Hi @Kootenaigirl just for reference owners who have chosen the Premium Membership Plan have this indicated on their listing.
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I agree that we can see who has Premium membership but we cannot see who has standard rather than basic.
If I apply for a sitting I donāt feel that I should ask what level of membership the HO has. If I mention that it is for insurance purposes, then they may see that as a red flag on me.
This whole issue of Insurance is a minefield.
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@mars thanks and this will be useful to alot of peopleā¦I really must go back over all the THS T&C, policy, insurance etc and we probably all should make ourselves aware of things that are more often than not just scanned!
I think (for transparency) on each profile, be it the Sitterās or HOās, the type of membership should be shown.
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@Therese From your message:
āincluding individuals invited to be present at a Home by the Sitter(s) during a Sitā
It does appear that the insurance covers guests as well. It would be a large gap if it did not, because otherwise the HO is exposed to anything that a visitor does whether authorized or not.
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@analognomad ā¦ I think it is important to note that no one is allowed on the sit without the ownerās permission (would always advise this in writing) so I suppose that if they have it in writing from the owner that they can have guests then it would be covered. However, there is always a fine line with insurance companies, and this has not been tested here yet. With sitterās guests around, whether the sitter did it or the guest, I would imagine the sitter would still need to take full responsibility.
I expect that in both cases the sitter would ultimately be responsible. Insurance doesnāt change who is responsible, it changes who has to decide whether itās worth the effort to try to recover that money.
The HO insurance isnāt removing ANY responsibility from the sitter it is just giving the HO assurance that they will be made whole without having to chase a possibly nomadic sitter through the courts.
As a HO with the THS insurance based on term I would expect that THS covers my home contents and it is up to THS to decide based on the circumstances and cost whether to pursue anything with the sitter (and/or the uninvited guest directly).
@analognomad ā¦ Just to clarify, as a homeowner, should a sitter do damage, and your homeownerās insurance does not cover this, we would submit all the information to our third-party insurance provider, Guardhog and their underwriters would decide whether to pay this or not.
TrustedHousesitters do not pursue any payments from sitters. We may ask the sitter, if they admit to the damage.
Hello-
I sent the following email on August 28th and still have not received a response (I sent it again last week).
ā I was hoping to get more clarify on how the sitter insurance works.
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How do you submit for reimbursement?
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Can you explain this, as someone who does this full time will I be cover for any sit the whole year or just the first 3 sits- the first 3 sits part is confusingā¦The terms and conditions state: āYouāre covered up to 30 days annually over as many sits as you like. Or, if you choose to do longer sits, then rest assured youāre still covered for your first 3 sits each year, even if they span over 30 days.ā
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I noticed a line that stated you had to stay in the area where the sit was cancelled. What if you are traveling to a new sit you found since the owner cancelled on you? Wouldnāt that be unexpected that you had to leave and find another sit because you were cancelled on? Likely the next sit we have to scramble to find is not going to be in the same city?
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I also see that THS states they expect the sitter to contribute $50, to the claim. Is this per claim or per night? For example, if I get canceled on and have to stay in a hotel for 5 nights, I would assume I would submit a claim for 5 nights and pay $50 towards the total sum of charges for the 5 nights, is that correct?
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How do you submit the reimbursement form? It seems communication is very delayed and I am trying to decide if this service would be worth the additional cost
In addition, this would likely be a time I am traveling to another sit I found to replace the cancelled sit, so it would be in several locations, as I travel, going back to my other question, would this be covered because itās not in that same city as the sit in which the owner cancelled?
Thank you for your additional help and any clarity you can provide would be appreciated.ā
In addition to hoping to have these questions answered, I am curious what other sitters think of the premium membership? What have your experiences been and would you recommend it?
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I have many of these same questionsā¦thanks for asking.
Hi @mzb welcome to our community forum there have been a number of conversations around the insurance product benefits included in the new tiered memberships and I have moved your post to this specific Insurance related topic. A conversation about insurance
Iām sorry that you have not received a response from Membership Services, the team are in the process of getting back to pre-COVID strength with a number of agents still in training and incoming inquiries and messages are increasing as members are becoming more active, Iām bringing @Therese into this reply who will pick this up for you when she is back online.
Once again we do apologise for the delay and again welcome to the forum we hope you will stay and look around at all of the interesting conversations and as a full time sitter we are sure you will have much to contribute and many great experiences to share.
Thank you
Angela and the Team
Hi @steplinn and welcome to our community forum I have moved your question into this Insurance topic and the questions your refer to which have been asked by @mzb will be addressed by Membership Services through @Therese when she is back online.
We hope you will take a moment to look around the forum and enjoy connecting with other members on many different topics of conversation. We look forward to getting to know you and sharing in your TrustedHousesitters journey.
Angela and the Team
Hello!
We upgraded recently for fears of having a slew of COVID related cancellations and that cancelation insurance looked quite nice.
The caveat to that: you have to book your hotel in the same city of the cancelled sit.
So in our instance we were in Tucson on a Monday, found out that our sit in New Mexico (one state east, short flight) that was to start 4 days later cancelled.
In order to take advantage of that reimbursement for the hotel, we would have had to go to New Mexico and book a hotel there while looking for other options. And trust me when I say there are few options for house sits or hotels in this remote part of New Mexico.
So we cancelled the flights we had already booked and started scouring the site for nearby sits. We were lucky and found one an hours drive away and only needed an Airbnb for two nights.
But of course, we paid for those nights as they werenāt covered in the cancellation insurance.
Iām sure itāll come in handy sometime. Weāve had 3 sits cancel on us in 1 month. (Be safe out there yāall!).
As for the airport lounges - you only get two passes every 12 months, so if you are traveling with a companion/partner, you can use it for one journey. So choose your lounge wisely!
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To answer your questions: I hope this helps clarify a little more.
Kind regards Therese
- How do you submit for reimbursement?
We review a claim and compile all the required evidence to determine if it meets the policy terms. If it does, we submit a claim with our insurance partners. This claim can then take up to 30 days to be reviewed by them.
- Can you explain this, as someone who does this full time will I be cover for any sit the whole year or just the first 3 sits- the first 3 sits part is confusingā¦The terms and conditions state: āYouāre covered up to 30 days annually over as many sits as you like. Or, if you choose to do longer sits, then rest assured youāre still covered for your first 3 sits each year, even if they span over 30 days.ā
Apologies for any confusion with this. Most sitters do not sit for more than 30 days in a year but we recognise that some do sit full time or do long sits, so we added this clause. It basically means that if your first 3 sits in a membership year span over the 30 day period, you can still claim.
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I noticed a line that stated you had to stay in the area where the sit was cancelled. What if you are traveling to a new sit you found since the owner cancelled on you? Wouldnāt that be unexpected that you had to leave and find another sit because you were cancelled on? Likely the next sit we have to scramble to find is not going to be in the same city?
Unfortunately a claim for accomodation away from the original sit location would invalidate a claim. The policy is designed to help you obtain alternative accomodation in the area where the sit was confirmed. -
I also see that THS states they expect the sitter to contribute $50, to the claim. Is this per claim or per night? For example, if I get canceled on and have to stay in a hotel for 5 nights, I would assume I would submit a claim for 5 nights and pay $50 towards the total sum of charges for the 5 nights, is that correct?
Correct, the excess payment is a one off and not a per night charge. -
How do you submit the reimbursement form? It seems communication is very delayed and I am trying to decide if this service would be worth the additional cost.
Assuming that you are able to supply proof (notification of cancellation, receipts for alternative accommodation, etc) in a timely manner, it would take us 2-3 working days to submit the claim and a further 30 days (approximately) to have the claim completed by our partners. Itās important to be aware that this policy requires the claimant to pay for the alternative accommodation and then claim it back. We do not make any payments up front.
In addition, this would likely be a time I am traveling to another sit I found to replace the cancelled sit, so it would be in several locations, as I travel, going back to my other question, would this be covered because itās not in that same city as the sit in which the owner cancelled?
If you are able to secure another sit for the same dates, you would not be able to claim through the policy. The policy is designed to support members where they have been unable to make alternative arrangements after a sit is cancelled.
Hey fellow sitters!
Iāve been sitting with TrustedHousesitters since 2014, but unfortunately, just had my first cancellation experience MID-sit here in Florida. The owner got sick and had to return home early, cutting the sit short by almost 2 weeks.
I have no ill feelings toward the owner, but I am starting to worry that THS might not be as supportive as Iād hoped. I have the Premium membership, which includes sit cancellation insurance. I emailed THS immediately on Oct. 6 notifying them of the owner cutting my sit short, but I never received a reply to that email. It is now Oct. 8.
It seems to me that paying for a Premium membership should entail having a dedicated support line for emergencies such as this. Iām spending $1,500 on finding last-minute accommodations to cover me for what was supposed to be the remainder of the sitāand Iām worried Iāll never be reimbursed. Iām a solo traveler, and Iām feeling quite unsupported and without a safety net.
I guess Iād love to hear members who have successfully filed a claim with THS and got it approved. Iām starting to doubt the insurance really works.
Thanks!
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Hi @travelbug234 welcome to our community forum, thank you for joining, we can certainly help with this. I will tag @Therese and @Katie_Mc from membership services who will assist, Iām sorry you havenāt had a response to your emails, I will check on that also.
Iām going to move your post to a thread focussed on the question of insurance. I hope you will explore the forum and other topics. Meanwhile I will pass this directly over to to the Team who will respond by direct email when they are back online.
Welcome again and I will make sure you get the information you need as soon as the team are available.
Angela and the Team
@travelbug234 How disappointing to have your sit cancelled mid way. I do hope you get a satisfactory outcome from your insurance claim with THS. As the Premium tier memberships are new, Iām sure fellow members will be interested to learn of the outcome in relation to your claim to help them decide whether to upgrade or not.
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@temba Thank you so much for the kind words. I will definitely keep everyone updated on how the insurance claim turns out! I still havenāt received a reply to the email I sent to the support team about filing a claim
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@travelbug234 We are following this up for you via Membership Services, I have sent details directly to the team who will pick this up when they are back online ā¦ once again we apologize for any delay.
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Hi @travelbug234 I just spoke with Membership Services, Laura emailed you yesterday (Friday) thank you for responding, we have also heard from the owners and have all of your information which is now with @Paul-Head-MS who manages insurance claims/issues.
If you need any additional support please feel free to DM me at anytime.