How OnlyPaw protects your pet on every booking

Five safeguards run on every OnlyPaw booking without you having to opt in. Here's exactly how each one works.

1. Provider verification — mandatory, not optional

Before any provider can accept a booking on OnlyPaw, they must complete a three-step verification:

• Government-issued ID upload. Passport, national ID card, or driver's licence. Photo of both sides.
• Selfie match. A selfie is taken in the app and checked against the ID photo by the OnlyPaw team.
• Sitters and boarding hosts: home photos. Photos of the home or boarding area, reviewed by the OnlyPaw team. Pet taxi drivers add their driving licence, vehicle registration and vehicle photos; groomers and trainers add a certificate.

Providers who fail any step cannot list. Providers who submit fraudulent documents are removed.

2. Service-specific knowledge test — 70% pass mark

Different services have different failure modes. A dog walker needs to know pavement-temperature safety. A boarder needs to recognise bloat symptoms. A pet taxi driver needs to know carrier-securing procedure. A groomer needs coat-type handling. A trainer needs positive-reinforcement fundamentals.

So every provider takes a pet-safety knowledge test covering safety-critical basics such as heat stress, toxic foods and emergencies, and must score 70% or higher before approval. Each additional service a provider adds is reviewed separately, with its own documents.

3. Payments held until the service is completed

When you book, you pay in the app and the payment is held while the provider does the job. Once the service is completed, the provider's earnings (minus OnlyPaw's commission) become withdrawable after a 7-day hold.

If something's wrong:

• Contact OnlyPaw support from the booking as soon as possible.
• Funds remain in escrow while OnlyPaw support investigates.
• Outcomes range from full refund → partial refund → provider payment, depending on evidence.

You don't chase the provider. You don't chase the bank. OnlyPaw + Stripe handle it.

4. Payment protection + case-by-case dispute support

OnlyPaw is not an insurance underwriter. What we do is hold every payment in Stripe escrow and give both sides a documented, evidence-based process when a booking goes wrong.

• Every payment is held. Your card is charged when the provider accepts. The funds sit in a Stripe-managed escrow throughout the service.
• Nothing is paid out straight away. A provider’s earnings from a completed booking only become withdrawable 7 days after completion.
• Disputes go to OnlyPaw support. Raise an issue as soon as possible after the booking and our team reviews chat records, photos and any GPS trail attached to the booking.
• Case-by-case remedy. OnlyPaw resolves each dispute individually. Outcomes range from full refund, to partial refund, to release to the provider, based on the evidence. Where warranted we also cover reasonable costs from platform fees at our discretion.
• Stripe chargeback as fallback. If you are not satisfied with our determination, your card issuer chargeback rights are unaffected.

OnlyPaw does not underwrite pet injuries, property damage, or veterinary bills. Providers who need commercial liability cover should carry their own policy — see our provider insurance guide for country-specific options.

5. Live GPS + photo proof on every service

Walks, taxi rides, and boarding all have proof-of-service tracking:

• Walks: Live GPS route recorded start-to-finish. A walk can’t be finished until the walker uploads at least one photo.
• Pet taxi: Live GPS from pickup to drop-off. Stage-by-stage notifications ("Driver arrived", "Pet loaded", "Trip started", "Destination reached").
• Boarding: Minimum daily photo check-in from the host. Video calls on request.
• Grooming / training: Before-and-after photos (grooming) or written session notes (training).

6. Emergency button — 24/7, one tap

Every active booking has a red Emergency button visible at the top of the booking screen. Tapping it:

1. Alerts OnlyPaw support in real time.
2. Puts you and the provider on a shared call/chat within 90 seconds.
3. Escalates to a case manager if unresolved after 15 minutes.
4. For medical emergencies, OnlyPaw support connects you to the nearest 24-hour vet in the provider's area.

The button is not a "chat with support" button. It's a "something is actually wrong right now" button.

7. Chat moderation — off-platform contact blocked

Our in-app chat automatically flags messages containing phone numbers, email addresses, WhatsApp handles, or external messaging invites. These are blocked pre-booking-confirmation because off-platform bookings lose every safety protection above.

After a booking is confirmed, phone-number sharing is allowed so you and the provider can coordinate at drop-off / pickup.

Report a safety issue

If something has gone wrong — provider was unsafe, pet was harmed, provider is a fraud, chat was inappropriate — please contact our safety team immediately: [email protected]. This inbox is monitored 24/7 and every message is triaged within one hour.

For criminal-level incidents, we cooperate fully with local law enforcement and preserve evidence per legal-hold procedures.