Terms and Conditions - Owners

Terms and Conditions of Booking with HouseMinders
Please read our terms and conditions before applying with us.

The Houseminders service
HouseMinders Pty. Ltd. (the “Company” or “HouseMinders”) provides a service where the Company assists owners and residents (the “Owners”) to locate individuals, couples and families (the “Minders”) to live-in and care for, their homes, pets and gardens when they’re travelling away from their homes (hereinafter referred to as the “Service”).

Types of Service
These terms and conditions apply to all services relating to Minders. It is the role and responsibility of the Owner, and not HouseMinders, to select and screen the minder to care for the Owner’s home and pets. HouseMinders cannot guarantee the suitability of Minders or screened references.

Areas of operation
The Company operates in major population centres around Australia. The company will accept bookings in other areas where it believes it can assist owners in locating suitable minders.
Overseas assignments will be catered for in the future.

Availability
The Company provides the Service for any duration of 7 days or more. Shorter assignments in certain areas can be accommodated where there are available registered Minders. Long term bookings in major population centres can almost always be catered for. For shorter assignments (i.e. durations of under 14 days) it is advisable for owners & residents (or travel agents) to call the Company before booking to check availability. Owing to a shortage of Minders in some areas, the Company, at its discretion, may decline certain bookings. There are no minimum or maximum periods.

Owner/ Minder agreement.
You agree to execute a houseminding agreement with your selected Minder. This agreement will detail the terms, duration and responsibilities of the houseminding arrangement. For your convenience, the Company can provide the Owner (and the Minder) with a sample houseminding Agreement that sets out the responsibilities of both parties concerning the security and care of your home and pets. You agree that a houseminding agreement (whether or not it is the pro forma provided by the Company) is made between the Owner and the Minder only and that the Company or a third party introducer is not a party to this agreement or any of its terms and conditions.

Bookings
Bookings can be made by you or by your travel agent, pet store or vet. Where the booking is made by your agent, the person affecting the booking shall be deemed to have accepted the booking conditions on your behalf.

Registration fees
A $220 fee is payable on all bookings. Alternatively, a $330 fee is payable for a 12 month registration, in which HouseMinders will help find as many Minders as required in a 12 month period, starting from the date of the first trip.

Deposit and Payment
A non-refundable deposit of $50 is payable on all bookings. Bookings not deposited are subject to cancellation without notice. The balance is payable within 4 days of selection of the Minder by the Owner. If for any reason your balance of payment is not received by the due date, the Company reserves the right to treat your booking as cancelled and to apply the appropriate cancellation charges.

No suitable minder/cancelled booking
While the Company will exercise its best endeavours, occasionally, we find there are no suitable Minders available. In the event that we cannot find you a suitable Minder, or you choose to cancel the booking for any reason, the $50 deposit is non-refundable. However, in the event that you use the services of the Company again, $50 will be taken off the price.

Changes in prices
The Company reserves the right to change its prices at any time. Invoiced prices will be held for 30 days only. Prices will be held for customers who have made the deposit payment.

Rebooking with the same Minder(s)
Regular customers may request the same houseminder as used previously and the Company will endeavour to meet your request. You agree not to contact or attempt to engage the same Minder(s) directly, but to book their services through the Company and to pay the appropriate fee (where applicable).

Amended booking dates – prior to departure
If you are forced to change your departure or return dates, before you depart, and such a change requires the Company to find you a new Minder, you agree to pay an Amended Booking fee of $50.00. Where a new minder is required (due to illness or unavailability of the selected minder), HouseMinders will endeavour to find you a new Minder at no charge.

Cancellations and Refunds
Should you be forced to cancel your Minder booking prior to departure you must notify the Company in writing. You will not receive back your $50 deposit. If you have paid the annual fee no refund shall be given, and your annual registration will expire on the same dates.

Extensions involving the same minder
Where you wish to stay away longer (and where you need a continuation of the houseminding arrangement) you agree to the following:

• To notify both the Company and the Minder (by phone, fax or email) of your revised plans and new arrival date, at least 7 days before your original planned date of return.
• To instruct the Company to organise the extension arrangements with the Minder
• To amend (or have an authorised representative amend) the houseminding agreement to reflect the changes to the return dates.
• pay the Company any additional fees if applicable plus an amendment fee of $50 to cover disbursements, such as phone, courier and fax costs.
  Extensions involving a new minder
  Where you wish to stay away longer and need a continuation of the houseminding arrangement, but where your existing minder is not available, you agree to the following:
• To contact the Company, who will exercise its best endeavours to find you another Minder for the extended duration.
• To select (or have an authorised representative select) the new Minder who will care for your home.
• To complete (or have an authorised representative complete) a new Houseminding Agreement with the new minder
• to pay the Company, an additional fee of $110, for the set up of the new arrangements.

Early return of owner
You agree not to terminate the houseminding agreement or the houseminding assignment except in the case of a medical emergency. As such a return would have the effect of putting the minder “out on the street”, you further agree to:

• give HouseMinders and the Minder at least 7 days written notice of your intention to return
• accommodate the registered minder(s) for a period of up to 7 days in your home upon your return OR pay $250 towards their accommodation expenses
• pay the Company a cancellation fee of $110 to cover the costs of phone, fax and making alternate minding arrangements for your displaced Minder(s).
  There are no refunds given if you are forced to return early.

Owner representative or proxy
In the event of you needing a replacement Minder (e.g. through extension of your trip or illness of your Minder) – you agree to appoint a representative to select a Minder. The nominated representative must be an adult, be able to perform duties such as appoint the new Minder on your behalf and to negotiate the arrangements e.g. duties, bond payable, start and end date etc. Your appointed representative agrees to all terms and conditions in this agreement and accepts all responsibility.

The Minders
You agree that the Minders who have registered with the Company are independent individuals, and are neither agents nor employees of HouseMinders or any third party introducer.

The Company is an introduction agency
You agree that the role of HouseMinders is that of an introduction agency. I.e. the Company introduces you to individuals, couples and/or families who have registered with the Company with the desire to care for people’s homes and pets.

Additional Terms & Conditions

1. HouseMinders has no liability or responsibility to users of information for performance or non-performance of any activities in which visitors to our website engaged through the information provided by HouseMinders or engage with third parties with whom they come in contact with through our website or information provided.

2. Nothing contained in the information we provide is a substitute or a replacement for you obtaining appropriate professional advice. You are advised to consult with any appropriate professional with regard to any action you might want to undertake regarding the information we have provided to you. Further, HouseMinders are not liable for any damages sustained upon your reliance on the information provided to you by HouseMinders.

3. HouseMinders accepts no responsibility for any agreements or contracts entered into by and between Owners and houseminders or any other party and is not otherwise involved in the actual transaction between users of our service and/or any third party.

4. HouseMinders cannot verify or validate any references, written or otherwise, from houseminders and accepts no responsibility of any kind concerning the credentials or information claimed by Owners. As a result, HouseMinders have no control over the quality, safety or legality of information obtained from house minders or our website and/or from third parties or the truth or accuracy of any such information. In addition, note that there are risks including but not limited to the risk of physical harm, of dealing with strangers, foreign nationals, under aged persons or people acting under false pretences. You assume all risks associated with dealing with third parties and whom you come in contact with through the information HouseMinders provides to you.

5. HouseMinders cannot and does not confirm that each houseminder is who they claim to be. Because HouseMinders does not and cannot be involved in user-to-user dealings or control the behaviour of houseminders or participants on this website, in the event that you have a dispute with one or more users, you release HouseMinders, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, and partners, from claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential, direct and indirect) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes.

6. All information provided to you is for informational purposes only relating to house sitting information. HouseMinders can make no guarantee or warranty that homeowners will secure the services of a houseminder, and HouseMinders offers no express or implied guarantees or warranties regarding the benefits or effectiveness of any information obtained from this website or services provided by HouseMinders. HouseMinders makes no express or implied guarantees or warranties that you will find the information provided to you will be satisfactory, complete, be of benefit, will be suitable for your own personal circumstances, or that you will find a compatible houseminder.

7. You are solely responsible for deciding whether any of our information, is suitable for your purposes. Visitors to our website and those who use our information provided do so at their own risk, and HouseMinders assumes no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any actions taken by users of this information.

8. You will indemnify and hold harmless HouseMinders, its officers, employees, agents, representatives, affiliates and subsidiaries from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable lawyer’s fees, arising out of your violation of these warranties and representations.

9. All houseminders contact details are for the strict use of house sitting purposes only.

10. You must maintain the confidentiality of your registration and password. You shall be responsible for all uses of your registration, whether or not authorised by you. You agree to immediately notify HouseMinders of any unauthorised use of your registration or password.

11. HouseMinders does not warrant that its website will operate error-free or that its website and its server are free of computer viruses or other harmful mechanisms. If your use of this website results in the need for services or replacing equipment or data, HouseMinders are not responsible for those costs. The website is provided on an “as is” basis without any warranties of any kind. HouseMinders, to the fullest extent permitted by law, disclaims all warranties, whether expressed or implied, including the warranty of merchant ability, fitness for particular purpose and non-infringement. HouseMinders makes no warranties about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the website content, services, software, texts, graphics and links.

12. The transmission of data or information (including communications by email) over the internet or other publicly accessible networks is not secure, and is subject to possible loss, interception or alterations while in transit. Accordingly, HouseMinders does not assume any liability for any damage you may experience or costs you may incur as a result of any transmissions over the internet or other publicly accessible networks, such as transmissions involving the exchange of email with us (including those which may contain your personal information). While HouseMinders shall take commercially reasonable efforts to safeguard the privacy of the information you provide us and treat such information in accordance with our Privacy Policy, in no event will the information you provide to us be deemed to be confidential, create any fiduciary obligations to you on our part, or result in any liability to you on our part in the event that such information is inadvertently released by us or accessed by third parties without our consent.

13. HouseMinders takes no responsibility whatever for the contents of the information you have uploaded to the website, and shall not be responsible or liable for the deletion, correction, destruction, damage or loss of files and data, or failure to store any files or data. Nor is HouseMinders responsible for any loss of files or data through the action of any third party of because of circumstances beyond HouseMinder’s control. All customers are expected to have their own back up of all of the files and data transferred to the site.

14. To the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, you understand and agree that neither HouseMinders or any of its subsidiaries or third party content providers shall be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, exemplary or any other damages relating to or resulting from your use or inability to use this website or any other website you access through a link from this site or from any other information we provide to you or from any actions we take or fail to take as a result of any messages electronic or otherwise that you send to us. These include damages for errors, omissions, interruptions, defects, delays, computer viruses, your loss of profits, loss of data, unauthorised access to an alteration of your transmissions and data, and other tangible and intangible losses.

15. If you cause a technical disruption of our website or the system transmitting the site to you or others you agree to be responsible for any and all liabilities, costs and expenses (including lawyer’s fees) arising from that disruption.

16. HouseMinders reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to pursue all of its legal remedies, including but not limited to immediate termination without notice of your registration with, or ability to access, the website and/or any other service provided to you by HouseMinders, upon any breach by you of these terms and conditions or our Privacy Statement, or if HouseMinders is unable to verify or authenticate any information you submit via our website.

17. You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless HouseMinders, its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, and partners, harmless from and against any loss, liability, claim, action, or demand, including without limitation reasonable legal and accounting fees, alleging or resulting from (i) your use of the HouseMinders website; (ii) any material you provide to HouseMinders through its website, by email or otherwise; (iii) any website content that you use or; (iv) your breach of these terms and conditions, privacy statement, representations and warranties. HouseMinders shall provide notice to you promptly of any such claim, suit, or proceeding and shall assist you, at your expense, in defending any such claim, suit or proceeding. HouseMinders reserves the right to assume the exclusive defence and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, which shall not excuse your indemnity obligation.

18. HouseMinders reserves the right to remove any registration at any time, with or without warning or notice and without refund should information or action from any Owner be deemed by HouseMinders to be misleading, inappropriate or dishonest, if an Owner has breached these Terms and Conditions or the Privacy Statement, or if HouseMinders is unable to verify or authenticate any information you have submitted.

19. These Terms and Conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws as apply in the state of Victoria, Australia, without regard to conflict of laws. You irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in the state of Victoria in connection with any action arising out of or related to these terms and conditions or their subject matter. You waive any objection based on lack of personal jurisdiction, place of residence, improper venue or forum non-convenience in any such action.

20. If any provision of these Terms and Conditions is held invalid or unenforceable in any respect by and court having competent jurisdiction, such provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law, and the remaining provisions of these terms and conditions shall continue in full force and effect. No waiver of any provision of these Terms and Conditions shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such provision or any other provision of these terms and conditions.”