Trusted Tools: Sitter ID Verifications - a guide for sitters

Trusted Tools: Sitter ID Verifications - a guide for sitters

When setting up your TrustedHousesitters sitter profile, you'll need to apply for your free Sitter ID Verifications. This Trusted Tool can help provide that extra bit of reassurance to owners, enabling you to start enjoying the house and pet sitting experiences of your dreams. Here's everything you need to know...

What are Sitter ID Verifications?

Identification checks and verifications are designed so that you can offer owners peace of mind when they're selecting who will take care of their pet and their home. These can be especially useful if you're new to the community and are yet to build up reviews, or simply to offer owners that extra bit of reassurance that you are trustworthy and verified.

Once you earn your verifications, these will be displayed on your sitter profile. Sitter ID Verifications are free as part of your membership.

What Sitter Verifications are available?

You'll need to complete your free Sitter ID Verifications to finish setting up your profile. These include:

• Email address - once you’ve supplied an email address, you’ll be asked to confirm this by clicking on a link sent to you via email.
• Phone number - once you have provided a phone number, you’ll receive a code via SMS or over the phone. You’ll then be asked to enter this code on the verification section of your profile. Don’t worry if you don’t have a phone - you can contact our Membership Services team to be manually verified.
• ID document check - for this, you’ll need to upload a photograph of an ID document, such as a passport, a driving licence or National Identity Card. Identification checks are then performed on this document to ensure that it's valid. This includes cross-checking databases to ensure that it hasn't been reported as lost, stolen or compromised.
• Backgrounds checks for US members - if you're a US-registered sitter member, you'll also need to apply for a free background check. Find out more here.

You can also apply for house and pet sitting references. We'll go into that more a little later on.

How do I set up my verifications?

Firstly, you'll need to visit your verification page. You can do this by:

• Logging into your TrustedHousesitters account. 
• Once logged in, click your name on the top right-hand corner.
• Select "Your profile", then head to the "Verifications" section, and click "Manage".

Firstly, let’s verify your email address:

• Log into your account
• Click on your name in the top right-hand corner
• Select 'My profile' from the menu 
• At the bottom to the right of the 'Your verifications' section, click 'Manage'
• Under the 'Email address' section
• Click 'Resend email'

Now it’s time to verify your phone number:

Make sure to have your phone close by as you’ll need it for this stage.

• Log into your account via the website
• Click on your profile photo in the top right-hand corner 
• Select 'My profile'
• At the bottom to the right of the 'Your verifications' section - click 'Manage'
• Under the 'Phone number' heading, press the 'Verify now' button 
• Select the country code from the menu, which will add your dialling code so you don’t have to
• In the white box, type in the rest of your phone number - please note not to include any dots or dashes within the number
• Click 'Send Code' 

This will send a unique four-digit code to your phone number. If you provide a mobile number, the code will arrive as an SMS. If you provide a landline number, you will receive an automated call. Once you have received this, head back to the verifications page and enter the code in the box.

Now, it's time to complete your ID document check:

• Log into your account via the website
• Click on your profile photo in the top right-hand corner 
• Select 'Your profile'
• Scroll down and click 'Manage' on the right of 'Verifications'
• Under the 'ID Check' section - click 'Start free ID check'
• Click on 'Identity Document' to start your check
• Choose your country code by clicking the flag, enter your phone number & submit

Finally, you can request an external reference:

• Log into your account
• Click on your profile photo in the top right-hand corner 
• Select 'My profile' from the menu 
• Next to the 'Your references' section click 'Add'
• Enter the first name of the referee - click 'Continue'
• Choose how you want to send the reference link 
• You can copy the link and paste it into a message to your referee
• Or click 'Email' and this will open a new email with the specific link - you can then enter your referee's email and forward it directly to them

Trusted tip: Adding three references to your profile increases your chance of finding a housesit by 20%

How do I know that my personal details will be kept confidential?

We do not keep any of the personal information you provide during the identification check. Our verification partner maintain a bank-grade, encrypted security system - meaning your information will be kept safe, confidential and secure.

How can owners identify my verification?

Once you have completed your verifications, they will automatically appear on your sitter profile for owners to see.

Any more questions?

If you have any further questions or queries on how Sitter ID Verifications work, what they are, or where they are located, then don’t hesitate to contact your Membership Services team, who will be more than happy to help.