YOUR LONDON PET SITTER
TERMS & CONDITIONS
1. Bookings
1.1 All Client bookings are subject to these Terms & Conditions. Clients will be deemed to have accepted Your London Pet Sitter Ltd Terms & Conditions upon confirming a booking.
1.2 An in-home consultation between the Client and Sitter is required, prior to reservations, for all new clients. This consultation is provided at no charge up to 45 minutes.
1.3 Clients must complete a Your London Pet Sitter pet information form prior to any booking commencing. All critical information must be provided. If not, it may invalidate Your London Pet Setter Ltd Public Liability Insurance in addition to these Terms & Conditions. A welcome e-mail containing a web-link to each relevant Pet Information form (a separate online form is required for each pet type – e.g. dog, cat and small pet) will be sent to all new clients during the booking process.
1.4 For new client bookings, Your London Pet Sitter Ltd generally requires a minimum of 72 hours notice to allow enough time to complete the consultation. In the case of ‘emergency new client bookings’ (i.e. new client bookings where the notice period is less than 48 hours), Your London Pet Sitter Ltd will attempt to meet client needs on a best endeavour basis.
1.5 For existing clients, Your London Pet Sitter Ltd requires a minimum of 24hrs notice. In the case of ‘emergency client bookings’ (i.e. existing client bookings where the notice period is less than 24 hours), Your London Pet Sitter Ltd will attempt to meet Client requests on a best endeavour basis.
1.6 Emergency bookings requested within 72 hours or less will incur an additional fee.
1.7 Client Bookings must not be made directly with the Sitter. All Client bookings must be made directly with Your London Pet Sitter Ltd whom act as an Agency on behalf of each [self employed] Sitter. This also ensures Your London Pet Setter Ltd Public Liability Insurance will not be invalidated.
2. Fees
2.1 Our Service Pricing structure is accessible through our website (by clicking on the link ‘PRICES’).
2.2 Pricing uplifts are applied for Bank Holidays. These range from 25% to 100% depending upon the service purchased.
2.3 Pricing uplifts are applied where services are required for multiple pets. This uplift is only triggered where a client has greater than one pet.
2.4 Additional discounts are also applicable for where clients book services consecutively. Discounts applied for consecutive bookings will range (from 10% up to 30%) depending upon the duration of the booking and are triggered when services are booked consecutively for greater than 3 days.
2.5 Prices are assessed annually and may be subject to an increase in line with inflation.
2.6 Where a special or additional visit is required for key collection (see paragraph 11.0 “Keys”) a flat fee of £10 is applicable.
2.8 Fees are invoiced in advance and prior to the commencement of service. For recurring services, Your London Pet Sitter Ltd will invoice weekly. Fees must be paid for in accordance with the invoice due date as disclosed on each invoice. Generally, the invoice due date will be prior to the service commencing. Late payments maybe subject to an interest charge in accordance with the the Late Payment of Commercial Debts [Interest] Act 1998.
2.9 There are two options for paying invoices:
• Direct payment into Your London Pet Sitter bank account. Bank account details are provided within the invoice.
• Payment via PayPal: customers wishing to pay via PayPal payment link will be charged an additional 3.6% + 0.30p to cover PayPal fees. However, PayPal fees can be avoided by paying info@yourlondonpetsitter.com and selecting ‘Pay a Friend’.
• Failure to pay an invoice in accordance with the terms set out, may result in a service being cancelled without notice
3. Cancellations
3.1 Your London Pet Sitter Ltd requires a minimum of: 48hrs notice for services not including bank holidays, and 5 days notice for services including bank holidays.
3.2 Cancellation fees:
CANCELLATION CHARGES (FOR SERVICES NOT INCLUDING BANK HOLIDAYS):
If cancelled within 48hrs of Booking – 75% of the Booking Total
If cancelled within 4 days of Booking – 50% of the Booking Total
CANCELLATION CHARGES (FOR SERVICES INCLUDING BANK HOLIDAYS):
If cancelled within 5 days of Booking – 75% of the Booking Total
If cancelled within 10 days of Booking – 50% of the Booking Total
3.3 In the case of adverse and/or extreme weather conditions, Your London Pet Sitter Ltd and/or the client reserve the right to cancel or defer services at short notice. In these circumstances, a full refund will be provided.
4. Pet Sitter Vetting
4.1 All Sitters are subject to a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The enhanced DBS check covers the following (a copy of the Sitters certificate can be provided to the client upon request):
• Confirmation of Sitters personal information (name, address, DOB, place of Birth, etc.).
• Police record of Convictions, Cautions, Reprimands and Warnings.
• Information from the list held under Section 142 of the Education Act 2002.
• DBS Children’s Barred List Information.
• DBS Adults Barred List Information.
• Other Information Disclosed at the Chief Police Officer(s) discretion.
5. Service Commitment
5.1 Your London Pet Sitter Ltd strives to provide the highest quality of service and an outstanding customer experience. A summary of our Service Description is accessible through our website (by clicking on the link SERVICE DESCRIPTION).
5.2 For Your Dog, our Services include the following:
• Your London Pet Sitter will visit and care for your dog within your own home.
• Each sitter can walk a maximum of 2 dogs if from different homes (and a maximum of 3 from the same home).
• Sitters only walk dogs on lead.
• We ensure fresh water is available and will feed your dog in accordance with your instructions.
• We’ll exercise your dog as instructed (we recommend every 2-4 hours depending on age and energy levels).
• Entertain, cuddle and play with your dog.
• We will follow any grooming instructions provided (e.g. brushing, combing, eyes, ears, etc.).
• Our sitters will happily manage any medication or special dietary needs as instructed.
5.3 For Your Cat, our Services include the following:
• Your London Pet Sitter will visit and care for your cat within your own home.
• We will only let your cat out if provided with explicit instructions to do so. YLPS cannot be held liable if your cat does not return home.
• We ensure fresh water is available and will feed your cat in accordance with your instructions.
• Clean/change litter trays.
• We will follow any grooming instructions provided (e.g. brushing, combing, eyes, ears, etc.).
• Entertain, cuddle and play with your cat.
• Our sitters will happily manage any medication or special dietary needs
5.4 For Your Small Pet, our Services include the following:
• Our small Pets Service covers all small critters (e.g. rabbits, ferrets, gerbils), reptiles, birds and fish. Your London Pet Sitter Ltd will visit and care for your small pet within your own home (unless Boarding has been specified).
• Our pricing is based per single or cage / pen / tank, depending on the type of pet.
• Boarding Services provided at our sitter’s premises.
• Boarding options differ between small pets that need to be taken out of their cage / pen / tank versus those that remain within.
• We ensure fresh water is available and will feed in accordance with your instructions.
• We will clean cages / pens / tanks – as requested
5.5 For Your Home, our Services include the following:
• Mail/post pick-up.
• Plant care.
• Empty your bins.
• Clean [pet] feeding and drinking apparatus.
• Attend to other minor household tasks (as requested)
• Alternating lighting conditions
• Ensure we keep your keys safe and secure.
5.6 Customer Satisfaction: Your London Pet Sitter’s number one priority is the quality of care. Following each Service event, Your London Pet Sitter Ltd will send the Client an online Customer Satisfaction Feedback form. Pet Sitters are targeted with receiving a 5-Star rating following each event. Negative feedback will be followed up with the Client and Sitter immediately.
5.7 Customer complaints: Customer complaints can be submitted using any channel preferred by the client (e.g. e-Mail, Phone, Text, WhatsApp, etc.). Your London Pet Sitter Ltd aims to remedy any customer complaints timely, equitably and amicably. In some cases, a partial or full refund may be provided (as necessary).
6. Professional Code Of Conduct
6.1 All [self-employed] Sitters must comply with the Your London Pet Sitter Ltd Professional Code of Conduct (PCC). Failure to do so will result in the immediate termination of the Services Agreement (the ‘Contract) between Your London Pet Sitter Ltd and the respective Sitter.
6.2 A summary of the PCC all Sitters must comply with is set out below (and is aligned with the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters code of ethics):
• “To provide quality care for all pets under my supervision and to be ever mindful of their safety and well-being.”
• “To respect and adhere to all requirements as set out by each client. This is not limited to pet care but also extends to respecting and adhering to the rules for behaving within each client’s home.”
• “To promote responsible pet ownership and to work towards increased public awareness of animal rights.”
• “To learn as much as possible about my profession and the pets within my care so that I can provide excellent services to each client.”
• “To conduct business with honesty and integrity and to avoid dishonourable or unethical business practices that would reflect poorly on Your London Pet Sitter Ltd and the pet care industry in general.”
• “To familiarise myself with all laws and local authority regulations pertaining to pet care.”
• “To refrain from defaming my clients and/or competitors in anyway.”
• “To keep my clients anonymous and take all reasonable precautions to ensure a client’s absence from home isn’t detected as a result of any careless actions or disclosures on my part.”
• “To operate my business in such a way that I will be a credit to the pet sitting / care industry and community.”
• “To enhance and improve my pet sitting skills on a continuous basis.”
7. Pet Supplies & Equipment
7.1 It is the responsibility of the Client to provide all pet food and/or supplements as needed for the entire duration of any service. In the event pet food is not available (or has run out), Your London Pet Sitter Ltd will happily replenish any food and bill the client for reimbursement accordingly, a service fee will be applicable.
7.2 The client is responsible for supplying the necessary, safe equipment/supplies needed for care of their pet(s), including but not limited to a sturdy, well-fit harness (halter, collar, etc…) for walks or in case of emergencies, firmly affixed vaccination tags, a lead rope or leash, pooper-scoopers, litter boxes, cleaning supplies, medicines, and cat litter. The Client authorises any purchases necessary for the satisfactory performance of duties. The Client agrees to be responsible for the payment of such items and will reimburse Your London Pet Sitter Ltd within 7 days for all purchases made.
8. Dog Walking
8.1 Local authorities, parish councils and similar authorities have powers where a dog is not under sufficient control in a public place, or its faeces have not been collected. Under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005, local authorities have the power to enforce Dog Control Orders in relation to public land. A Dog Control Order may relate to the fouling of land by dogs and the removal of dog faeces; the keeping of dogs on leads; the exclusion of dogs from land and the number of dogs which a person may take on to any land. Where dogs are under the responsibility of Your London Pet Sitter Ltd, and in the unlikely event a Sitter is subject to Dog control order and/or the Sitter is issued with a fixed penalty notice, this will fall under the sole responsibility of Your London Pet Sitter Ltd.
8.2 Under the Road Traffic Act 1988 it is a criminal offence for a dog to be on a designated road (i.e. a public road) without being held on a lead. The Control of Dogs Order 1992 requires every dog (subject to a few exceptions) while on a public highway or in a public place to wear a collar with the name and address of the owner inscribed on it or a plate or badge attached to it. To ensure full compliance with these laws, all Dogs under the responsibility of Your London Pet Sitter Ltd must be walked on a lead and must wear a collar with an identity tag.
8.3 From 6 April 2016, all dogs in England, Wales and Scotland are now legally required to be microchipped and their details registered on an authorised database. Failure to microchip your dog could lead to a £500 fine, and you may be given notice to microchip your dog within 21 days. Once registered, you must keep the registered details up to date. Your London Pet Sitter Ltd will therefore only accept dogs within its care that have been micro-chipped.
8.4 Local authorities apply their own rules and regulations pertaining to how many dogs can be walked at any one time. These can vary across London. To ensure full compliance with all regulations across all local authorities, our sitters will only walk a maximum of three dogs at any one time (if safe to do so and from the same household).
9. Pet Health, Illness, death, Injury or Loss
9.1 In the unlikely event of a Pet Emergency (i.e. Illness, death, Injury or Loss of a Pet), Your London Pet Sitter Ltd will take all reasonable steps to first contact the Client. If a Client is unable to be contacted, Your London Pet Sitter Ltd is authorised to contact the veterinarian using the details provided within the Pet Information Form.
9.2 If a Client’s veterinarian cannot be contacted for whatever reason, the Client authorises Your London Pet Sitter to seek and obtain medical attention and treatment as deemed necessary by utilising its relationship with CT-Vets (www.ctvets.co.uk – mobile veterinary service).
9.3 The client will be liable and responsible for all and any veterinary fees that are reasonably incurred during the course of an assignment or event requiring veterinary treatment, including but not limited to transportation fees and Sitter time.
9.4 Injury and Indemnification:
If a Client’s pet(s) accidentally dies, becomes ill, injured, or lost, the Client waives and releases Your London Pet Sitter Ltd from any claim arising from such an incident.
If a Client’s pet(s) bites or injures a Sitter, any other human or animal, the Client will be responsible for any resulting injury and shall hold harmless and indemnify Your London Pet Sitter Ltd from any claim that may be brought as a result of such an incident. In addition, the Client shall hold harmless and indemnify Your London Pet Sitter Ltd against all costs, expenses, losses, liabilities and claims arising out of or relating to any acts of the Client’s pet(s) except for negligence or intentional misconduct on the part of Your LondonPet Sitter Ltd.
9.5 Owners of free-roaming cats and/or cats that use an external cat flap agree to hold Your London Pet Sitter Ltd completely harmless in the event cat(s) are injured or killed, do not return home, etc.
9.6 The Client must ensure that Pet(s) are in good health and free from fleas and are adequately wormed.
10. Insurance
10.1 Your London Pet Sitter Ltd have taken all necessary steps to ensure that the business is appropriately insured for the purposes of undertaking its pet-caring activities. It is still however the Client’s responsibility to insure their property and their Pet(s) accordingly.
10.2 Your London Pet Sitter Ltd insurance cover includes the following:
• Public & Products Liability: Cover for legal liabilities to third parties and legal claims against negligence.
• Care, Custody and Control including Non-negligent cover: in the case a pet is accidently lost, injured whilst in our care, including collection and delivery.
• Key Cover: Where Sitters are given access to their customers property, there is the possibility that keys will be lost, resulting in the need to replace locks or replace keys. T
• Our Insurance only provides coverage when working on an assignment from Your London Pet Sitter Ltd and for the duration and times of the selected service.
10.3 It is the client’s responsibility to ensure that the property, its contents, and pets are also adequately insured throughout the duration of the assignment.
10.4 Your London Pet Sitter Ltd cannot be held liable for theft or damage to a client’s property or injury/illness to a Client’s pet unless Your London Pet Sitter Ltd can be shown to be negligent.
10.5 All clients should notify their home insurance company that Your London Pet Sitter Ltd will be visiting their property in the client’s absence.
10.6 A copy of the Your London Pet Sitter Ltd insurance certificate can be provided upon request.
11. Keys
11.1 Where Your London Pet Sitter Ltd have been entrusted to safeguard Client’s household keys, whilst Your London Pet Sitter Ltd will take all reasonable steps to ensure the safe and immediate return of keys, in the event keys are lost or stolen, Your London Pet Sitter Ltd’s Pet Sitters will be liable for the replacement of keys or in certain cases, the replacement of locks.
11.2 Where a special or additional visit is required for key collection a flat fee of £10 is applicable.
12. Data Protection
12.1 In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Your London Pet Sitter Ltd will ensure:
• All personal data will be managed fairly and lawfully
• Endeavour to hold relevant, accurate and up to date personal information.
• Will not keep personal data longer than necessary.
• Will keep all personal data secure, at all times.
• Will not share your personal data with any third party for any purpose.
aaaaaaaaa