Legal
Privacy policy.
What we collect, why, how long we keep it and how to ask us about it.
What we collect
When you use the first-visit form we collect your name, phone number, email address and postcode, the kind of visit you want, roughly where you live, and anything you write in the message box. The form also records the time it was sent and your IP address, used only to block automated submissions.
When we look after your animals we keep a registration record: your contact details and an emergency contact, your vet's name and number and your permission for us to use them, each animal's name, species, age, diet, medication and dosing times, behaviour notes, your alarm code if you give us one, the stopcock and the heating, and a log of every visit with its date, time, sitter and the note we sent you. We hold your house key in a coded safe labelled with a number, never an address, and a register of which number is yours.
Why we use it
- To reply to your enquiry, arrange the first visit and run your bookings (the steps needed before and under a contract).
- To care for your animals and your house safely, which includes contacting you or your emergency contact, and contacting your vet or ours if an animal is unwell (contract and legitimate interest).
- To invoice you and keep accounting records (contract and legal obligation).
- To send the photograph and note after each visit (contract; tell us to stop at any time and we will still log the visit).
How long we keep it
Enquiries that do not become clients are deleted after six months. Client and visit records are kept for three years after the last visit; invoices for seven years. Alarm codes are kept only for the booking and deleted after it unless you ask us to keep them. Keys are returned within two days of a booking ending unless you ask us to keep them, and the register entry is deleted when they are. Photographs are deleted from the sitter's phone at the end of each booking once sent.
Who sees it
The three sitters, our accountant, our insurer if a claim is made, and your vet or ours if an animal needs treatment. The form is delivered by email to our office; we do not use third-party form services or marketing platforms. We do not post photographs of your animals or your house on social media without asking you first. We do not sell or share your details for marketing.
Cookies
This site sets a single session cookie to limit repeat form submissions. It contains no personal data and expires when you close the browser. The embedded map on the booking and areas pages is served by Google and may set cookies under Google's own policy. The visit planner on the prices page runs in your browser and sends nothing to us.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of what we hold, ask us to correct or delete it, or object to how we use it. Email hello@homeandhound.co.uk or write to the address above. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.