Dispute Resolution
How guests, operators and crew raise problems, refunds, damage claims, complaints and reviews of decisions on Pickup, what happens to the payment meanwhile, how to claim against an operator's insurer, and the outside routes you can always use.
Updated 2 November 2026 · 24 min read
Version 3.0. Effective 2 November 2026.
In short
- In an emergency, call 112 first. In-app safety features are secondary information tools and not an emergency service.
- Service issue? Start a request in the app. The operator has 24 hours to reply. If it does not, or you do not accept its reply, ask Pickup to step in: a person decides within 3 business days and gives reasons. Safety, no shows, mismatches and charges come straight to us. Report within 72 hours of the trip ending (no shows within 24 hours of the booked start, charges within 60 days of the payment).
- Your money. An open case holds the operator's whole payout for that booking until it is decided. If the operator has been paid, we refund you and recover it from them, and you do not wait for that.
- Damage. The operator must report within 72 hours and prove the damage, its cause and its amount. You get at least 7 days to accept or dispute it. Nothing is collected without your acceptance or a decision you could challenge, and Pickup collects at most ₦500,000 for any one booking.
- Injury, loss or damage to you? Claims go first to the operator and its insurer, not Pickup. Pickup is not an insurer and does not decide insurance claims. We share the booking records, and after an injury or severe property damage, the operator's insurance certificate details.
- Not satisfied? Ask for a review within 30 days. Someone not involved decides within 14 days. After that, guests can go to mediation and then final individual arbitration, and can opt out of arbitration by emailing legal@pickupltd.com within 30 days of first accepting the Guest Terms. Guests in the UK and EU keep their home courts. Small claims and a complaint to the FCCPC are always open. There are no class claims, as far as the law allows.
This summary is for convenience only. The numbered clauses below govern.
1. About this policy
1.1 This Dispute Resolution policy ("Policy") is issued by Pickup Technology Limited, RC 9548096, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos State, Nigeria, trading as Pickup Charter ("Pickup", "we", "us").
1.2 It applies to Guests, Travellers, Operators, crew, business users and members of the public, and covers the different things that can follow an incident or a disagreement on a Booking. They run separately and you can use more than one:
(a) a case, about a Booking, a payment or a service issue on a trip, and a complaint about Pickup, the Platform or a Pickup staff member (sections 3 to 7);
(b) a damage claim by an Operator against a Guest (section 8);
(c) a claim for injury, loss or damage arising from a trip, made against the Operator and its insurer (sections 9 and 10); and
(d) a dispute, where you remain unhappy with Pickup's own decision or conduct and want to take it further (sections 12 and 13).
1.3 This Policy forms part of the Terms of Use, the Guest Terms, the Operator Agreement and the Crew Terms. It sits alongside the Complaints and disputes section of the Guest Terms, and the Disputes and governing law sections of the Operator Agreement and the Crew Terms. If there is a conflict, those terms apply. Capitalised words have the meaning given in the Guest Terms.
1.4 Requests about personal data follow the timelines in Data Protection: Your Rights. Reports about conduct on a trip follow the investigation process in the Community Standards. Cancellations and refunds follow the Cancellation and Refund Policy.
1.5 Raising a request, a complaint or a claim, or using this Policy, is free.
2. Pickup's role: a neutral platform
2.1 Not a party to your trip. Pickup is a booking platform and the Operator's limited payment collection agent. The contract for the trip (the Charter Contract) is between the Guest and the Operator. Pickup does not own, operate, crew, fuel, pilot or navigate any Vehicle, Vessel or Aircraft, and is not the carrier, an insurer, or an employer of crew.
2.2 Why this matters for a dispute. Because Pickup is not a party to the trip, we do not sit as judge of whose fault an accident, injury or loss was for insurance or liability purposes between a Guest and an Operator. What we do is: run a fair internal process to decide whether a Booking, a payment or a refund was handled correctly on the Platform; hold trust and safety investigations into conduct; and help both sides reach the people and records they need to take a claim further. A decision we make about your payment, or about an Operator's conduct, is not a finding of legal liability, and does not bind a court, an arbitrator or an insurer.
2.3 No insurance. Pickup does not sell insurance, and does not guarantee the outcome of a claim or a dispute. Every Operator must hold its own commercial cover, and Pickup checks the documents, as the Operator Standards and Verification and Compliance require. See Insurance Information.
3. Where to start
3.1 Most things start in the app.
| Problem | Where | Who handles it first |
|---|---|---|
| Emergency or danger | Call 112 ("Emergency? Call 112" on the live trip and Safety screens), then report it in the app | Emergency services |
| Unsafe driving, harassment, discrimination, impairment, weapons | Report a problem on the trip, or Get help in Safety | Pickup safety, never the operator first |
| Car, chauffeur, boat, aircraft or crew does not match the app | Report a problem on the trip, before you travel. At pickup you can also cancel for a full refund | Pickup, at once |
| Crew did not turn up | Profile > Help > Your cases > Start a request | Pickup |
| Trip not as described, Extra not supplied, trip cut short or another service issue | Profile > Help > Your cases > Start a request | The Operator, then Pickup |
| Charged twice, or an amount you do not recognise | Profile > Help > Your cases > Report a charge | Pickup |
| Lost item | The lost items option on the trip | The Operator, through the app |
| Damage claim against a Guest | Operator: report it on the Booking | Pickup trust and safety |
| Payout query | Operator: Earnings, then query the payout | Operator support |
| Cancellation counted against an Operator | Operator: challenge it from your cancellation rate | Pickup, a person not involved |
| Charter Elite or account decision | The decision notice | Pickup, a person not involved |
| A review that breaks the rules | Report this review | Pickup |
| A problem with Pickup itself, or a case not handled well | Profile > Help > Your cases > Make a formal complaint | Pickup operations |
3.2 Other channels.
| Channel | Use it for |
|---|---|
| support@pickupcharter.com | Any complaint about a trip, a payment, a Pickup staff member or the Platform |
| privacy@pickupltd.com | Complaints about how we handle personal data |
| legal@pickupltd.com | Legal notices, formal claims against Pickup, and complaints about our terms. Crew may also raise a concern about their treatment here in confidence |
3.3 Email, not post. Complaints and notices are made in the app or by email, and an email is effective when we receive it. We reply in the app or to the email address on your Account. The only exception is formal court process (clause 15.3).
3.4 What to include. Your Booking reference where there is one, what happened, what you would like us to do, and any evidence such as photos or messages. Keep messages about a Booking in the app so they form part of the record.
3.5 In an emergency, call 112 first. In-app safety features are secondary information tools and do not constitute an emergency response service. Pickup does not guarantee continuous, uninterrupted live monitoring, and automated prompts do not shift emergency response duties away from public authorities. In an emergency, call 112. Support is not an emergency service.
3.6 Travellers. A Traveller who is not the Booker can report a safety incident or injury directly at support@pickupcharter.com. For anything about payment, we deal with the Booker.
3.7 Help to complain. If you need an adjustment to make or follow a complaint, for example because of a disability, tell us and we help you. Someone may complain on your behalf with your permission. Pickup is available in English.
4. How a request is handled
4.1 The Operator first, for service issues. A request about a service issue that does not involve safety, such as lateness, the standard or cleanliness of the Vehicle, Vessel or Aircraft, an Extra not supplied, or minor damage to your belongings, goes to the Operator, who has 24 hours to reply. It can offer a refund, which stays open for 48 hours, or decline with reasons.
4.2 Pickup steps in. You can ask Pickup to step in if the Operator declines, does not reply in 24 hours, or offers something you will not take. Safety incidents, injury, emergencies, no shows, mismatches, charges and suspected fraud come straight to us. A person in our team looks at your photos and description, the Operator's reply, the trip timeline and messages. They may ask either side for more evidence, and we ask for it within 72 hours. They decide within 3 Business Days of Pickup stepping in. If an Operator does not cooperate, it may be suspended or removed.
4.3 Safety and identity. Safety reports and mismatches are dealt with first. We may suspend an Operator or crew member while we investigate, and investigations aim to conclude within 7 days. We tell the reporter what we did, but not the details of action taken against someone else.
4.4 Formal complaints. For something that went wrong with Pickup itself, or a case that was not handled well, make a formal complaint. We give you a reference straight away, and operations replies within 3 Business Days.
4.5 A person decides. Every decision is made by a person, not an automated system, and we give our reasons in writing. Where a complaint is about an Operator or crew member, they are heard before any permanent consequence is applied.
4.6 Putting things right. Where a complaint is upheld, we put things right in a way that fits what happened: for example a refund to the original payment method, a rebooking, a correction, an apology, or action against an Account. Refunds follow the Cancellation and Refund Policy.
5. Target times
| Stage | What happens | Target |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Case opened | We confirm receipt with a case reference | At once in the app. By email, the same Business Day where we can, and otherwise the next |
| 2. In app resolution | Clear cases, such as an Operator cancellation or a billing query | Same Business Day |
| 3. Operator reply | Service issues | 24 hours |
| 4. Pickup decision | Service failures, late or no arrival, not as described, refunds, charges and damage | 3 Business Days from stepping in |
| 5. Trust and safety | Conduct, mismatch, safety concerns, suspected fraud | Immediate action where warranted; investigation concluded within 7 days |
| 6. Formal complaint | Pickup's own service | 3 Business Days |
| 7. Review | If you are not satisfied with the outcome | 14 days |
If we need longer, we tell you why and when to expect an answer.
6. Evidence
6.1 We already hold the trip record: times, trip start and location events, route, in app messages, the payment record and verification status.
6.2 It helps if you add: time stamped photographs or video; the time and place of what happened; names of witnesses; a police report reference, where the police are involved; and receipts for any cost you are asking about. Do not include card or ID numbers.
6.3 Keep communication in the app. Messages outside the Platform are hard for us to verify.
6.4 We ask the Operator for its account and evidence, and share with it only what it needs to respond.
6.5 Keeping records. When a case, complaint or claim is opened, we keep the Booking record and the evidence until it is finally resolved, and the case file for 6 years after it closes, even if you close your Account. In vehicle or on board camera footage is kept by the Operator for 30 days unless it is needed for a case, and is then kept for that case. The Privacy Policy sets out our other retention periods.
7. What happens to your payment
7.1 Before a payout. Your payment stays in Pickup's balance with Flutterwave until its Release Time in the Payments Terms: 1 hour after the trip ends (for jets, 1 hour after landing), and for Bookings of 7 days or more, weekly. Nothing goes to the Operator before the trip starts. An open case on the Booking holds the whole payout for that Booking until it is decided, and any refund is returned to you from the balance.
7.2 After a payout. Once the Operator has been paid, you can still report within the time limits in section 11. If we decide you are owed a refund, we refund you and recover the amount from the Operator. You do not wait for that recovery.
7.3 Refunds go back to your original payment method, including the Pickup Service Fee on the refunded amount. Where the refund is because the Operator or Pickup cancelled for a reason that is not your fault, the Operator failed to provide what you booked, or a disruption beyond anyone's control stopped the trip, it also includes card and bank processing costs. If you cancelled, Pickup keeps the actual processing costs the provider charged. We send a refund within 5 Business Days of deciding it is due. It goes back to your original payment method within 5 Business Days of Pickup sending it, and your bank may take longer.
7.4 Chargebacks. Please raise a case with us before asking your bank for a chargeback. It is usually faster. A chargeback does not affect your rights, but while one is open we may pause the related case and respond to your bank with the trip record.
8. Damage claims against a Guest
8.1 Reporting. An Operator claiming damage or cleaning must report it in the app after the trip and within 72 hours of it ending, with time stamped photographs or video. Where it has one, it must add the condition record from the start of the trip. Where the amount claimed is above ₦250,000, it must add an itemised estimate or invoice from an independent business.
8.2 Proof. The Operator must prove the damage or condition, that it was caused on the Booking, and the amount. Fair wear and tear and earlier damage are never charged.
8.3 Your response. We tell you and show you the evidence. You have at least 7 days to accept or dispute the claim, and you can add your own evidence, for example a photo from boarding.
8.4 The decision. A person in our trust and safety team decides a disputed claim on the evidence and the trip record, and gives reasons. You can ask for a review under section 12.
8.5 Payment. No amount for damage or cleaning is collected without your acceptance in the app, or a decision you have had the chance to challenge. You pay it in the app, by card or bank transfer. Pickup does not take it from your payment method, and you never pay the Operator directly. The money goes to the Operator in full.
8.6 The limit. Pickup collects at most ₦500,000 for any one Booking. Any higher amount is between the Guest and the Operator, and we give both the record.
8.7 Insurance. An insurance claim goes to the Operator's own insurer. Pickup shares the Booking record to support it.
9. Claims against the Operator and its insurer
9.1 The order of claims. A claim for injury, illness, death, or loss of or damage to property arising from a trip is made first against the Operator and its insurer, not against Pickup. You agree to follow that route, with our help under section 10, before claiming against Pickup for the same loss. This does not apply where Pickup itself caused the loss, and it does not affect any liability that cannot be excluded, such as liability for death or personal injury.
9.2 Why the Operator, not Pickup. The trip is supplied by the Operator under its own contract of carriage with the Guest, and under its own licences. Pickup does not operate, crew or insure any Vehicle, Vessel or Aircraft. Each Operator is independently responsible for its own commercial insurance, and must be able to show evidence of it on request. Pickup does not publish or endorse any insurer, and does not state any limit of cover. The one exception is a claim: after an injury or severe property damage, we give the claimant the Operator's insurance certificate details (clause 10.4).
9.3 Before your trip. You can ask the Operator in the app for its policy details, including what the policy covers for passengers. Read the Assumption of Risk statement before booking a boat or flight.
10. How to make a claim
10.1 Report the incident to us in the app as soon as you can. This keeps the trip record and starts a case.
10.2 Tell the Operator in the app that you intend to claim. The Operator must notify its insurer and deal with your claim in good faith.
10.3 Make your claim to the Operator's insurer, using the details the Operator gives you, or that we give you under clause 10.4. The insurer decides the claim under its own policy. Pickup does not decide insurance claims and is not responsible for the insurer's decision or for the amount or scope of any Operator's cover. For a flight, any statutory passenger rights under the Civil Aviation Act 2022 or applicable international conventions are owed by the Operator, which is the carrier.
10.4 Records we share. On your request, we give you, or the insurer or your lawyer if you ask us to:
(a) the Operator's business name, CAC registration number and registered address and, after an injury or severe property damage, its insurance certificate details (we never share an Operator's identity documents or verification records);
(b) the Booking details: date, times, pickup and drop off points, Vehicle, Vessel or Aircraft and crew (for boats and jets, by role, unless a court, the police or the insurer needs names for the claim);
(c) the trip record: trip start events, actual start and end times and route;
(d) in app messages between you and the Operator about the Booking; and
(e) the payment record for the Booking.
10.5 How to ask. Request records in the app from the Booking, or by email to support@pickupcharter.com with your Booking reference. We aim to send them within 5 Business Days. A Traveller who is not the Booker may ask for the records about their own trip and injury. We share other people's personal data only where the law allows, under the Privacy Policy, and give records to the police or a court where the law requires.
10.6 If the Operator does not cooperate. Tell us. We may suspend the Operator while we look into it, under the Community Standards.
10.7 Claims and cases run separately. A claim to the Operator's insurer is separate from a case with us about your Booking or payment. You can do both. A refund we make under the Cancellation and Refund Policy does not depend on the outcome of an insurance claim, and making a claim does not stop you using the process in this Policy.
10.8 Pickup is not liable for the insurer's decision. Helping you with a claim, or deciding a case about your payment, is not an admission of liability by Pickup or the Operator, and is not a guarantee that any claim will succeed.
11. Time limits
| Report | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Safety incident | Immediately. Safety reports have no time limit |
| Mismatch of chauffeur, crew, Vehicle, Vessel or Aircraft | Before you travel. You can refuse it in the app from 1 hour before the booked start until 1 hour after it |
| Operator no show | Within 24 hours of the booked start |
| Service not as described, Extra not supplied, or other problem on a trip | Within 72 hours of the trip ending |
| Operator's damage or cleaning report | Within 72 hours of the trip ending |
| Guest's response to a damage or cleaning report | At least 7 days from when you are notified |
| Unauthorised or wrong charge | Within 60 days of the payment |
| Operator payout query | Within 60 days of the statement |
| Operator's challenge to a counted cancellation | Within 7 days |
| Charter Elite decision | Within 14 days of the notice |
| Operator's request to review a business verification refusal | Within 14 days of the decision |
| Review of a case, damage or complaint decision | Within 30 days of the decision |
| Review of a suspension or account decision | Within 30 days of the decision |
11.1 Late reports may still be considered where there is good reason, for example illness, injury or an incident on the trip. You can also raise them with support.
11.2 These deadlines are for our internal process only. They do not shorten any time limit the law gives you to bring a claim against an Operator, its insurer or Pickup, or any time limit your bank or card scheme allows for a chargeback. Our process does not pause legal time limits, so if a deadline in law is close, take advice.
12. Reviews of decisions
12.1 Review. Any decision on a case, damage claim, complaint, suspension or account restriction can be reviewed if you ask within the time in section 11. Tell us why the decision was wrong and add evidence. A person who did not make the first decision reviews everything again and replies with reasons within 14 days. If a decision is reversed, we correct the money, the rate or the status. This is the end of our internal process.
12.2 A claim against Pickup itself. If you believe Pickup, rather than the Operator, caused your loss, raise it through in app support first. Formal notice of a claim goes to legal@pickupltd.com, with your name, Booking reference and what you are claiming.
12.3 Our decisions are not judgments. Our decisions are made to run the Platform fairly. They are not court judgments or arbitral awards, and they bind neither you nor the Operator in any later proceedings. If a court or arbitrator decides differently, we adjust any amount we collected or refunded to match.
13. Taking a dispute further
13.1 Guests. If a dispute between a Guest and Pickup is still not resolved, the further steps in Complaints and disputes in the Guest Terms apply:
(a) mediation at the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse, which either side may start once the dispute has not been resolved within 30 days of first being raised. For a Consumer, Pickup pays the mediator's and the Multi-Door Courthouse's fees in full; then
(b) final individual arbitration under the Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023, administered by the Lagos Court of Arbitration, seated in Lagos, in English, before a sole arbitrator, if the dispute is not resolved within 45 days of the mediator's appointment. For a Consumer, Pickup pays the Lagos Court of Arbitration's and the arbitrator's fees, and each side pays its own lawyers unless the arbitrator decides otherwise.
13.2 Your opt out. A Guest who is a Consumer may opt out of arbitration by emailing legal@pickupltd.com, from the email address on the Account, within 30 days of first accepting the Guest Terms. We monitor that address. A Guest who opted out may go to the courts of Lagos State.
13.3 Guests in the UK and EU. A Consumer who lives in the United Kingdom or the European Union keeps the right to claim in the courts where they live, and their mandatory consumer rights, whether or not they opted out. Nothing in this Policy removes the mandatory consumer protections of a Guest's home country.
13.4 Operators. Disputes between an Operator and Pickup follow Disputes and governing law in the Operator Agreement: operator support and an internal review, then negotiation between senior representatives for 21 days, optional mediation if both agree, then final individual arbitration at the Lagos Court of Arbitration, with the opt out those terms give. Either side may use small claims or seek urgent relief from the courts.
13.5 Crew. Disputes between a crew member and Pickup follow Disputes and governing law in the Crew Terms: support first, optional mediation, then final individual arbitration at the Lagos Court of Arbitration, with no opt out. For a crew member's claim, Pickup pays the Lagos Court of Arbitration's and the arbitrator's fees, and each side pays its own lawyers unless the arbitrator decides otherwise. Crew are engaged by Operators, never by Pickup, so matters about a crew member's pay or engagement are between the crew member and their Operator, and matters within the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Industrial Court are not affected.
13.6 Individual claims. Claims are brought individually, not as a class or representative claim, as far as the law allows and as those terms provide. This never stops a regulator acting under its own powers. Batching of similar claims applies to business users only.
13.7 Outside routes, available at any time. Whether or not you have used this Policy, you may:
(a) complain to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) about a consumer matter;
(b) complain to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) about personal data;
(c) report a transport matter to the Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, the Federal Road Safety Commission, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) or NIMASA, as relevant;
(d) complain about disability discrimination to the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities;
(e) report a crime to the Nigeria Police Force;
(f) bring an individual claim in the small claims procedure of the Lagos State Magistrates' Courts, or, if arbitration does not apply to you (for example because you opted out), in the courts of Lagos State; or
(g) bring a claim against an Operator in any competent forum, including through its insurer, as sections 9 and 10 describe.
13.8 Using this Policy does not pause any legal time limit. If a time limit is close, take advice.
14. Fair treatment
14.1 We decide on evidence, not on who complains loudest. We treat every complainant and claimant with respect. We do not penalise anyone for complaining or claiming in good faith, and we do not restrict an Account, raise a flag or treat anyone worse because they did. Retaliation by anyone is a serious breach of the Community Standards.
14.2 We keep complaints and claims confidential, sharing them only with the people who need to see them to resolve the matter, the Operator concerned, our advisers, or an authority where the law requires.
14.3 We may decline to deal with complaints that are abusive, threatening or repeated without new information. We tell you if we do, and why. We never remove a review only because someone disagrees with it.
14.4 We keep complaint and claim records for 6 years from the date the matter is closed and use them, without names, to improve the Platform.
15. Changes, law and contact
15.1 We may update this Policy. We give at least 30 days' notice of a material change by email or in the app, unless a change is needed sooner by law, when it takes effect at once. A case, complaint or claim already made is handled under the version in force when it was made, unless a later version is better for you.
15.2 This Policy is governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
15.3 Cases, complaints and claims: in app support from the Booking, or support@pickupcharter.com. Legal notices and formal claims against Pickup: by email to legal@pickupltd.com, effective on receipt. See Contact Legal. Formal court process is served on Pickup as the rules of court require, at its registered office, whose address is on the public register kept by the Corporate Affairs Commission. In an emergency, call 112.
Questions about this document?
Email legal@pickupltd.com or write to Pickup Technology Limited, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos State, Nigeria. For help with a booking, use Help in the app.
Contact legal