Cookie policy
Last updated 14 October 2026
The short version
Our own cookies are strictly necessary: they keep you signed in, help you finish a checkout and remember your cookie choice. If you say yes, we also use Google Analytics cookies to see which pages help people most. We ask first, nothing is set unless you agree, and we use no advertising cookies.
What cookies are
Cookies are small text files that a website asks your browser to store. They let the site remember something from one page or visit to the next, such as the fact that you have signed in.
The cookies we use
| Cookie | What it does | Type | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|---|
| vt_session | Keeps you signed in. It is set when you sign in and holds a random token, of which we store only a hash. Scripts on the page cannot read it (it is httpOnly). | Strictly necessary | Up to 60 days, or until you sign out |
| vt_in | Set and removed together with vt_session. It holds only the value 1, so our pages know to show a link to your account instead of a sign-in link. It contains nothing about you. | Strictly necessary | Up to 60 days, or until you sign out |
| vt_checkout | Set when you start a checkout. It holds your order reference, so that when you come back from the payment page we can find your order and, if we have just created your account, sign you in. | Strictly necessary | Up to 2 hours, and removed when you come back from payment |
| vt_consent | Remembers whether you said yes or no to analytics cookies, so we do not ask on every page. It holds only your answer. | Strictly necessary | 6 months, then we ask again |
| _ga and _ga_ followed by an ID | Set by Google Analytics, only if you accept analytics cookies. They tell visits apart with a random number, so we can count visitors and see which pages they use. They do not identify you. | Analytics (only with your consent) | 2 years, or until you say no or clear your cookies |
Our own cookies are sent only over secure connections. If you never sign in, start a checkout or answer the cookie question, we do not set any of them.
We also count visits to the site ourselves, without any cookies and without storing anything on your device: our privacy notice explains what this records.
Asking for your consent
Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, a website must ask for your consent before setting cookies, unless they are strictly necessary for a service you have asked for. Our own cookies are strictly necessary, so they do not need consent. Google Analytics cookies are not, so we ask first: on your first visit you can accept or reject them, with buttons of equal weight. Until you accept, Google Analytics does not load at all.
When analytics is on, we send Google each page address ourselves, with registrations and private links to reports and sign-in pages taken out, so that information never reaches Google.
Local storage on your device
To save you typing, the site may store the last registration you searched for in your browser's local storage. It stays on your device and is not used to track you. You can remove it at any time by clearing your browser's data for vettly.co.uk.
Paying with Stripe
When you pay, you complete your payment on a page run by Stripe, our payment provider. Stripe may set its own cookies on that page, for example to prevent fraud. Stripe's own policies apply to them, and Stripe's privacy policy explains more.
Managing cookies
You can change your mind about analytics cookies at any time with the Cookie settings link at the foot of every page. If you switch them off, we delete the Google Analytics cookies from your browser.
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block our cookies, you can still run free checks, but you will not be able to sign in or stay signed in, and we will not be able to sign you in automatically after a purchase.
If this changes
If we ever want to use other cookies, we will update this policy first, and ask for your consent before setting any that are not strictly necessary.