate financial adjustments.
ARTICLE 700 — SYSTEM-GENERATED FINANCIAL ERROR Where a Platform or payment-system error generates an incorrect charge, credit, settlement, refund, balance, or other financial entry, Lifetime may correct the resulting financial record.
ARTICLE 701 — USER REPORT OF PAYMENT ERROR A User may report a suspected payment-processing error through the available Lifetime support or transaction-resolution process.
ARTICLE 702 — EVIDENCE OF PAYMENT ERROR Lifetime may request reasonable evidence necessary to investigate a reported payment error, including transaction references, provider records, receipts, or relevant communications.
ARTICLE 703 — PAYMENT ERROR INVESTIGATION An investigation of a processing error should seek to determine what payment instruction was made, what the payment infrastructure recorded, what Lifetime recorded, what financial outcome occurred, and what outcome should properly have occurred.
ARTICLE 704 — CORRECTIVE ENTRY A correction may be recorded as a separate financial event so that the original transaction remains auditable.
ARTICLE 705 — FINANCIAL POSITION AFTER CORRECTION The objective of a processing correction should ordinarily be to place the relevant transaction in the financial position that accurately reflects the underlying booking and legitimate financial obligations.
ARTICLE 706 — PAYMENT-PROVIDER DISRUPTION A payment provider may experience an outage, degradation, processing delay, authentication failure, settlement interruption, or other operational disruption.
ARTICLE 707 — EXTERNAL INFRASTRUCTURE Lifetime's payment functionality may depend upon banks, payment processors, card networks, switches, financial institutions, telecommunications infrastructure, cloud infrastructure, identity-verification services, or other external systems.
ARTICLE 708 — NO GUARANTEE OF CONTINUOUS AVAILABILITY Lifetime does not guarantee that payment services or associated external payment infrastructure will remain continuously available without interruption.
ARTICLE 709 — PROVIDER OUTAGE During a material provider outage, Lifetime may temporarily suspend or limit affected payment operations where necessary to prevent inaccurate or duplicated financial processing.
ARTICLE 710 — PROVIDER PROCESSING DELAY Where a provider continues to process transactions but experiences delays, Lifetime may maintain transactions in an appropriate pending state until reliable confirmation becomes available.
ARTICLE 711 — PROVIDER ERROR Where a provider error affects a payment, settlement, refund, reversal, or other financial event, Lifetime may coordinate with the relevant provider to establish and correct the transaction status.
ARTICLE 712 — PROVIDER CONFIRMATION Provider records may be relied upon as authoritative evidence of payment processing to the extent appropriate to the relevant transaction.
ARTICLE 713 — PROVIDER RECONCILIATION Where Lifetime's records and provider records differ materially, Lifetime may reconcile the records before taking consequential financial action.
ARTICLE 714 — TEMPORARY PAYMENT LIMITATION Lifetime may temporarily limit payment activity affected by a provider disruption where continued processing could increase financial error or duplication.
ARTICLE 715 — USER COMMUNICATION DURING DISRUPTION Where a provider disruption materially affects Users, Lifetime may provide appropriate information regarding the interruption, expected processing limitations, or available alternatives.
ARTICLE 716 — ALTERNATIVE PAYMENT METHODS Where reasonably available, Lifetime may make alternative authorised payment methods available during a payment-provider disruption.
ARTICLE 717 — NO GUARANTEE OF ALTERNATIVE AVAILABILITY The availability of an alternative payment method may depend upon provider coverage, transaction type, currency, jurisdiction, compliance requirements, and other operational conditions.
ARTICLE 718 — RESUMPTION AFTER PROVIDER DISRUPTION Affected payment processing may resume once the relevant infrastructure is sufficiently restored and Lifetime has reasonable confidence that continued processing can occur accurately.
ARTICLE 719 — POST-DISRUPTION REVIEW Following a material payment-provider disruption, Lifetime may review affected transactions for duplicate payments, missing confirmations, incorrect statuses, delayed settlements, or other resulting discrepancies.
ARTICLE 720 — PROVIDER DISRUPTION PRINCIPLE A payment-provider disruption should be treated as an operational event requiring controlled continuity and accurate recovery, not as a reason to abandon the financial integrity of affected transactions.
ARTICLE 721 — PLATFORM SYSTEM ERROR A Platform system error includes an unintended technical condition that causes a payment, transaction, status, allocation, notification, balance, or financial record to behave incorrectly.
ARTICLE 722 — INCORRECT DISPLAY A temporary or incorrect display of payment information does not necessarily establish the underlying financial position of the transaction.
ARTICLE 723 — SYSTEM STATE VERSUS FINANCIAL REALITY Where a Platform display conflicts with authoritative payment or financial records, Lifetime may investigate the discrepancy and correct the Platform state.
ARTICLE 724 — STALE TRANSACTION STATUS A transaction status may become temporarily stale where the Platform has not yet received a newer provider event.
ARTICLE 725 — SYSTEM SYNCHRONISATION Lifetime may synchronise transaction records with applicable payment-provider or settlement systems where necessary to correct outdated or incomplete financial states.
ARTICLE 726 — FAILED SYSTEM UPDATE Where a payment succeeds but a dependent Platform update fails, Lifetime may complete the necessary financial and transactional updates once the inconsistency is identified.
ARTICLE 727 — FAILED DOWNSTREAM ACTION Where a successful payment does not automatically trigger an expected booking, settlement, release, notification, or other downstream action because of a technical failure, Lifetime may take corrective action consistent with the underlying transaction.
ARTICLE 728 — SYSTEM ERROR AND VENDOR SETTLEMENT A technical failure affecting Vendor settlement does not by itself extinguish a Vendor's legitimate financial entitlement under the applicable transaction terms.
ARTICLE 729 — SYSTEM ERROR AND HOST PAYMENT A technical failure affecting a Host's payment record does not by itself create a second payment obligation where the Host has already successfully paid the applicable amount.
ARTICLE 730 — SYSTEM ERROR AND REFUND Where a system error affects a refund, Lifetime may correct the relevant financial event in accordance with the applicable refund and recovery rules.
ARTICLE 731 — SYSTEM ERROR AND TRANSACTION TIMING Where a technical error delays a financial event, the relevant contractual or policy consequence may be assessed by reference to the actual underlying transaction history rather than an inaccurate system timestamp, where reasonably necessary.
ARTICLE 732 — PRESERVATION OF ORIGINAL RECORD Corrections to a system state should preserve sufficient information to establish what the original system recorded and why the correction was made.
ARTICLE 733 — NO ERASURE OF MATERIAL HISTORY A corrected transaction should not ordinarily be rewritten in a manner that destroys the material history required to understand the original error and subsequent correction.
ARTICLE 734 — SYSTEM ERROR REVIEW Material system errors may be reviewed to identify their cause, affected transactions, financial consequences, and appropriate remediation.
ARTICLE 735 — SYSTEM INTEGRITY PRINCIPLE The Platform's financial records should ultimately reflect the truth of the transaction, even where temporary technical conditions caused an earlier record or display to be inaccurate.
ARTICLE 736 — PAYMENT BUSINESS CONTINUITY Lifetime may maintain reasonable operational procedures designed to preserve essential payment functionality during technical failures, provider disruptions, infrastructure interruptions, or other operational incidents.
ARTICLE 737 — CONTINUITY PRIORITY During a material payment incident, priority may be given to preserving transaction integrity, preventing duplicate financial activity, protecting User funds, maintaining accurate records, and restoring essential payment functionality.
ARTICLE 738 — CONTROLLED DEGRADATION Lifetime may temporarily reduce or disable particular payment functions where controlled limitation is necessary to prevent greater financial harm.
ARTICLE 739 — INCIDENT RESPONSE Material payment-processing incidents may be managed through incident-response procedures involving technical, financial, operational, compliance, security, or provider teams as appropriate.
ARTICLE 740 — TRANSACTION PRESERVATION DURING INCIDENT Where reasonably possible, affected transactions should retain their identifiable booking, payment, tranche, settlement, and financial history during an operational incident.
ARTICLE 741 — RECOVERY AFTER INCIDENT Following restoration of affected systems, Lifetime may process delayed confirmations, reconcile affected transactions, correct system states, and resume dependent financial actions.
ARTICLE 742 — PRIORITY OF ACCURACY OVER SPEED Where immediate processing could create material financial uncertainty, Lifetime may prioritise accurate recovery over rapid completion.
ARTICLE 743 — USER COOPERATION DURING RECOVERY Users may be asked to provide reasonable information where necessary to resolve a transaction affected by a technical or operational incident.
ARTICLE 744 — POST-INCIDENT REVIEW Material payment incidents may be reviewed after recovery to identify affected transactions, financial discrepancies, control weaknesses, and appropriate improvements.
ARTICLE 745 — CONTINUITY WITHOUT FINANCIAL DISTORTION Business continuity should preserve the ability of legitimate transactions to proceed while ensuring that operational recovery does not create artificial financial benefits, duplicate obligations, or inaccurate settlement outcomes.
ARTICLE 746 — RECORD OF MATERIAL PROCESSING INCIDENTS Material payment-processing incidents may be documented sufficiently to establish their nature, duration, affected systems, affected transactions, financial consequences, corrective actions, and recovery status.
ARTICLE 747 — ACCOUNTABILITY FOR CORRECTION Where a material processing error is identified, responsibility for correction should rest with the appropriate operational, financial, technical, provider, or other responsible function rather than being left unresolved merely because the original error was automated.
ARTICLE 748 — CORRECTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE The correction of a technical or processing error should not, by itself, be treated as evidence that a Host or Vendor acted improperly.
ARTICLE 749 — OPERATIONAL TRUST PRINCIPLE Users should be able to rely on Lifetime to distinguish between a genuine payment problem, a temporary processing delay, a technical error, a provider disruption, and an actual financial irregularity.
ARTICLE 750 — FINAL PAYMENT OPERATIONS PRINCIPLE A payment system will sometimes fail. A provider will sometimes delay. A Platform will sometimes display the wrong state. A transaction may sometimes be interrupted between the moment a User acts and the moment the financial system confirms what happened.
When that occurs, Lifetime's responsibility is not to pretend the error did not happen. It is to identify what happened, preserve the evidence, protect the transaction, correct the financial position, and restore the system to a reliable state.
The governing principle is:
“When the machinery fails, the record must remain truthful. When the status is uncertain, the money must be protected. When an error is discovered, the transaction must be corrected. And when the system is restored, trust must be restored with it.”
A marketplace payment system cannot promise that every payment will be instantaneous, every provider will always be available, or every technical process will always work perfectly.
What it can promise is something more important:
that a failed payment will not casually become a successful one;
that an uncertain payment will not be treated as certain without evidence;
that a technical error will not become a financial windfall;
that a legitimate financial obligation will not disappear merely because a system malfunctioned;
that a duplicate transaction will be capable of being identified and corrected;
that a provider disruption will not justify abandoning accurate records;
and that when the machinery of payment fails, Lifetime will work to restore the transaction to the position that the underlying truth requires.
THE PAYMENT SYSTEM MAY EXPERIENCE AN INTERRUPTION. THE FINANCIAL RECORD SHOULD NOT LOSE ITS INTEGRITY.
Chapter 9 establishes the documentary and communication architecture surrounding Lifetime payment transactions.
It does not replace the pricing rules, payment structures, 24-hour release mechanism, refund rules, fraud controls, settlement rules, or payment-processing rules already established elsewhere. Instead, it answers a narrower but important question:
Once money moves, what financial information should exist, what should Users be told, what records should they be able to understand, and how should Lifetime ensure that the documentary history of a transaction remains accurate?
The chapter therefore covers payment receipts, transaction confirmations, invoices, statements, payment summaries, fee presentation, financial event notices, corrections, record accuracy, User access, communication integrity, financial-document authenticity, and documentary consistency.
This Chapter establishes the principles governing payment-related documentation, receipts, transaction confirmations, financial statements, payment summaries, financial notices, documentary corrections, and other communications through which Lifetime records or communicates material financial information to Users.
This Chapter applies to financial documentation associated with:
1. Host payments; 2. Vendor payments; 3. Vendor settlement; 4. conditional holding; 5. payment releases; 6. refunds; 7. reversals; 8. chargebacks; 9. payment adjustments; 10. Lifetime service fees; 11. applicable taxes; 12. payment-provider charges; and 13. other material financial events.
This Chapter governs the documentary and communication aspects of financial events.
It does not independently determine:
1. whether a refund is legally or contractually due; 2. whether a Vendor has performed a service; 3. whether a payment should be released; 4. whether a transaction constitutes fraud; 5. whether a chargeback is valid; 6. whether a Vendor is entitled to settlement; or 7. whether a User has breached another Lifetime policy.
Those matters shall be determined under the applicable policy, booking terms, payment-provider rules, and applicable law.
Lifetime recognises that financial trust depends not only upon the movement of money but also upon the ability of Users to understand what happened to that money.
Accordingly, Lifetime shall seek to maintain financial documentation that is sufficiently accurate, understandable, attributable, and traceable to the underlying transaction.
Lifetime shall seek to ensure that material payment documents accurately reflect the relevant transaction state.
Where an error is identified, Lifetime may issue a correction, adjustment, replacement document, or explanatory notice as appropriate.
Lifetime shall not intentionally create or maintain a financial document that materially misrepresents:
1. whether payment occurred; 2. the amount paid; 3. the amount refunded; 4. the amount settled; 5. the applicable fees; 6. the transaction status; 7. the relevant Vendor; 8. the relevant Host; or 9. another material financial fact.
Financial documents should, where reasonably practicable, be connected to the specific transaction, booking, Account, payment reference, tranche, or other identifiable financial event to which they relate.
Where multiple financial records describe the same transaction, Lifetime shall seek reasonable consistency between them.
Where records differ because they were generated at different stages of processing, the difference may be explained by the transaction's changing financial status.
A receipt, statement, notification, invoice, or other financial document does not necessarily establish that every underlying financial issue has been finally resolved.
The meaning of the document shall depend upon its content, status, date, and the transaction event to which it relates.
The documentary record should tell the financial truth of the transaction as accurately as reasonably possible.
Where technically and operationally appropriate, Lifetime may issue a payment receipt or equivalent confirmation after a payment has been authoritatively confirmed.
A receipt confirming Host payment does not necessarily mean that the Vendor has already received settlement.
Payment receipt and Vendor settlement are separate financial events.
A payment receipt may include:
1. Host identification; 2. booking reference; 3. payment reference; 4. payment date; 5. amount paid; 6. currency; 7. applicable fees; 8. taxes where applicable; 9. payment method or payment-provider reference where appropriate; 10. transaction status; and 11. other information reasonably necessary to identify the payment.
Lifetime may provide a transaction confirmation when the payment system has received sufficient authoritative confirmation of the relevant payment event.
Where a payment remains pending, Lifetime may issue a pending-payment notice rather than a completed-payment receipt.
Where a payment fails or is declined, Lifetime may provide a failed-payment notice identifying, where reasonably practicable:
1. the affected transaction; 2. the date; 3. the amount; 4. the relevant status; and 5. any available next step.
Where a previously recorded payment is subsequently reversed, Lifetime may issue an appropriate reversal notice or update the relevant transaction documentation.
Where duplicate payments occur, Lifetime may identify each payment separately so that the financial history does not incorrectly appear to be a single payment.
Where a Host makes a payment that satisfies only part of the amount due, the relevant documentation may identify the payment as partial, outstanding, or otherwise incomplete.
Where the Platform supports downloadable or viewable receipts, Lifetime may make such documents available through the relevant Account or transaction interface.
Where Vendors issue invoices through Lifetime or are required to provide financial documentation for a transaction, such documents shall accurately describe the relevant service and amount.
Where Lifetime issues an invoice for its own service, marketplace, subscription, concierge, advertising, or other applicable charges, the invoice shall identify the relevant charge with reasonable clarity.
Where a Vendor provides a quotation, invoice, proposal, price schedule, or similar financial document through Lifetime, the Vendor remains responsible for the accuracy of the information supplied.
Users must not knowingly submit or create a false, fabricated, inflated, altered, or misleading invoice in connection with a Lifetime transaction.
Where practicable, financial documents associated with a booking should correspond with the agreed transaction terms.
Material differences may require clarification or correction.
Additional charges should not be represented as part of the original agreed financial obligation unless they were actually incorporated into the transaction or otherwise became payable through an authorised mechanism.
Where taxes are required to be separately identified, Lifetime or the relevant Vendor may identify applicable taxes in accordance with law and the nature of the transaction.
Financial documentation issued through Lifetime does not constitute individual tax advice to a User.
Users remain responsible for their own tax obligations except to the extent Lifetime has a specific legal responsibility.
Where an invoice contains a material error, an amended or corrected invoice may be issued.
The corrected document should, where appropriate, identify that it replaces or corrects an earlier document.
Users must not knowingly alter a Lifetime-issued financial document in a manner that creates a misleading impression of its contents or status.
Lifetime may provide a transaction statement summarising material financial events associated with a booking or Account.
A transaction statement may assist a User in understanding:
1. amounts paid; 2. amounts outstanding; 3. Vendor amounts; 4. Lifetime charges; 5. taxes; 6. refunds; 7. reversals; 8. chargebacks; 9. adjustments; 10. settlements; and 11. other material financial events.
Where supported, Lifetime may provide a statement relating specifically to an individual booking.
Where appropriate, Lifetime may provide an Account-level financial summary containing multiple transactions.
A booking-level statement shall not ordinarily be interpreted as a complete statement of all financial activity associated with a User's Account.
Where a statement covers a defined period, the applicable period should be identified where reasonably practicable.
Statements may identify the date on which they were generated.
Where Platform functionality permits, Users may be able to view historical financial events associated with their transactions.
Material financial events should, where reasonably practicable, be capable of being understood chronologically.
A statement is a documentary representation of transaction data and does not override authoritative payment-provider or Platform records where an error is subsequently established.
Lifetime shall seek to present material financial information in a manner that enables Users to understand what they are being asked to pay and why.
Where reasonably practicable, the total amount payable for a transaction should be presented before payment is completed.
Where applicable, the total amount may be broken down into:
1. Vendor service charges; 2. Lifetime service fees; 3. taxes; 4. payment-processing charges; 5. approved additional charges; and 6. other material transaction components.
Where a transaction contains both a Vendor service fee and a Lifetime fee, the relevant amounts should be distinguishable where reasonably practicable.
Where applicable, taxes may be identified separately or incorporated into the displayed total in accordance with the relevant legal and commercial requirements.
Where payment-provider or processing charges are passed to a User and are legally and contractually permitted, Lifetime may disclose the applicable charge before payment.
Lifetime shall not intentionally display a total that materially understates the amount that the User is required to pay at the point of payment.
Where discounts, promotional credits, vouchers, or other adjustments apply, the relevant financial documentation may identify the original amount, adjustment, and resulting payable amount where appropriate.
Where a transaction is legitimately amended before payment or settlement, the resulting financial documentation may reflect the amended amount and the reason for the change where appropriate.
A User should be able to reasonably understand the financial journey from:
quoted amount → payable amount → amount paid → amount held or allocated → amount released or settled → amount refunded, reversed, adjusted, or otherwise resolved.
Lifetime may send communications relating to material financial events, including:
1. payment confirmation; 2. payment failure; 3. payment pending status; 4. payment reversal; 5. Vendor release request; 6. Host response request; 7. automatic release; 8. settlement; 9. refund; 10. chargeback; 11. financial adjustment; 12. payment-security events; and 13. other material financial developments.
Financial notices are intended to communicate transaction information and should not ordinarily be interpreted as promotional communications.
Where reasonably practicable, Lifetime should communicate material financial events that may affect:
1. the amount payable; 2. the amount refundable; 3. the Vendor's settlement; 4. the status of a payment; 5. the timing of a financial event; or 6. another material financial obligation.
Financial communications should use reasonably clear language appropriate to the nature of the event.
Where a financial communication concerns a payment status, the communication should, where practicable, distinguish between terms such as:
1. initiated; 2. pending; 3. received; 4. held; 5. release requested; 6. released; 7. settled; 8. refunded; 9. reversed; 10. disputed; or 11. failed.
Lifetime should avoid communicating a payment as completed where the authoritative financial status remains materially uncertain.
Financial communications should ordinarily be issued within a reasonable period following the relevant system event, subject to technical, provider, security, or operational limitations.
Lifetime may issue more than one notification concerning the same transaction where the transaction undergoes multiple material financial events.
Where a previous financial communication was materially incorrect, Lifetime may issue a corrective communication.
Where technically feasible, Lifetime may retain records showing the material content, date, time, and delivery status of significant financial communications.
Subject to applicable law, Platform functionality, privacy restrictions, and legitimate security requirements, Users may access financial information relating to their own transactions.
A Host may ordinarily be provided with information reasonably necessary to understand the Host's own financial transactions.
A Vendor may ordinarily be provided with information reasonably necessary to understand:
1. amounts payable to the Vendor; 2. amounts already settled; 3. amounts held; 4. applicable adjustments; 5. applicable fees; 6. applicable refunds or reversals; and 7. other relevant Vendor financial activity.
A User shall not ordinarily receive another person's confidential financial information merely because the User participated in the same transaction.
Financial transparency shall operate consistently with Lifetime's Privacy Policy and applicable data-protection requirements.
Transaction documentation should not ordinarily expose full payment credentials, authentication secrets, card security information, banking passwords, or other sensitive financial credentials.
Where payment-method information is displayed, Lifetime may use masked or truncated identifiers where appropriate.
Lifetime may require reasonable verification of a User's identity or Account before providing sensitive financial information.
Lifetime may decline a request for financial information where the requester lacks sufficient authority or where disclosure would violate privacy, security, contractual, regulatory, or legal requirements.
Financial transparency does not require unrestricted disclosure.
The objective is to provide the right User with the right financial information at the right level of detail.
A User may report a suspected error in a receipt, invoice, statement, payment summary, financial notice, or other transaction document.
A correction request should, where reasonably practicable, identify:
1. the affected transaction; 2. the document concerned; 3. the suspected error; 4. the correct information believed to apply; and 5. supporting evidence where available.
Lifetime may compare:
1. Platform records; 2. payment-provider records; 3. transaction ledgers; 4. booking records; 5. invoices; 6. receipts; 7. settlement records; 8. refund records; and 9. other relevant evidence.
A minor typographical, formatting, rounding, or non-material presentation error may be corrected without altering the underlying financial position.
A material error that affects the apparent financial position of a transaction should be corrected as soon as reasonably practicable after identification.
A documentary correction does not necessarily require a financial adjustment.
Conversely, a financial adjustment may require corresponding documentary correction.
Where appropriate, Lifetime may issue a corrected document rather than altering a previously issued document in a manner that obscures its historical existence.
Material corrections should, where reasonably practicable, remain traceable to the original record and the reason for correction.
Lifetime should not intentionally make a material historical change to a financial record in a manner designed to conceal the fact that the original record existed.
The purpose of correcting a financial document is to restore documentary accuracy, not to rewrite history.
Users are responsible for providing accurate information required for payment, invoicing, settlement, refund, or other financial processing.
Vendors are responsible for maintaining accurate:
1. payout information; 2. business information; 3. invoicing information; 4. applicable tax information; 5. payment-related contact information; and 6. other financial information they provide to Lifetime.
Hosts are responsible for providing accurate information reasonably required to complete their transactions.
Users should reasonably review material financial documents relating to their transactions and promptly report apparent errors.
A User should not knowingly rely upon an obvious financial error to obtain an unjustified financial benefit.
Users must not knowingly submit false financial documents to Lifetime, a Vendor, a Host, a payment provider, a bank, or another party in connection with a Lifetime transaction.
Users must not alter a Lifetime-generated financial document to create a false impression of:
1. payment; 2. refund; 3. settlement; 4. approval; 5. cancellation; 6. transaction value; or 7. another material financial event.
Where Users share Lifetime financial documents with third parties, they remain responsible for ensuring that the documents are not knowingly presented in a misleading manner.
Users should take reasonable steps to protect financial documents containing confidential or personal information from unauthorised disclosure.
Financial documentation supplied by Users should be truthful, complete where material, and consistent with the underlying transaction.
Lifetime shall seek to preserve the integrity of material financial records throughout the transaction lifecycle.
Lifetime may retain financial documentation for periods reasonably necessary for:
1. accounting; 2. taxation; 3. auditing; 4. dispute resolution; 5. fraud prevention; 6. legal compliance; 7. regulatory obligations; 8. contractual enforcement; and 9. legitimate operational purposes.
Closing an Account does not necessarily result in immediate deletion of financial records that Lifetime is legally or operationally required to retain.
Where appropriate and technically feasible, relevant financial information may remain accessible to Users for a reasonable period after the transaction.
Lifetime shall seek reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect financial records against unauthorised access, alteration, destruction, loss, or disclosure.
Lifetime may maintain appropriate backups, replicated records, provider records, or other continuity mechanisms to reduce the risk that a material financial history is lost because of a technical failure.
Financial documents may constitute evidence in a transaction review, dispute, refund determination, chargeback process, investigation, or other financial proceeding.
Their evidentiary significance shall depend upon the circumstances and the applicable decision-making process.
Where financial documents conflict, Lifetime may assess the relevant records according to their source, creation time, authority, transaction state, payment-provider confirmation, and reliability.
A later document shall not automatically override an earlier authoritative record merely because it was generated later.
Every material financial event should leave behind enough documentary evidence for Lifetime, and where appropriate the affected User, to understand:
1. what happened; 2. when it happened; 3. how much money was involved; 4. whose transaction it concerned; 5. what financial status applied; 6. what action followed; and 7. why any material correction or adjustment occurred.
A financial transaction should never become a mystery merely because time has passed.
The receipt should explain the payment. The statement should explain the financial journey. The notification should explain the material change. The correction should explain the error. And the record should remain strong enough to reconstruct the transaction when questions arise.
The governing principle is:
“If money moved, the record should show it. If the status changed, the User should be able to understand it. If the record was wrong, the correction should be traceable. And when the transaction is finally complete, its financial history should still make sense.”
A marketplace payment system is not trustworthy merely because it can charge a card, receive a transfer, release a Vendor's money, or issue a refund.
It becomes trustworthy when the financial history surrounding those events remains understandable.
A Host should be able to look back and understand what was paid.
A Vendor should be able to understand what was earned, what was held, what was released, and what was settled.
Lifetime should be able to explain the difference between those events.
A receipt should not be mistaken for settlement.
A pending transaction should not be described as completed.
A corrected record should not erase the existence of the original error.
A statement should not conceal material adjustments.
And a financial document should never become a tool for manufacturing a version of the transaction that did not actually occur.
The purpose of financial documentation is therefore not administrative decoration.
It is institutional memory.
It preserves the financial truth of the marketplace after the payment has moved, after the booking has ended, after the Vendor has been settled, and even after the Users have stopped thinking about the transaction.
THE MONEY MAY MOVE ON. THE RECORD MUST REMAIN.
This Chapter establishes the governance and interpretive framework applicable to the administration of this Volume as a whole.
The preceding Chapters establish the substantive architecture governing marketplace payments, conditional holding, release requests, Host response periods, exceptional intervention, refunds, reversals, chargebacks, recovery, Vendor settlement, reconciliation, financial records, financial integrity, payment-processing failures, documentation and financial communications.
This Chapter does not replace those rules.
Instead, it establishes the principles by which those rules are to be administered, interpreted, maintained, amended, applied to changing payment infrastructure, reconciled with applicable law, and preserved as Lifetime's marketplace payment system evolves.
The objective is to ensure that the payment architecture does not become merely a collection of isolated rules.
It must operate as one coherent financial system.
Lifetime shall maintain appropriate governance over the payment arrangements operated or facilitated through the Platform.
Such governance may include financial operations, payment operations, technology, compliance, legal, risk management, customer support, reconciliation, fraud prevention, information security and other functions reasonably necessary for the integrity of marketplace payments.
Lifetime shall determine the internal responsibilities through which the payment framework is administered.
Different responsibilities may be assigned to different teams, officers, contractors, payment providers or other authorised parties.
Where reasonably practicable, material payment functions should be subject to appropriate separation of responsibilities.
Payment initiation, approval, release, reconciliation, investigation and correction should not be concentrated in a manner that unnecessarily increases financial risk.
Lifetime may establish operational controls governing:
1. payment initiation; 2. transaction verification; 3. release authorisation; 4. settlement; 5. reconciliation; 6. refunds; 7. reversals; 8. financial adjustments; 9. fraud prevention; 10. access to financial systems; and 11. financial record integrity.
Lifetime may administer payment controls according to the level and nature of risk associated with a transaction.
Higher-value, unusual, complex, disputed, technically anomalous or otherwise higher-risk transactions may reasonably receive greater scrutiny than ordinary transactions.
Payment governance should remain proportionate to the financial risk presented.
Lifetime should seek to avoid imposing unnecessary controls that materially burden ordinary legitimate transactions without a corresponding financial-integrity purpose.
Where payment functions are performed by a third-party provider, Lifetime may rely upon that provider's applicable systems, controls, records, confirmations and operational requirements.
Lifetime may nevertheless maintain its own marketplace-level controls and records where appropriate.
The use of a third-party payment provider does not, by itself, transfer all responsibility for marketplace payment administration away from Lifetime.
Lifetime shall remain responsible for the aspects of the payment experience that fall within its own operational control, subject to applicable law and contractual arrangements.
Lifetime may periodically review its payment governance arrangements.
Such review may consider:
1. transaction volumes; 2. fraud trends; 3. payment failures; 4. disputes; 5. reconciliation discrepancies; 6. provider performance; 7. User complaints; 8. regulatory developments; 9. technological changes; and 10. lessons arising from previous incidents.
The purpose of payment governance is not merely to prevent financial loss.
It is to ensure that the payment system remains reliable, explainable, accountable and fair as the marketplace grows.
This Volume shall be interpreted in a manner consistent with its purpose, applicable Lifetime policies, applicable booking terms, payment-provider requirements and applicable law.
Nothing in this Volume shall be interpreted solely by reference to commercial terminology where the applicable legal or payment-provider framework requires a different treatment.
Payment provisions shall be interpreted within the context of a marketplace connecting Hosts and Vendors through confirmed transactions.
Where a transaction contains specific payment terms that have been validly disclosed and accepted, those terms shall be considered when applying the general provisions of this Volume.
Where two provisions of this Volume address the same matter and one provision is more specific to the transaction or event concerned, the specific provision should ordinarily govern that matter.
A provision should not ordinarily be interpreted in isolation where doing so would produce a result inconsistent with another applicable provision governing the same financial event.
Where two otherwise reasonable interpretations are available, Lifetime should seek an interpretation that avoids creating an unjustified financial windfall, artificial financial loss, or distortion of the underlying transaction.
A payment provision should not ordinarily be interpreted as creating an indefinite right to withhold a Vendor's legitimate payment where the underlying reason for withholding has ceased.
Conversely, a provision should not be interpreted as requiring release of funds where a legitimate and properly documented restriction, dispute, reversal, fraud concern, legal requirement or other applicable intervention remains in effect.
The central interpretive objective of this Volume is to preserve the financial truth of the transaction while protecting legitimate Users and the integrity of the payment system.
This Volume forms part of the wider Lifetime Public Trust & Legal Centre.
It shall therefore be read together with the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Marketplace Governance framework, Service Fulfilment Policy and other applicable policies.
This Volume governs matters specifically concerning marketplace payment architecture, conditional holding, release, settlement, reconciliation and related financial processing.
Whether a Vendor has properly performed a service shall be determined under the applicable service and marketplace rules rather than solely by the payment status of a transaction.
Whether a refund is due shall be determined under the applicable cancellation, refund, service-failure, dispute or other substantive rule.
The payment mechanics for implementing an approved refund are governed by this Volume where applicable.
Whether conduct constitutes financial fraud or financial abuse shall be determined under the applicable fraud, security, marketplace and legal framework.
This Volume governs the financial consequences and payment-system administration of such matters where applicable.
Personal information arising from payment activity shall remain subject to the applicable privacy and data-protection framework.
A dispute concerning the underlying service, booking or contractual relationship shall be addressed through the applicable dispute-resolution mechanism.
Payment processing may be affected by that dispute where the applicable financial rules permit or require intervention.
Lifetime should seek to administer its policies so that Users do not receive materially contradictory instructions concerning the same transaction.
Where more than one Lifetime policy applies to a financial event, the responsible function should consider the relevant provisions together before taking material action.
No policy should be interpreted as silently cancelling a more specific contractual, legal or regulatory obligation.
Where an apparent conflict exists, Lifetime should identify the applicable legal, contractual and policy hierarchy before determining the appropriate action.
All payment arrangements under this Volume shall operate subject to applicable law.
Lifetime may modify payment processes where necessary to comply with applicable laws, regulations, directives, orders, licensing conditions or requirements imposed by competent authorities or authorised payment providers.
Nothing in this Volume shall be interpreted as excluding, restricting or waiving a mandatory legal right or obligation that cannot lawfully be excluded or waived.
Where applicable law or regulatory requirements materially change, Lifetime may modify affected payment processes to maintain lawful operation.
Where immediate compliance is required, Lifetime may implement necessary payment changes before providing extended advance notice, provided that appropriate communication is made as soon as reasonably practicable.
Where a competent authority, payment provider or applicable law requires a payment to be restricted, suspended, reversed, reported or otherwise treated differently, Lifetime may comply with that requirement.
Lifetime may restrict or prevent a payment where necessary to comply with applicable sanctions, anti-money-laundering requirements, financial-crime controls, court orders, regulatory directives or other lawful restrictions.
Users acknowledge that payment providers may impose requirements that affect the processing, settlement or availability of particular transactions.
Lifetime does not guarantee that regulatory intervention, provider requirements or changes in law will never interrupt or alter a payment process.
Where financial convenience and mandatory legal compliance conflict, mandatory legal compliance shall prevail.
Lifetime may develop and refine this Volume as the marketplace, technology, payment infrastructure, transaction types and regulatory environment evolve.
Amendments may be made in response to:
1. changes in law; 2. regulatory requirements; 3. payment-provider changes; 4. technological developments; 5. security risks; 6. fraud trends; 7. operational experience; 8. User feedback; 9. financial-control requirements; or 10. other legitimate marketplace needs.
Where an amendment materially affects the financial rights or obligations applicable to future transactions, Lifetime should seek to provide reasonable notice through an appropriate communication channel, subject to applicable law and urgent regulatory requirements.
Unless otherwise required by law or expressly permitted by the applicable booking terms, a policy amendment should not retroactively alter a material financial obligation that had already become binding before the amendment.
Where a transaction is already in progress when this Volume is amended, Lifetime may apply the version applicable to that transaction, together with any lawful transitional arrangements.
Lifetime may establish transitional rules where a change in payment infrastructure, provider, regulation or Platform functionality requires an orderly migration from one payment process to another.
Lifetime may retain historical versions of this Volume for recordkeeping, audit, legal, regulatory and dispute-resolution purposes.
Each published version should, where reasonably practicable, identify its version number, status, effective date and other information necessary to distinguish it from earlier versions.
A new version shall not be used to rewrite historical financial records so that earlier transactions appear to have occurred under rules that did not apply to them.
The purpose of version control is not merely administrative.
It allows Lifetime to determine what rules governed a transaction at the time the relevant financial event occurred.
Lifetime may exercise reasonable operational discretion where this Volume permits judgment and where a specific outcome cannot be determined automatically.
Operational discretion shall not be exercised arbitrarily, discriminatorily or for the purpose of creating an unjustified financial benefit for Lifetime or another User.
Where materially similar financial circumstances arise, Lifetime should seek reasonably consistent treatment unless a legitimate difference justifies a different outcome.
Lifetime may depart from an ordinary operational sequence where necessary to address an exceptional circumstance involving:
1. fraud; 2. payment-system failure; 3. serious security risk; 4. legal restriction; 5. provider intervention; 6. material financial error; 7. serious safety concern; or 8. another circumstance requiring immediate protection.
Material discretionary financial decisions should, where reasonably practicable, be supported by an appropriate internal record explaining the basis for the decision.
Operational discretion does not permit Lifetime to disregard mandatory legal rights or obligations.
Lifetime shall not use operational discretion to manufacture a financial liability against a Host or Vendor that has no reasonable basis in the transaction, applicable policy, contract or law.
Where Lifetime identifies that a material discretionary decision was based upon an incorrect fact or material misunderstanding, it may review and correct the decision.
Where correction is required, Lifetime should seek to restore the transaction to the financial position that should reasonably have existed absent the error.
The payment system should be administered with judgment where judgment is necessary, but with discipline wherever discretion is exercised.
Hosts and Vendors shall participate in the payment system in good faith.
Users shall provide accurate financial information where such information is required for payment processing, settlement, refunds, verification or reconciliation.
Users should respond within reasonable periods to payment-related requests requiring their cooperation.
Users must not intentionally manipulate payment structures, release requests, refund mechanisms, chargebacks, payment confirmations, transaction records or other financial processes to obtain an improper financial advantage.
A User must not knowingly represent that a payment has occurred, failed, been refunded, been released, been settled or otherwise changed status when the User knows that representation to be materially false.
Users remain responsible for taking reasonable precautions to protect payment credentials, financial access information and devices used to initiate transactions.
A User who identifies a material payment error should report it promptly through the appropriate Lifetime channel.
A User should not knowingly retain or exploit a financial benefit arising from an obvious system, processing, calculation or documentary error.
Where reasonably possible, Users should take reasonable steps to prevent avoidable financial loss arising from their own actions, omissions or known payment errors.
A trusted payment system requires more than trustworthy technology.
It requires Users who do not deliberately exploit the machinery designed to protect them.
Lifetime may change payment processors, settlement partners, banking arrangements, technical architecture or other payment infrastructure where reasonably necessary for operational, commercial, regulatory or security reasons.
Where payment functions are migrated between providers or systems, Lifetime may establish procedures for preserving transaction continuity and financial records.
A payment-system migration should not, merely because of the migration, erase material transaction history or alter a User's legitimate financial position.
Transactions that remain financially open during a system migration should be mapped to the applicable replacement system or otherwise preserved through appropriate records.
Where a transaction contains a Conditional Hold during migration, Lifetime should take reasonable steps to preserve the applicable release conditions and financial status.
Pending transactions should remain identifiable during system migration so that their eventual status can be reconciled accurately.
Replacement of a payment provider does not, by itself, extinguish an existing financial obligation between the relevant parties.
Lifetime should seek to ensure that legitimate Vendor settlement obligations remain capable of being fulfilled despite changes in payment infrastructure.
Material payment migrations should be subject to appropriate reconciliation before, during or after migration as reasonably necessary.
Technology may change.
Providers may change.
Payment rails may change.
The financial truth of the transaction should not change merely because the machinery through which it is processed has changed.
Lifetime shall seek to maintain sufficient internal accountability to understand how material payment decisions are made and implemented.
Lifetime may periodically review whether the controls established under this Volume remain effective.
Lifetime may test payment workflows, release mechanisms, reconciliation processes, fraud controls, documentation systems and operational continuity procedures.
Where a material control weakness is identified, Lifetime may implement corrective measures proportionate to the identified risk.
Material payment incidents may be reviewed to identify lessons that can improve future payment operations.
Material complaints concerning payment processing may be considered as evidence of potential system, communication, operational or policy weaknesses.
Lifetime should seek to maintain sufficient transparency for Users to understand material financial events affecting their transactions, subject to privacy, security, legal and fraud-prevention limitations.
Nothing in this Volume requires Lifetime to disclose confidential security controls, fraud-detection methodologies, proprietary risk models, protected provider information or other information where disclosure would create unreasonable security or financial risk.
Where appropriate, Lifetime may engage qualified internal or external professionals to review aspects of its payment architecture, financial controls, security, compliance or reconciliation.
Lifetime recognises that payment governance is ultimately a question of public trust.
The standard is therefore not simply whether money can be moved.
The standard is whether money can be moved responsibly, accurately, lawfully and accountably.
Every material payment event should, to the extent reasonably possible, correspond to what actually happened in the underlying transaction.
A material movement of money should be capable of being traced to an identifiable transaction, financial event or lawful adjustment.
Financial intervention should be proportionate to the risk, error, dispute, concern or legal requirement giving rise to it.
A legitimate Vendor payment should not remain withheld indefinitely merely because an ordinary administrative process has not been completed.
Conversely, payment should not be released merely for the sake of speed where a legitimate and properly supported restriction remains applicable.
When the financial system makes a material mistake, the appropriate objective is correction—not concealment, punishment or financial windfall.
Every material financial decision should, where reasonably practicable, be capable of being explained.
The payment system should protect legitimate Hosts and Vendors without allowing either party to exploit the mechanisms designed to protect them.
Lifetime's payment standard may be stated simply:
The Host should know what was paid. The Vendor should know what was earned. A held amount should have a reason. A released amount should have a record. A disputed amount should be examined. An error should be corrected. A legitimate payment should not be trapped indefinitely. And no financial outcome should be manufactured merely because the system made a mistake.
Lifetime's marketplace payment architecture is ultimately built upon one fundamental obligation:
to preserve the integrity of the transaction.
The purpose of payment processing is to move money.
The purpose of Conditional Holding is to protect legitimate interests while a defined condition remains outstanding.
The purpose of release is to move an earned payment when the applicable conditions have been satisfied.
The purpose of intervention is to protect the transaction when a genuine financial, legal, security or operational risk requires it.
The purpose of refund, reversal, chargeback and recovery mechanisms is to restore the financial position where the underlying transaction requires correction.
The purpose of reconciliation is to ensure that the numbers agree with what actually happened.
The purpose of documentation is to preserve that truth after the money has moved.
And the purpose of governance is to ensure that all of these mechanisms continue to operate together with fairness, accountability and discipline.
Accordingly:
Lifetime shall seek to build a payment system in which money does not merely move, but moves for a reason; where payment does not merely occur, but can be explained; where protection does not become indefinite withholding; where correction does not become punishment; and where financial trust is measured not by the absence of mistakes, but by the integrity with which mistakes are identified and corrected.
FINAL VOLUME PRINCIPLE
A marketplace payment system should never require Users to choose between speed and trust.
The Host should not have to wonder whether money disappeared into a system that cannot explain where it went.
The Vendor should not have to wonder whether a legitimate payment can be held indefinitely.
Lifetime should not have to choose between protecting a transaction and treating Users fairly.
The architecture should allow all three.
A Host pays. A Vendor performs. A payment moves. A condition is satisfied. A release is authorised. A settlement is reconciled. A record remains.
And when something goes wrong:
the payment is protected, the evidence is preserved, the truth is established, the financial position is corrected, and the record tells the truth.
That is the standard this Volume is intended to establish.
THE MONEY MAY MOVE.
THE SYSTEM MAY CHANGE.
THE TRANSACTION MAY END.
BUT THE FINANCIAL TRUTH MUST REMAIN.
END OF VOLUME V
FINAL LEGAL AUDIT — IMPLEMENTATION AND REGULATORY ARCHITECTURE
This Volume is a contractual and operational policy framework. It does not itself confer a financial-services licence, payment-service authorisation or regulatory approval.
Before production deployment, Lifetime shall ensure that the live payment flow is implemented through appropriately authorised payment infrastructure and documented arrangements appropriate to the functions actually performed, including payment acceptance, custody or conditional holding where applicable, settlement, safeguarding, refunds, reversals, chargebacks, reconciliation and reporting.
The written policy and the live payment system must remain aligned. Where the payment architecture changes materially, this Volume shall be reviewed before or alongside the relevant production change.
Lifetime Tech & Events Limited · RC 9228260
No. 6A, Osara Lane, Off Osara Close, Maitama, Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
info@withlifetime.com · withlifetime.com
Directors Onuoha Joshua Ikenna (Founder / Chief Executive Officer) · Chukwunyelugo Raphael Ngige (Co-Founder / Managing Director)
Effective 1 September 2026. 26 chapters across five volumes. Governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
