Home Tales

Terms of Service

Last updated: 6 October 2026

These terms are a contract between you and HOME TAILS LIMITED, trading as Home Tales ("Home Tales", "we", "us"), a company registered in England and Wales under company number 15693601, whose registered office is at 54 Greenacres, Downton, Salisbury, England, SP5 3NG.

By creating an account or using the Home Tales website and services, you agree to these terms. Please read them carefully. If you do not agree, do not use Home Tales.

1. What Home Tales is

Home Tales is an online platform that introduces home owners ("hosts") to people who look after their homes and pets ("sitters"). We provide the tools to list a home, apply for a sit, message, leave reviews, pay and tip a sitter and take sitter courses.

We are not a party to any arrangement between a host and a sitter. We do not employ sitters, direct their work or guarantee the outcome of any sit. A sit is a private arrangement between members and is not an employment contract.

2. Who can use Home Tales

  • You must be at least 18 years old.
  • You must give accurate, up-to-date information and keep it current.
  • You may hold only one account, and must not impersonate anyone or create fake accounts.
  • You must keep your login details and any sign-in codes confidential.
  • You use Home Tales as a private individual, not to advertise or run a commercial business.

3. Rules you agree to follow

You agree to follow our Acceptable Use Policy, which covers what you may and may not post or do on the platform, and our Code of Conduct, which sets out how hosts and sitters should treat each other, homes and pets. Both form part of these terms.

4. Verification and safety

  • We ask every member to verify their email address, phone number and photo ID.
  • Hosts must verify their email address and photo ID (and, where we ask for it, their mobile number) before publishing a house sit, and sitters before applying to one. Photo ID is checked by our provider, Stripe Identity, using images of your ID document. Phone numbers are verified with a one-time code sent by text message to a mobile number; text messages may not be available in every country. Each member gets a limited number of attempts; if they run out, contact us and we will help.
  • A verification badge confirms only that a check was completed. It is not an endorsement or a guarantee of anyone's character, skills or reliability.
  • We do not carry out criminal record or other background checks on anyone.
  • You are responsible for deciding who to arrange a sit with. Read profiles and reviews, ask questions and talk before agreeing.

5. Hosts

  • Describe your home, its rules and its condition accurately and honestly.
  • Keep pet profiles accurate, including health, medication, behaviour, routine and any special needs.
  • Make sure pets are healthy, vaccinated where appropriate, and that a vet can be reached during the sit.
  • Hold any home, contents or pet insurance you need, and check it covers having a sitter.
  • Make sure you have the right to invite a sitter into the property (for example, a landlord's permission).

6. Sitters

  • Follow the host's reasonable instructions for the home and pets.
  • Tell the host who will be staying with you, and bring no one else without their agreement.
  • Keep the host informed during the sit, especially about anything affecting the home or pets.
  • Arrange any insurance you need for your own belongings and liability.

7. Membership

  • To see full listings and member profiles you must verify your email and phone number. To message members, comment, post in the forum, apply for a sit or list your home you must also verify your identity.
  • Messaging members, applying for sits, commenting and listing your home also need a membership. Membership is currently free for everyone. We will give you at least 30 days' notice before it becomes paid, and you will only be charged if you choose to buy a membership. Prices are shown in pounds sterling (GBP) before you pay.
  • Payments are processed by Stripe. We do not see or store your full card details.
  • Memberships renew automatically at the end of each period unless you cancel. You can turn off renewal at any time from your membership page; your membership then stays active until the end of the period you have paid for.
  • If you are a consumer, you may have a legal right to cancel a new membership within 14 days. If you ask us to start your membership straight away and then cancel within that period, we may deduct an amount for the time you have used.
  • Apart from that, and from any other right you have in law, membership fees are not refundable.
  • We will give you notice before changing a membership price, and the change applies from your next renewal.

8. Paying sitters

A sitter can be paid in two ways. All payments are in GBP and processed by Stripe.

Guaranteed tips

  • A host can promise a guaranteed tip when listing a sit. The amount is shown on the listing.
  • When the host accepts a sitter, the host saves a card with Stripe. Nothing is charged then. We charge the card 7 days before the sit starts, or straight away if the sit starts sooner.
  • We hold the money until the sit is complete, then pay it to the sitter, less our fee.
  • A sit is complete 48 hours after it ends, or sooner if the host confirms it. If the host reports a problem before then, we pause the payment while we review it, and we decide whether to pay the sitter, refund the host, or split it.
  • If the sitter cancels, we refund the host in full.
  • If the host cancels more than 7 days before the sit starts, we refund the host in full. If the host cancels within 7 days of the start, or during the sit, we pay half to the sitter, less our fee, and refund the other half to the host.
  • If we can't charge the host's card, we will ask the host to pay. If it is still unpaid when the sit starts, the host still owes it to the sitter, and can pay it through Home Tales.
  • If a host disputes the charge with their bank, we hold the payment until the dispute is settled.

Discretionary tips

  • Where the listing says the host may tip, the host can send a tip once the sit is complete. A host who gave a guaranteed tip can add one too.
  • A discretionary tip is a gift from the host and is not refundable once sent, except where the law requires.

For both

  • To be paid, a sitter must set up a payout account with Stripe. Stripe will ask for identity and bank details, and the sitter must accept Stripe's own terms. The sitter must also give us their tax details, because the law requires us to report sitters' earnings to HMRC. A sitter cannot confirm a sit with a guaranteed tip, or be paid, until both are done.
  • We take a platform fee of 5% of what is paid to the sitter. We pay the card processing costs.
  • Sitters are responsible for any tax due on money they receive. Each January we report what each sitter received in the previous year to HMRC and send them a copy.
  • Do not ask for or make payments for a sit outside Home Tales. See our Code of Conduct.

9. Sitter courses

  • We offer courses and tests to help sitters learn and show their knowledge.
  • Passing a course shows that a test was passed on Home Tales. It is not a professional or accredited qualification, and course content is general guidance, not veterinary or professional advice.
  • You must take tests yourself, without automated tools. We may remove results we believe were not earned honestly.

10. Your content

  • You keep ownership of what you post, such as photos, listings, profiles, messages, forum posts and reviews.
  • You give us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, display, copy and adapt that content to run and promote Home Tales. This ends when you delete the content or close your account, except where it has been shared with others (for example a review or forum reply) or we need to keep it by law.
  • You must have the right to post your content, including permission from anyone shown in your photos.
  • Reviews must be honest and based on a real sit.
  • We may remove content that breaks these terms or our policies.

11. Our platform

We own the Home Tales name, website, software, course material and design. You may not copy, scrape or reuse them except as the platform allows. We try to keep Home Tales available and secure, but we cannot promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free, and we may change or withdraw features.

12. Reporting, suspension and closure

  • You can report a member or a forum post using the report option on the site, or by emailing [email protected].
  • If you break these terms or our policies, we may warn you, remove content, restrict features, or suspend or close your account. Where it is safe and lawful to do so, we will tell you why.
  • We may report matters to the police or other authorities where the law requires or someone may be at risk.
  • If we close your account because you broke these terms, we will not refund fees for the remaining period.
  • You can close your account at any time in your profile settings (Basic information), or by contacting us at [email protected]. Closing your account cancels any membership renewal. You need to cancel or finish any current sits first, so any guaranteed tip can be refunded or paid out.

13. Disputes between members

Please try to resolve disagreements with the other member directly and politely. We may help by reviewing messages or reports, but we are not responsible for resolving disputes between members and we do not compensate members for loss caused by another member.

14. Our liability to you

  • Nothing in these terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited by law.
  • We are not responsible for the acts or omissions of members, or for loss or damage to homes, belongings or pets during a sit, because we are not a party to the arrangement.
  • We are not responsible for loss that was not foreseeable, or for business losses.
  • Otherwise, our total liability to you is limited to the membership fees you paid us in the 12 months before the event that caused the claim.

15. Your consumer rights

If you are a consumer, you have legal rights, including under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Nothing in these terms affects them. For advice, contact Citizens Advice.

16. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. If a change is significant, we will tell you by email or on the site at least 30 days before it takes effect. If you do not agree, you can close your account before then.

17. Other important terms

  • We may transfer this contract to another organisation; this will not reduce your rights.
  • You may not transfer your account or this contract to anyone else.
  • If a court finds part of these terms invalid, the rest still applies.
  • We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by events outside our reasonable control.
  • We may send notices to the email address on your account.
  • If we delay enforcing these terms, we can still enforce them later.

18. Governing law and courts

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you can also bring proceedings in your local courts.

19. Glossary

  • Host: a member who lists their home and pets for a sit.
  • Sitter: a member who looks after a host's home and pets.
  • Sit: an arrangement between a host and a sitter made through Home Tales.
  • Membership: a paid subscription that unlocks platform features.
  • Guaranteed tip: an amount a host promises on a listing, collected and held by us, and paid to the sitter when the sit is complete.
  • Discretionary tip: an optional payment from a host to a sitter after a sit, sent through Stripe.
  • Content: any text, image or other material a member posts.

20. Related policies

21. Contact us

If you have a question or complaint about these terms, contact us at [email protected] or write to HOME TAILS LIMITED, 54 Greenacres, Downton, Salisbury, England, SP5 3NG.