Is house sitting safe?

Handing your keys to someone, or staying in a stranger's home, takes trust. Most sits go smoothly, and a few sensible steps make that far more likely. Here is what Home Tales checks, what it doesn't, and what you can do yourself.

What Home Tales checks

Before anyone can message another member, apply for a sit or publish a listing, they must:

• confirm their email address,
• confirm their phone number with a text message code, and
• verify their photo ID (passport, driving licence or national ID card) with Stripe, our identity and payments partner.

Seeing full listings and member profiles needs a confirmed email address and phone number too, so people who haven't been through any checks only see a preview.

What the checks don't cover

A verification badge confirms that a check was completed: that this person is who they say they are. It isn't an endorsement, and Home Tales does not carry out criminal record or other background checks. Use your own judgement, read profiles and reviews, and ask questions.

Sitters are trained

Every sitter passes House Sitting Basics, our free course, before they can apply for a sit. It covers preparing for a sit, the handover, pet care, looking after the home, what to do when things go wrong, and leaving the home as you found it, and it ends in a test. Sitters can also take further courses in pet care and safety, homes and emergencies, and rural sits, and each qualification they pass shows on their profile.

Get to know each other first

• Read the profile and reviews, and talk before agreeing a sit. A video call is a good idea.
• Agree the details in writing through Home Tales messages: dates, arrival and departure times, house rules, pet care, use of a car, visitors, and how often the host would like updates.
• Keep your conversations on Home Tales until you're confident about the other member.

Hosts can take Getting Your Home Ready for a Sitter, a 15-minute course on choosing the right sitter and writing a welcome pack.

Reviews after every sit

Once a sit has ended, the host and the sitter can each review the other, with ratings for things like pet care, communication and cleanliness. Hosts read what other hosts have said about a sitter, and sitters read what other sitters have said about a host.

Keys, codes and cameras

• Hosts write a welcome pack for their sitter. Its private section, with keys, codes and alarm details, is only shown to the sitter from a week before the sit until three days after it ends.
• Any cameras in the home must be mentioned in the listing, with where they are, before a sit is agreed. Cameras are never allowed in bedrooms or bathrooms, and sound must not be recorded without the sitter's agreement.
• Hosts must not send anyone to the home, or visit, during a sit without agreeing it with the sitter first.

These rules come from our Code of Conduct, which every member agrees to.

Keep money on Home Tales

Pay tips through Home Tales, never directly. Never send money, bank details, copies of ID or passwords to another member, and be wary of anyone who asks. A guaranteed tip is held by Home Tales until the sit is complete, so neither side has to handle money directly. See how guaranteed tips work.

If something goes wrong

• If anyone is in danger, call 999 first.
• If you feel unsafe during a sit, leave. A sitter who has to leave early for safety reasons should make sure the pets are cared for and tell the host.
• You can report a member, listing, message, review or forum post. We review reports and can warn members, remove content, or suspend or close accounts. A suspended member is signed out straight away.
• A host who has guaranteed a tip can report a problem during the sit, which pauses the payment while we look into it.

Insurance

Home Tales is not an insurer, and a sit is a private arrangement between the host and the sitter. Hosts should hold any home, contents or pet insurance they need and check it covers having a sitter. Sitters should arrange any insurance they need for their own belongings and liability.