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 are selecting who will take care of their pet and their home. These can be especially useful if you are 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 will 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 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 is valid. This includes cross-checking databases to ensure that it has not been reported as lost, stolen or compromised.
• 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 ‘Verifications’ from the drop-down menu.

Now it’s time to get set up. Firstly, let’s verify your email address.

• Once you sign up to TrustedHousesitters, you should receive an email asking you to confirm your email address. Simply click on the link in the email, and voila! Your email address will be verified.

• If you've misplaced this email, don't worry — just head to your Verifications page, and click the ‘Resend email’ button within the ‘Email address’ section.

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.

• In the ‘Phone number’ section, click the teal ‘Verify now’ button.
• Then, select your country from the drop-down menu — this will automatically enter your area code at the start. 
• Type in your phone number, excluding your area code and any symbols that aren’t numbers.
• Click the teal 'Send code' button and we'll send you a 4 digit code.
• Collect this number from your phone and type the code into the ‘Verifications’ page you were previously using.

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

• In the ‘ID check’ section, click the ‘Manage your ID check’ button.
• Then, in the ‘ID Document check’ section, click the green ‘Request check via Evident’ button.
• This will redirect you to our industry-leading partner, Evident, who complete the identification 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 is valid. This includes cross-checking databases to ensure that it has not been reported as lost, stolen or compromised.

Finally, you can request an external reference.

• In the ‘External references’ section, click the ‘Request reference’ button.
• Then, a box will pop up asking you to enter the name of your chosen referee.
• Enter the name of your first referee — remember to choose someone who knows you well and be sure to get a pet or house sitting reference whenever possible.
• Click 'continue', then either share the unique link with your chosen referee to allow them to leave you a reference, or send via email.

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.