TERMS & CONDITIONS

Definitions: In these Terms and Conditions of Business, “The Company” means The Home Service Ltd; “The Client” means the person requesting the Company to supply house-sitting services; “Guardian” or “Sitter” means any employee of the Company chosen to carry out a house-sitting assignment for the Client.

GENERAL

• The commissioning of the Company by the Client to carry out house-sitting assignments, whether verbally or in writing, constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions of Business. These Terms and Conditions can only be altered by a written agreement signed by a Director of the Company.
• These Terms and Conditions apply to the first and all subsequent bookings.
• The Company may amend the Scale of Charges from time to time without prior notice being given.
• The Company is registered under the Data Protection Act (Reg. No. K356 5803) and thus undertakes to treat all data about Clients, prospective Clients, Guardians and prospective Guardians as strictly confidential, unless all parties agree otherwise. We are also registered with the ICO and comply with the relevant regulations surrounding personal data.

THE CONTRACT

• The Company agrees to supply residential caretaking services in accordance with a brief provided by the Client, including the care of pets and other animals owned by the Client and the maintenance of house, greenhouse and garden plants and lawns, all within reasonable limits.
• The Company will continue to provide these services throughout the life of the contract even though the original Guardian may fall ill or be unable to continue on assignment for whatever reason.
• The Client agrees to settle the Company’s invoice for such services two weeks before the start of the assignment unless the booking was made at short notice; in such cases, settlement is required before the assignment begins.
• On lengthy assignments, invoicing of both fees and expenses can be set up on a monthly basis and payment would then be due two weeks before the month to which it relates.
• If payment is not received in accordance with these Terms of Business, the Company will not be obliged to honour any previously agreed arrangements.
• Invoices unpaid at the start of the assignment will attract interest at a rate of 6% over Natwest base rate from that day until they are settled in full.
• In cases where a confirmed booking is cancelled, a sliding scale of cancellation fees is applied. Details are noted in the published Scale of Charges and may change from time to time.
• The Client is responsible for ensuring that neither the house and its environs, nor the work expected of the Guardians present any avoidable or unusual risk as recognised by the Health and Safety Executive.
• The Guardian is paid on the basis of a 2-hour daily work schedule; should actual work requirements exceed this, the Company may levy additional charges in line with the National Minimum Wage and administrative costs, plus VAT
• The Company reserves the right to either impose supplemental charges or terminate this agreement immediately without any liability on our part, where an incomplete or misleading briefing by the Client, unintentional or otherwise, has misrepresented the nature of the assignment.

RULES OF EMPLOYMENT

• Guardians may not work for a Client except through the Company until two years after their first assignment with that Client. Infringement of this Condition will jeopardise the Guardian’s future as an employee of the Company.
• All Guardians are employees of the Company and all instructions to them must come from, or with the approval of, Company management personnel.

INSURANCE

• Though every reasonable measure is taken to ensure the integrity, probity, suitability and competence of the Guardians, the Company, to ensure its Clients’ peace of mind, covers its employees, while on assignment, with Public Liability, Employers Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance.
• No exclusion clause applies either: a) to the Terms implied by the Goods and Services Act 1982 if the Client is dealing as a consumer or b) other than is reasonable and permitted by the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.
• The Company’s insurance cover only operates when the Guardian is working on an assignment from the Company.
• Where Guardians are required to drive a Client’s car, responsibility for the provision of appropriate insurance cover rests with the Client.
• It is the Client’s responsibility to provide normal insurance cover for the house, the contents and the pets/livestock.
• Cancellation fees are applied to the first three weeks of any booking, as follows:  21 – 15 days notice: 20% of invoice value; 14 – 8 days notice; 30% of invoice value; 7 days notice or less, 50% of invoice value.  Cancellation insurance (minimum £5 plus VAT, maximum £25 plus VAT per assignment) is available unless the booking is made three weeks or less before the assignment begins.  It does not cover the Registration Fee, insurance premium or any other loss whatsoever.  Clients who already have cancellation cover, or who choose not to have any at all, are invited to indicate their preference at the time of booking.
• No refunds can be given for a Client’s early return, whatever the circumstances.