Basic Membership Plan

[ziggy]

After being with THS for 6 years and sitting full time, I’m now slowing down on travel this year. My membership is due in a week and I currently have Premium and also had Standard previously.

If I revert to Basic membership, is it correct that I can’t have unlimited listings “favourited”. Like now I have dozens of listings saved and also I have dates and locations as saved searches. What would this change to on a Basic Plan? Thanks

[Chrissie]

I’ve only ever had the basic plan, and have got dozens of saved favourites. I’ve got around 8 saved searches, not sure if there’s a limit on that .

[Fatamorgana]

We have Basic ever since and I have probably around 30-50 listings saved, haven’t ever reached a limit.

[botvot]

Yes, you can have lots of searches saved. However, on the website, you can’t add a new search if you already have more than 3. But you can go on the app and add a new search, which will then be visible on the website. So my advice: if you only use the website, save more searches now while you still can

[ziggy]

@botvot I only use the app. So does that mean I can have unlimited searches saved as “favourites” if I use the app? Thanks also @Chrissie @Fatamorgana

[botvot]

Yes, I just tried, as I only had 3. I could add a 4th on the app, no problem.

[Fatamorgana]

I tested it. I had 4 searches saved and now I saved 10 and it wasn’t a problem in the app.

[ziggy]

Thanks guys, that seems to resolve things. Basic Membership it is then

[Silversitters]

@ziggy

somethings to be aware of when deciding which membership is best for you .

Basic membership doesn’t come with the Accident & third party liability plan
or the
24 hour Vet helpline .

If you go to cancel the auto- renew of your membership you will be offered a 20% discount .

[ziggy]

Thanks @Silversitters , after six years on the road full-time sitting, I’ve never needed any extras and always feel if things happen I can deal with it personally. Appreciate your input though.

[Fatamorgana]

@Silversitters

Accident & third party liability plan

My 2 cents on this “plan”.

From a legal perspective, the liability for damages or injuries caused by the pet rests primarily with the owner (Pet Parent), not the sitter. The TrustedHousesitters Plan is not an insurance policy and operates purely on a voluntary (“goodwill”) basis. Here’s a legal breakdown:

1. Liability for damages caused by the pet

• Under general liability law, responsibility for damages caused by a pet usually remains with the pet owner (Pet Parent).
• TrustedHousesitters confirms this indirectly by requiring pet owners to have home insurance that covers the presence of a sitter.
• In most legal systems (e.g., German BGB or British common law), the owner remains liable for the pet’s actions, even when the pet is temporarily in someone else’s care.

2. The TrustedHousesitters Plan is not a replacement for insurance

• The plan is not an insurance policy in a legal sense but rather a voluntary benefit.
• TrustedHousesitters will only cover costs under specific, limited circumstances, and even then, at their sole discretion.
• Sitters are explicitly required to have their own insurance in place.

3. Sitter liability only applies in exceptional cases

• The sitter would only be held liable if they acted with gross negligence or intentional misconduct (e.g., deliberately encouraging a dog to attack someone).
• If an accident or damage happens during the normal care of the pet, the owner’s liability generally applies, not the sitter’s.
• The plan only applies to third-party damages (e.g., if the dog bites a passerby), not damages to the owner’s own property.

4. Exclusions from the plan

TrustedHousesitters explicitly denies liability in the following cases:

• If the dog is younger than 8 weeks
• If the sitter acts with gross negligence or intent
• If the damage is caused by animals other than dogs or cats
• For damage to the pet owner’s property
• For injuries or damages within the pet owner’s or sitter’s household

5. Subrogation (recovery of costs) by TrustedHousesitters

• If TrustedHousesitters makes a payment, they reserve the right to reclaim that money from the owner or a third party.
• This means that even if TrustedHousesitters covers a cost, they could later try to recover it from the owner or the owner’s insurance.

Conclusion

The pet owner (Pet Parent) is legally responsible for their pet’s actions – this is a general principle under liability law.
Sitters are only liable in exceptional cases (e.g., gross negligence).
The TrustedHousesitters Plan is a voluntary, limited benefit, not an insurance policy, and only covers certain situations involving third-party damage.
If a pet owner sets extremely high standards, the correct legal advice would be that they remain responsible as the legal owner and should hire a paid professional if they expect that level of service.

[ziggy]

Me again

I was just going back through the membership page and came across this below which states it’s only for Standard and Premium membership. So it appears I won’t get alerts for saved searches/favourites if I am just on basic membership? Anyone on basic that can advise if this is the case in their experience? Thanks.

[botvot]

@ziggy that’s true, I don’t get alerts. It’s ‘turned on’ but never comes through.

[ziggy]

@botvot oh no! I’m only sitting in SE Asia for a while so I need alerts. Looks like I need to upgrade. Do you know if I can upgrade the tier to Standard in a few weeks if I pay for Basic? I’m slowing down sitting dramatically for this year and sits in SE Asia are hard enough on any level.

[botvot]

@ziggy - yes, you can upgrade at any time. This is how it worked for us last year. When you’re ready to upgrade, head over to your subscription page, there will be an option to upgrade and it will give you the pro rata fee for the upgrade for the rest of your period. Or maybe you can only upgrade to premium? See screenshot

[ziggy]

@botvot hmmmm, that’s confusing hey. I might contact Support and ask this question as I definitely don’t need Premium this year. Am on it now and it’s great but for this particular year I don’t need that level. Thanks again.

[Silversitters]

@ziggy yes you can upgrade part way through your membership year .

We did this our first year of joining when we had already been standard membership for 9 months - we upgraded to Premium ( after a couple of sit were curtailed ) so we only paid an additional amount ( pro rata ) for 3 months at the premium membership .

You can’t downgrade again until the annual renewal date .

[Silversitters]

@Ziggy I suggest changing your membership to renew as basic . You can do that now but it won’t come into effect until your renewal date .

Click to cancel auto renew ( you will be offered a 20% discount to stay on auto renew )

Later when you want to upgrade to Premium you can click change membership plan and you’ll be given the price pro rate for upgrading for the remaining months left until your renewal date .

[ziggy]

Thanks @Silversitters . I have renewed on Basic, received the discount. I don’t actually need the Premium I wanted to know if I could upgrade to Standard after renewing on Basic. Doesn’t look like I can, wish things were clearer on the site.

[Silversitters]

I think you can upgrade to standard - part way through the year …