Hi Jonty,
Some people are more prone to being bitten than others. I used to get bitten like mad, then when I started going through the menopause they didn't touch me at all. Must be something in the skin.
Generally if you have animals in the house, you will get flees. You need to get flee spray on the areas where your animals have access, and that is floors (wooden or carpeted), furniture, cushions, everything basically. Generally you should start doing this in late spring - it is the heat of summer which makes then breed like wildfire. Obviously you should also treat your animals. The best treatment I have found is the Frontline spray, available from your vet - it is expensive, but you do not need to use a lot of it. As I said, it is expensive, but I do believe that a law came in earlier this year allowing it to be sold by other companies, not solely vets. So you could try searching the internet to get the best price.
Also, with regard to the flee spray for use on the floors and furniture, my friend found out on the internet that if you put washing up liquid in water - that had the same effect - and is obviously a lot cheaper. However, I do not know where she got this information from, so it may not be accurate. Hope this all helps - by the way I own 4 big dogs, so know a bit about flees. 8-)