Terms & Conditions of Business
Acceptance of our services is deemed to denote acceptance of our Terms and Conditions and an agreement to pay our fees on completion of the house & pet sitting period.
We reserve the right to either impose supplementary charges and/or terminate this agreement if the assignment changes from the description given by the client and needs more time or responsibility or if there is a change in the nature of the assignment which could have not reasonably foreseen by either party. A3 House & Pet Sitting reserves the right to cancel any booking whereby the agreed arrangement has been changed by the client without prior discussion or consultation over a prolonged period.
If you require 24/7 care please disclose this prior to your quote, as this will affect rates.
Anything under a 3 hour allowance away from the property (during daylight hours only) should be clarified before any quotes, and or receipt of your booking confirmation. Any undisclosed changes will be charged, and an invoice amended accordingly.
Governing Law, Dispute Resolution & Jurisdiction
1. Governing Law
These Terms and Conditions, the initial booking contract, and all operational services provided by A3 House & Pet Sitting shall be governed by, interpreted, and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.
2. Exclusive Jurisdiction
The Client and the Sitter explicitly agree that the courts of England and Wales shall have absolute and exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute, claim, or legal disagreement (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with our house and pet sitting services.
3. Severability
If any court or competent UK authority finds that any provision of these Terms (or part of any provision) is invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision or part-provision shall be deemed deleted. The validity and enforceability of the remaining clauses within these Terms & Conditions shall not be affected
1. Payment & Cancellations
The Client is responsible for paying the pet sitters remuneration on completion of the contract immediately on receipt of the pet sitter’s invoice via BACS, and no later than 24 hours thereafter in full.
Any dates changed by the client after a booking confirmation has been issued, will become subject to updated costs upon receipt of invoice.
📅 Calendar-Day Billing Policy
Our service is booked and charged per calendar day (or part thereof) rather than a 24-hour cycle. This guarantees your property and animals are fully covered from the moment we arrive until the moment you safely return.
Standard Day Booking: A booking from Monday to Monday spans 8 calendar days and is billed as 8 full days of care.
Late Return Extension (Midnight Window): If you return at or past 12:00 Midnight on your scheduled return date, a flat £40 Late Return Fee applies to cover the extended night watch.
📝 Planning a late flight or drive back? If you expect to return near or past midnight on your final day, please let us know when you book! This helps us plan our sleep schedule, manage late-night farm lock-ups, and ensure your invoice reflects the correct care window from the start.
Next-Day Extension (Past 8:00 AM): If your return is past 8:00 AM the following morning, the booking rolls into a new calendar day and is charged as an additional full day of care (e.g., a Monday-to-Monday trip returning past 8:00 AM on Tuesday is billed as 9 days).
🔒 Fixed Price Guarantee
We believe in fair, predictable pricing. Unlike online aggregator platforms, we do not charge seasonal surcharges or peak-time premiums for Bank Holidays, school holidays, Christmas, or New Year. The rate you see is the rate you pay, all year round.
🚗 Travel & Mileage: To keep our services competitive, travel from our base postcode are calculated at the standard HMRC rate of 55p per mile, using postcode-to-postcode routing in one direction.
What are your deposit and payment terms?
We operate on a trust-based model built around absolute peace of mind for our clients. Our payment structure is as follows:
• To Secure Your Booking: We require a 25% non-refundable and non-transferable deposit at the time of booking. This officially locks your dates into our nationwide calendar.
• The final Balance: The remaining 75%balance, along with any pre-agreed travel or fuel expenses, is only due upon our successful completion of the house sit.
• Payment window : We kindly request that final payment be made via secure bank transfer immediately upon your return, and no later than 24 hours after our departure.
How does the21-day cancellation policy apply if I pay at the end?
Because we book out our calendar exclusively for your property and animals, a late cancellation means we lose a slot that cannot easily be filled at short notice.
If you cancel your booking within 21 days of the scheduled start date, the remaining 75% sitting fee still becomes due and must be paid as per your invoice (minus the fuel expense). We highly recommend taking out travel insurance that covers unexpected pet care cancellation fees to protect yourself
We highly recommend taking out comprehensive holiday or travel insurance that covers pet care cancellation fees to protect yourself against unexpected changes to your travel plans.
✈️Travel Delays & Emergency Backup Policy
What happens if my return flight or travel plans are delayed?
While we will always make every effort to communicate with you and will never abandon your animals, we operate as a highly specialised, one-person business. Because of Amber’s specific, advanced qualifications in equine science and livestock management, we do not have a secondary team or agency staff on standby to step in with our level of expertise.
Our diary is booked back-to-back with nationwide clients who rely on us arriving exactly on schedule. Therefore, the policy regarding travel delays is strictly as follows:
• Immediate Notification : You must contact us as soon as you become aware of a travel delay, flight cancellation, or schedule change.
• Onus On Client: It is the client’s sole responsibility to have a designated local emergency contact(such as a trusted neighbour, family member, local friend, or emergency boarding facility)arranged before departure.
• Handover Trigger: If your delay clashes with our next scheduled nationwide booking, we will coordinate directly with your designated local contact to safely hand over your keys, house access, and animal routines.
• Holiday Insurance :We strongly advise all clients to ensure their comprehensive travel or holiday insurance policy covers unexpected travel delays and the costs associated with emergency pet care coverage.
In the event that the pet sitter does not have sole control (ignoring cleaners or gardeners) during the Contract then the pet sitter will be entitled to make a small extra daily charge (details on request). In these circumstances the pet sitter will not be responsible for any breaches of security.
2. Veterinary Care, Cost Pre-Arrangement & Insurance Requirements
Pre-Trip Client and Vet Discussion
The Mandate: It is a strict condition of booking with A3 House & Pet Sitting that the Client must contact their primary registered veterinary practice prior to the commencement of the house sit.
The Discussion: The Client must explicitly discuss emergency protocol, payment expectations, and potential treatment options with their vet.
Practice Notification: The Client must inform their vet that A3 House & Pet Sitting (Amber) will be the temporary custodian of the animals and is authorised to present the animals for care in an emergency.
Mandatory Animal Insurance
Insurance Obligation: Wherever possible, all animals placed under the Sitter’s care must hold valid, comprehensive pet or livestock insurance coverage.
Documentation: The Client must provide details of the insurer, the policy number, and the maximum claim limit to the Sitter on the booking intake form before the sit begins.
Excess and Exclusions: The Client remains solely responsible for paying any insurance policy excesses, non-covered treatments, or pre-existing condition exclusions directly to the vet.
Authorisation of Care & Liability Waiver
Emergency Action: If an animal becomes ill or injured, the Sitter will make immediate attempts to contact the Client. If the Client is uncontactable, the Sitter is authorised to act in the best interests of the animal's welfare under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Financial Non-Liability: The Sitter acts purely as an agent for the Client. Under no circumstances will A3 House & Pet Sitting be held liable for any veterinary fees, consultation charges, out-of-hours surcharges, or medication costs. All invoices must be billed directly to the Client or settled via a direct insurance
3. Privacy
All CCTV camerasmust be fully disclosed to your house & pet sitter prior to the pet sit booking.
What we allow provided we are informed
Devices fitted to the exterior of a property or doorbell that monitor security of the outside areas such as the porch, driveway and garden.
What we don’t allow
Any active devices monitoring the interior of a property during a sit.
Disclosure
Owners must disclose the presence of any internal and external cameras or recording devices before their booking has been confirmed.
Any internal cameras or recording devices must be disabled for the entire duration of the sit.
4. Visitors
Disclosure of Third-Party Access
The Client must explicitly disclose to the Sitter, in writing before the start date of the sit, if any third parties (including but not limited to neighbours, family members, friends, cleaners, gardeners, estate agents, or maintenance contractors) have been granted keys, gate codes, or permission to enter the property or smallholding during the service period.
Shared Spaces & Safety Risks
For the safety of the animals and the security of the home, A3 House & Pet Sitting strongly advises against third-party entry while you are away. If a third party enters the property, the Sitter cannot be held accountable for structural security lapses, disrupted animal routines, or missed medication schedules caused by the presence of that third party.
Absolute Exemption of Liability
The Disclaimer:A3 House & Pet Sitting is completely exempt from, and accepts zero liability for, any loss, theft, disappearances, or damage to the Client’s personal property, home, livestock, or domestic pets that occurs while a third party is on the site or has unsupervised access to the property.
Escaped Animals: If a third party leaves a door, window, gate, or paddock open, resulting in an animal escaping, injuring itself, or causing a third-party road accident, the financial and legal liability rests entirely on the Client and the entering individual, not the Sitter.
5. Detail
Include details of any medications or special treatment that each animal requires.
Please ensure, where required, that all animals are up to date with their vaccinations, worm treatment and flea/tick prevention. Give details of how you would like each animal to be managed on a daily basis. The client should include details of any medications or special treatment that each animal requires. If any of this information is not agreed prior to the house sit, the client will remain responsible.
6.Costs
The Homeowner will agree to pay or reimburse the Sitter for:
All animal costs paid by the Sitter in their care, all costs of emergency repairs or pre-arranged routine maintenance of the premises. Any reasonable costs that the Sitter has incurred for making repairs to the premises as long as: the Sitter gives the Homeowner, or their nominated contact, opportunity to access and to make repairs or the Sitter makes a reasonable attempt to have engaged a tradesperson to make the repairs.
The Sitter must provide receipts for any costs incurred and the client is responsible to make arrangements for the payment for any services provided by a qualified veterinarian in the treatment and care of the Homeowner’s animals.
For clients returning during the early hours this will incur an extra charge of £40 by way of compensation for the inconvenience. Please check before booking if this applies to your booking.
7. General
It is the clients responsibility for the following:
To inform the Vet of the dates the House-sitter will be responsible for the pets.
To provide a clear list of all meals to be administered to all animals. To include time of meals, and quantity for each animal.
To have in stock enough food for each animal for the duration of the pet sit.
To give full details of all pets requiring care during the assignment, especially if any animal is unable to be left alone for any period of time.
To provide premises reasonably clean and fit to live in.
Animal excrement and urination within the home is not deemed acceptable. This poses a risk to human health via zoonotic diseases. Client are expected to be honest, and upfront with reference to this matter, providing full disclosure prior to their booking without exception.
To provide the Sitter with a set of keys for the premises. A key for the postbox, should you wish your post to be collected daily. A spare set of keys may be left with a neighbour/local contact if required.
To the use of the house telephone being used in an emergency by the Sitter for care of the animal/s or the Sitter his/her self.
That the Sitter may be granted Internet access through the house broadband facilities. If there is no phone signal at the premises, please provide the password prior to departure.
If a vehicle is required for transporting feed, or in order to check on animals, a suitable vehicle should be provided by the client.Please note if dogs are to be walked away from the property a car should be provided with full safety measures compliant with current UK legislation. The vehicle must be insured for the A3 House & Pet Sitting to drive, and is the responsibility of the client.(Please note this contract does not include the use of the A3 House & Pet Sitting’s car)
8. Liability
We will not be liable for any damage or injury caused by your dog excepting that of proven Third Party.
Whilst we are not cleaners we will endeavour to keep areas clean and tidy.
We cannot be held liable for any theft or damage to your property or injury/illness to your pets unless we can be shown to be negligent.
We reserve the right to deny or terminate service because of safety or financial concerns.
Extreme weather conditions may mean a curtailment or cancellation of our services at short notice, (we will keep you updated & arrive as soon as possible).
We reserve the right to stop walking a dog if he shows aggression to people or other dogs.
9. Insurance
It is agreed that it is the client’s responsibility to adequately insure the property and its contents and any pets and livestock with an insurance company of good repute and that such insurance shall continue for the duration of this agreement.
HOMEOWNER’S CHECKLIST -SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR BEFORE YOU LEAVE.
Neighbours
Please let your neighbours, friend and family know that you have a Sitter moving into your home to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
Security systems
If you have an alarm system you may need to make arrangements with the security company for a code and password specifically for your Sitter to use. Keys for windows locks should be left with your Sitter.
Contact information
Please leave contact information so your Sitter can stay in touch while you’re away. Including flight details.
Emergency contact
You may want to ask someone such as a friend, neighbour or relative etc to act as a nominated contact person for your Sitter to liaise with your absence
Spare keys
Leave a set of spare keys with your nominated contact person or your Sitter, for example in key box or safe place.
Rubbish collection & recycling services
Make a note of which days your rubbish and recycling is collected.
Animal documentation
All of your animal’s records should be put together in a folder for your Sitter’s easy access. These records could include:
Immunisations.
Microchip.
Any lost pet register phone numbers.
Medical history and current medications.
Animal supplies
Please stock up on enough supplies for your animals while you are away. These supplies could include the following:
Food (including any special treats, chewing bones, drinks etc)
Medications
Toys
Exercise equipment
Identification tags, tattoo or microchip
Bedding
Cleaning and grooming equipment (medicated shampoo, towels, hoses, brushes)
Waste collection equipment (bags, gloves, litter, disinfectant)