Our service Terms & Conditions
These Terms and Conditions form a legally binding agreement between 4 Legs and a Tail ("the Company") and the Client for the provision of pet sitting services. By using the Company’s services, the Client agrees to the following:
1. Definitions
"Client" refers to the person(s) who engage the services of 4 Legs and a Tail.
"Services" means pet sitting, walking, feeding, and any other related services provided by the Company.
"Pet" includes dogs, cats, horses, farm animals, and other domestic animals owned by the Client.
2. Commencement Date and Duration
This Agreement commences on the date the Client electronically signs on the information form and remains in effect until the terminated as per Clause 16. which includes but is not limited to written notice by either party, non-payment of fees, or aggressive behaviour of pets as specified in this Agreement.
3. Services
The Company agrees to provide the Services reliably and with due care, following the policies and procedures agreed with the Client.
The Company will follow any reasonable instructions given by the Client, as long as they are consistent with the agreed Services.
The Company will not be responsible for actions, damage, or injuries caused by pets while unsupervised.
4. Client's Obligations
The Client will provide all necessary and accurate information about their pet(s) to ensure proper care.
The Client confirms that all required vaccinations, licences, and treatments are up to date.The Client is responsible for providing access to their property at agreed times and ensuring the property is secure.
The Client agrees to indemnify the Company against any injury or damage caused by their pet to third parties, property, or other animals, including veterinary or medical costs.
The Client must notify the Company of any pre-existing health conditions or behavioural issues (e.g., aggression) that may affect the provision of Services.
5. Liability
The Company cannot be held liable for injury, loss, death, or actions of the pet during the period of care unless gross negligence is proven.
The Client acknowledges that animals can be unpredictable, and the Company will not be responsible for incidents such as escapes, bites, or accidents unless directly caused by the Company’s negligence.
The Client is responsible for any damage caused by their pet to the Company’s property (including vehicles).
The Company cannot be held responsible for damage to property (e.g., furniture, carpets) caused by pets while in care.
6. Veterinary Care and Emergencies
The Company will use all reasonable efforts to contact the Client in the event of a medical emergency.
In emergencies, the Company is authorised to seek veterinary care if necessary and will endeavour to use the pet's usual veterinary practice. The Client will reimburse the Company for any vet costs incurred, including follow-up care.
The Client is responsible for any veterinary expenses incurred while the pet is in the Company’s care.
7. Insurance
The Company will maintain public liability insurance but is not responsible for providing comprehensive pet insurance for individual pets.
The Client is advised to hold pet insurance and is responsible for ensuring their property and contents are insured.
8. Indemnity
The Client agrees to indemnify the Company against any claims for injury or damage caused by their pet to third parties or other animals.
The Company is not liable for any loss, injury, or damage to pets that are permitted outside unattended or have access through doors or cat flaps.
9. Cancellation Policy
Cancellations made more than 7 days prior to the service start date will result in a full refund of the deposit.
Cancellations made between 48 hours and 7 days prior will forfeit 50% of the service fee.
Cancellations made less than 48 hours prior or after the sitter has arrived will require full payment.
Early returns will not qualify for a refund unless agreed in exceptional circumstances at the Company's discretion.
10. Force Majeure
The Company shall not be liable for delays or failure to perform services due to events beyond its reasonable control, such as natural disasters, severe weather conditions, or other "Acts of God."
11. Aggressive or Dangerous Animals
If any pet displays aggressive or dangerous behaviour, the Company reserves the right to terminate the Agreement immediately for safety reasons. Any related costs (e.g., veterinary care, boarding) will be the Client’s responsibility.
The Client must disclose any behavioural issues or aggression prior to service. Failure to do so will result in immediate termination without refund.
12. Surveillance and Security
The Client must inform the Company of any surveillance equipment (e.g., CCTV, Ring doorbells) on the property.
Recordings should only be used for their intended purpose and must not be shared publicly, in accordance with the UK Government's guidance on domestic CCTV usage.
13. Fees and Payment
A 20% deposit is required to confirm bookings, payable after the consultation visit for new customers, and payable immediately after we confirm availability to secure dates for existing customers.
Full payment of the remaining balance must be made within 7 days of the completion of services.
Late payments may result in the suspension of services and may incur interest in line with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act 1988.
14. Extenuating Circumstances
The Company may waive cancellation fees in extenuating circumstances such as:
1. Natural disasters (earthquakes, wildfires, floods, etc.).
2. Serious illness or death of the Client, pet, or family member.
3. Severe damage to the Client’s home.Written evidence of such circumstances may be required.
15. Use of Media
The Company may use photos or videos of pets in their care for social media and marketing, unless the Client requests otherwise.
16. Termination
This Agreement can be terminated by either party with 28 days' notice.
The Company may terminate the Agreement with immediate effect if any fees remain unpaid for 28 days, or if the pet poses a threat to others.
17. Governing Law
This Agreement is governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
18. Changes to Terms and Conditions
We reserve the right to update or modify these Terms and Conditions at any time without prior notice. Your continued use of our services after any such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms and Conditions.
Our website Terms & Conditions
Cookies
A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.
Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.
Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.
Cookies can be used by web servers to identity and track users as they navigate different pages on a website and identify users returning to a website.
We use Google Analytics to analyse the use of our website. Our analytics service provider generates statistical and other information about website use by means of cookies.
The information generated relating to our website is used to create reports about the use of our website.
Privacy Information & GDPR
We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our website visitors; this policy sets out how we will treat your personal information.
We will ask you to consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy when you first visit our website. / By using our website and agreeing to this policy, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy.
We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal information:
information about your computer and about your visits to and use of this website (including your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths;
information that you provide to us when registering with our website (including your email address);
information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our email notifications and/or newsletters (including your name and email address);
information relating to any purchases you make of our goods (including your name, delivery address, payment address, telephone numbers, email address and card details);
information that you post to our website for publication on the internet (including your user name, profile pictures and reviews);
information contained in or relating to any communications that you send to us (including the communication content and meta data associated with the communication);
any other personal information that you choose to send to us;
Before you disclose to us the personal information of another person, you must obtain that person’s consent to both the disclosure and the processing of that personal information in accordance with the terms of this policy.
Personal information submitted to us through our website will be used for the purposes specified in this policy or on the relevant pages of the website.
We may use your personal information to:
administer our website and business;
personalise our website for you;
enable your use of the services available on our website;
send you goods purchased through our website;
send statements, invoices and payment reminders to you, and collect payments from you;
send you non-marketing commercial communications;
send you email notifications that you have specifically requested;
send you our email newsletter, if you have requested it (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require the newsletter);
send you marketing communications relating to our business (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require marketing communications);
provide third parties with statistical information about our users (but those third parties will not be able to identify any individual user from that information);
deal with enquiries and complaints made by or about you relating to our website;
keep our website secure and prevent fraud;
verify compliance with the terms and conditions governing the use of our website;
If you submit personal information for publication on our website, we will publish and otherwise use that information in accordance with the licence you grant to us.
We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party’s direct marketing.
All our website financial transactions are handled through our payment services provider. We will share information with our payment services provider only to the extent necessary for the purposes of processing payments you make via our website, refunding such payments and dealing with complaints and queries relating to such payments and refunds.
We may disclose your personal information to any of our employees, officers, insurers, professional advisers, agents, suppliers or subcontractors insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.
We may disclose your personal information to any member of our group of companies (this means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and all its subsidiaries) insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.
We may disclose your personal information:
to the extent that we are required to do so by law;
in connection with any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings;
in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk);
to the purchaser (or prospective purchaser) of any business or asset that we are (or are contemplating) selling; and
to any person who we reasonably believe may apply to a court or other competent authority for disclosure of that personal information where, in our reasonable opinion, such court or authority would be reasonably likely to order disclosure of that personal information.
Except as provided in this policy, we will not provide your personal information to third parties.
We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.
We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure (password- and firewall-protected) servers.
All electronic financial transactions entered into through our website will be protected by encryption technology.
You acknowledge that the transmission of information over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.
We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.
You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes to this policy.
We may notify you of changes to this policy by email or through the private messaging system on our website.
Our website includes hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites.
We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties.
Please let us know if the personal information that we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated.