Terms of Service

1. Who we are and who supplies your sit

Happy at Home Pets is run by Marcus Watts and arranges live-in pet sitting across London. Our business correspondence address is 28 Scrutton Street, London EC2A 4RP. Contact us at contact@happyathomepets.co.uk about enquiries, bookings or these terms.

For a booking with a self-employed sitter, Happy at Home Pets acts as that sitter’s disclosed agent: we introduce you, arrange the booking and collect payment on their behalf. The named sitter supplies the pet-sitting service and your contract for that service is with them. We identify your sitter before you commit to a booking. Our commission is included in the agreed booking price, rather than an additional charge to you.

If Marcus Watts personally carries out your sit, he is the supplier of the pet-sitting service. Happy at Home Pets remains your contact for arranging the booking and resolving concerns. These terms do not remove our responsibility for our own booking administration or anything the law makes us responsible for.

2. Enquiries, estimates and confirmation

A website or assistant estimate is an indication based on the information supplied. An enquiry, automated acknowledgement, calendar display, sitter profile or proposed match does not reserve dates or confirm a booking. Availability must be checked for your particular dates and care requirements.

We confirm the final price after reviewing your pet details. Before you commit, we provide the named sitter, dates and times, agreed care, total price and payment instructions in writing. You and the sitter must agree to proceed. The booking becomes binding and confirmed when the agreed full payment has cleared and we issue your booking confirmation. An invoice or provisional hold alone is not confirmation.

These terms, together with the particular arrangements expressly agreed in writing for your booking, describe the service. Changes to these terms apply to future bookings; they do not retrospectively change a booking you have already agreed. Nothing here overrides your statutory consumer rights.

3. Prices, dates and changes

Pricing takes account of the dates and duration, pets, daily walks and outings, supervision and care needs. Longer stays may receive a discount and Christmas and New Year dates may have seasonal pricing. The final quote explains any difference from your estimate. All prices and required charges are confirmed before you agree; we do not add unagreed extras.

Unless different times are agreed, prices assume arrival at 12:00 and departure at 12:00, using London local time. Agree the actual handover times at the meet and greet and tell us about any change so we can confirm its effect on the price.

Garden toilet breaks are not walks. Each outing on a lead outside the home counts towards the daily walk count, however short. A walk longer than 40 minutes requires additional time to be included in the quote. Tell us the duration and number of outings your pets need.

Changes to dates, times, pets or care requirements need agreement from you and the sitter, including any revised price, before they take effect. Contact us promptly; a requested change is not automatically available. Reducing or cancelling booked dates may fall under the cancellation terms below.

4. Introductions and optional visits

A standard 30-minute meet and greet at your home is free and required for a new sitter and pet-parent pairing. Both sides must be comfortable with the arrangement. If the same sitter has already completed a sit for you, another introduction is not normally required.

An extended introduction or a trial is optional and separately priced. Its dates, duration, sitter and final price must be expressly agreed before it is invoiced. Payment must clear before that paid visit. Paying for an introduction or trial does not pay for or confirm the main stay. Declining an optional visit does not itself cancel the main stay.

5. Your pets, home and care instructions

Provide accurate and complete care details before the booking, including feeding, walks, maximum time alone, medication, health and mobility needs, behaviour, aggression or escape risks, and anything else relevant to safe care. Tell us promptly if these details change. The sitter only accepts care they are competent and comfortable to provide; medication and specialist care must be agreed, not assumed.

Provide sufficient pet food, supplies and medication with clear written instructions, your usual vet’s details and an emergency contact. Arrange reliable access, a suitable place for the live-in sitter to sleep and Wi-Fi sufficient for remote working. Explain alarms, keys, household rules, visitors, tradespeople and any cameras or recording equipment before the sitter agrees to stay. Recording must respect the sitter’s privacy and applicable law.

Live-in care includes staying in your home and following the agreed routine. It does not automatically mean constant presence. The maximum time pets may be left alone, including evenings, is agreed for each booking. The sitter’s other commitments must not interfere with that care. Cleaning beyond keeping the home reasonably tidy, household work and other additional services are included only if expressly agreed.

Your sitter will take reasonable care of your pets, belongings and access items, follow agreed instructions and provide updates as agreed. Keys must not be copied or shared without permission and are returned or left as you agreed. Unauthorised visitors, overnight guests and the sitter’s own pets are not permitted. Sitters must respect your privacy and must not publicly share identifying details of your home or absence without your permission.

6. Veterinary care and expenses

If a pet becomes ill or injured, the sitter will try to contact you promptly and normally use your nominated vet or emergency provider where practicable. Agree emergency instructions and any spending limit before the sit. If urgent treatment is reasonably necessary and you cannot be reached, the sitter may obtain veterinary help in your pet’s best interests rather than delay care that is needed urgently.

Ordinary food, supplies, transport and veterinary expenses are separate from the sitting fee unless expressly included. Non-urgent expenses require your approval where reasonably practicable. Keep receipts and agree reimbursement directly with the sitter. Responsibility for costs caused by a failure to take reasonable care remains subject to the circumstances and your legal rights; this clause does not make you responsible for somebody else’s negligence.

7. Cancelling your booking

To cancel, email contact@happyathomepets.co.uk with your name and booking dates or reference. An unambiguous written cancellation is sufficient; no particular form is required. We will acknowledge it and explain any amount due or refund.

Notice is counted from 00:00 on the first day of the sit. Cancel within 14 days and the full amount is due. Cancel within 31 days and half the booking total is due. Outside 31 days, cancellation is completely free.

When a booking is confirmed, your sitter reserves that time for your pets and may turn down other bookings. Cancellation charges compensate for the resulting loss, including lost profit from booking opportunities that can no longer be taken. They are not an additional penalty.

This is our standard cancellation schedule, subject to your statutory rights and the safeguards below. A cancellation charge must be fair and reflect the net loss reasonably caused by the cancellation, taking account of costs saved and replacement work obtained. It will not exceed the applicable amount in that schedule or charge you twice for the same loss. We will explain the calculation if you ask. Any payment above the amount properly due is refunded.

We do not offer an additional voluntary cooling-off period. Our cancellation schedule applies to confirmed bookings, including bookings made shortly before the sit, except where a statutory cancellation right applies. If the law gives you a cooling-off right, that right takes priority over our schedule. Where applicable, cancellation within 14 days after the contract is made gives you a full refund if the service has not started. If you expressly request the service to start during that period, you may owe a proportionate amount for the service actually supplied before cancellation, where legally permitted. You lose that statutory right on full completion only if you expressly agreed to early performance and acknowledged that consequence. Payment alone is not that request or acknowledgement.

Outside the cooling-off period, the standard schedule applies to customer cancellation, including cancellation of a main stay following a trial, subject to the fairness safeguards above. A separately booked paid introduction or trial is treated as its own service, with its own start date and cooling-off period. We make any refund due without undue delay and comply with any statutory refund deadline, including 14 days where applicable.

8. If your sitter cannot continue

A sitter who has accepted a booking should cancel only for illness, an emergency or exceptional circumstances and must tell us promptly. We will work with you to arrange suitable replacement cover. A replacement must be agreed with you; a sitter cannot send somebody else without your consent and our approval. We cannot guarantee that replacement cover will always be available.

If no agreed replacement can provide the service, you will not be charged for the part that cannot be provided and any payment for that part will be refunded. We will explain any remaining arrangements in writing. This does not limit any further remedy you may have under consumer law.

9. Concerns, insurance and responsibility

Contact Marcus at contact@happyathomepets.co.uk as soon as you can about a concern, missed care, property damage, replacement cover or a dispute. Include the booking reference, what happened and the outcome you are seeking. We will investigate with the sitter and help resolve the issue. Raising a concern does not remove your legal rights or impose a shorter legal time limit for a claim.

Sitters must maintain appropriate pet-sitting insurance for the animals and services they accept. You can request evidence before confirming. Insurance responds according to its actual policy terms, limits and exclusions; it is not a promise that every event is covered or a cap on rights or liability.

The sitter must provide the agreed service with reasonable care and skill. Happy at Home Pets must take reasonable care in its own arranging and administration. Nothing in these terms excludes or restricts liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any liability or consumer remedy that cannot lawfully be excluded. We do not impose a blanket waiver for injury to pets, damage to your home or poor service.

10. Website and AI assistant use

Our website and supported assistant tools can help you find coverage, published sitter information and attributed reviews, calculate an estimate and start an enquiry. Profiles and reviews do not guarantee future availability or outcomes. Third-party assistants have their own terms and privacy practices; check important booking details against the written quote and confirmation from us.

Submitting an enquiry gives us permission to respond about that request. It does not accept a final price, authorise payment or confirm a booking. Do not put passwords, alarm codes, key locations or other home-security details into a public assistant conversation. Share necessary access instructions directly through the arrangements agreed for your sit.

Use the website and tools lawfully. Do not impersonate another customer, submit someone else’s details without authority, attempt to access private records or interfere with the service. Public access to information does not grant a right to copy or republish content contrary to applicable rights or the source provider’s terms.

11. Privacy and applicable law

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle enquiry, pet-care and booking information. Necessary information is shared with the sitter to arrange and deliver your care. Contact us to ask about your information or to correct it.

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. You may bring proceedings in the courts available to you under applicable consumer law, including the courts where you live where those rights apply. Nothing here prevents you from using a mandatory protection of the law of your home country.