Companimal
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Terms & Conditions

Last updated: June 2026

1. About these terms

These Terms & Conditions ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Companimal ("we", "us", "our"), the operator of this UK dog marketplace. By creating an account, listing a dog, sending an enquiry, or otherwise using the site, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the service. We also have a Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, and an Acceptable Use & Listing Rules page, which form part of these Terms.

2. Who can use Companimal

  • You must be 18 or over to register, list, buy, or adopt through the platform.
  • You must provide accurate registration details and keep them up to date.
  • You are responsible for keeping your password secure and for activity under your account.
  • You may not sell, transfer, or share your account with anyone else.

3. Our role — we are an introduction platform, not the seller

This is the most important thing to understand about how Companimal works:

  • We operate an advertising and introduction platform. We host listings created by sellers and put buyers and sellers in touch with each other.
  • We are not the seller of any animal and we are not a party to any sale, adoption, or stud arrangement. Any contract for a dog is made directly and solely between the buyer (or adopter) and the seller (or rescue organisation).
  • We do not own, house, inspect, or take possession of any animal, and we do not handle payment between buyers and sellers. Money changes hands directly between you and the other party, away from the platform.
  • We do not pre-screen or guarantee the accuracy, quality, legality, health, temperament, or pedigree of any animal or listing. Listings are created by users.

Your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 in respect of an animal you buy are rights against the seller, not against us — and they depend on whether that seller is a business or a private individual (see section 5).

4. Buying or adopting a dog

  • Always carry out your own checks before committing. Our Safety Guide explains how to spot scams and what to look for.
  • See the dog in person, with its mother where it is a puppy, before paying anything. Never send money for a dog you have not met, and be wary of requests for couriered delivery or deposits paid by unusual methods.
  • Listings show whether a seller is a business / licensed seller or a private seller. Your consumer-law protections differ depending on which it is (see section 5).
  • Reporting tools are available on every listing and conversation. If something looks wrong, tell us — see our Complaints & Reporting page.

5. Business sellers and private sellers

UK consumer law treats the two differently, and you should know which you are dealing with:

  • Buying from a business seller (for example a licensed breeder or a seller trading commercially): the full protections of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 apply against that seller — the dog must, for example, match its description.
  • Buying from a private seller: fewer protections apply. The main one is that the dog must match how it was described. You carry more responsibility to check things yourself.
  • Sellers must declare their status honestly. Misrepresenting a business as a private sale is prohibited and may be unlawful. We may reclassify a seller based on listing volume, licensing, or other evidence.

6. Listing a dog

If you list a dog, puppy, stud, or animal for rehoming, you agree to our Acceptable Use & Listing Rules and the welfare acknowledgements shown to you during onboarding, and you confirm that:

  • Every listing is accurate — the breed, age, health, and any known issues.
  • You comply with all applicable animal-welfare and licensing law (see the Listing Rules for specifics, including the 8-week minimum age, microchipping, breeding-licence display, and banned breeds).
  • You will not list any banned breed, ear-cropped or illegally docked dog, or any animal you did not breed unless you are a registered rescue or rehoming organisation.
  • You hold the rights to any photos and content you upload.

You remain solely responsible for your dealings with buyers, for the dog, and for meeting your own legal obligations as a seller (including, where you sell as a business, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013).

7. Fees and paid services

  • Listing packages and optional extras (such as boosts and bumps) are paid services we provide to sellers. The price shown is the total price you pay, inclusive of VAT and any mandatory charges — there are no hidden fees added at checkout.
  • Fees are due at the point of purchase, as shown before you confirm.
  • Buyer–seller payments for the dog itself are not handled by us and are not covered by these fee terms.
  • We may change our prices from time to time; changes do not affect a service you have already paid for.

8. Your right to cancel a paid service, and refunds

Where you buy a paid service from us as a consumer, you have a legal right to cancel within 14 days under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. However:

  • If you ask us to publish your listing (or apply a boost or bump) immediately and acknowledge that doing so means you lose your right to cancel once it is fully provided, then you will not be entitled to a refund once the service has been delivered. We ask for that confirmation at the point of purchase.
  • If you have not asked for immediate publication, you may cancel within 14 days for a refund of amounts paid, subject to a deduction for any part of the service already provided.
  • To cancel, contact support@companimal.co.uk.

9. Content you provide

  • You keep ownership of the listings, photos, and other content you create. You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to host, store, display, reproduce, and distribute that content so we can operate and promote the platform (for example showing your listing in search results and on listing pages). This licence ends when the content is removed, except for a short period needed for backups and technical caches.
  • You confirm that you own or are licensed to use everything you upload, that it does not infringe anyone else's rights, and that any photos of people are used with their consent.
  • If you believe content on the platform infringes your copyright, contact support@companimal.co.uk with details of the content and your rights, and we will review it promptly.

9A. Our social media accounts

Companimal publishes content to its own social media accounts, including YouTube. Where you use any YouTube feature through Companimal, you agree to be bound by the YouTube Terms of Service, and Google's use of data is covered by the Google Privacy Policy.

10. Things you must not do

You must follow our Acceptable Use & Listing Rules. In short, you must not post unlawful, fraudulent, misleading, or harmful content; harass or threaten other users; attempt to defraud anyone; circumvent our rules or fees; or use the platform for anything other than its intended purpose.

11. Reporting, moderation, and removal

  • We do not monitor every listing or message in advance, but we use automated tools and human review, and we act on reports. If we become aware of illegal or rule-breaking content, we will remove or restrict it.
  • You can report a listing, message, or user at any time using the reporting tools or our Complaints & Reporting page. We aim to act on reports of unlawful content quickly.
  • If we remove your content or restrict your account, you can appeal — see the Complaints page. You may have a right to bring a claim if we act in breach of these Terms.

12. Suspending or closing accounts

We may suspend or close an account, and remove listings, where a user breaks these Terms or the law, where we reasonably suspect fraud or a risk to welfare or safety, or where we are required to by law. Where it is appropriate and lawful to do so, we will give notice and an opportunity to put things right. You can close your own account at any time.

13. Our responsibility to you

  • Nothing in these Terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited under UK law. Your statutory rights as a consumer are not affected.
  • Because we are an introduction platform and not a party to transactions between users, we are not responsible for the acts, omissions, listings, or animals of other users, or for any loss arising from a transaction between you and another user, except to the extent caused by our own breach or negligence.
  • We do not exclude liability we are not allowed to exclude, but otherwise we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profit, opportunity, or anticipated savings.
  • Subject to the above, our total liability to you for any claim relating to the service is limited to the fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim arose (or £100 if you paid us nothing).

14. Your responsibility to us

If someone brings a claim against us because of content you posted, your breach of these Terms, or your unlawful conduct on the platform, you agree to cover the reasonable losses, costs, and damages we incur as a result, to the extent the claim arises from your own fault.

15. Changes to the service and these Terms

We may update the platform and these Terms from time to time. If we make a significant change, we will take reasonable steps to let you know. The current version always lives on this page, with the "last updated" date above. Continuing to use the service after a change means you accept the updated Terms.

16. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and disputes are subject to the courts of England and Wales. If you are a consumer living elsewhere in the UK, you may also bring proceedings in the courts of the part of the UK where you live, and the mandatory consumer protections of that part of the UK still apply to you.

17. Contact us

Companimal is operated by [operator name and contact address — to be confirmed before launch]. If and when the business is incorporated, the registered company name, number, and registered office address will be added here. For any question about these Terms, email support@companimal.co.uk.