Well it happened. My sit was canceled for legitimate reasons and I was left with a non refundable air ticket worth 1000 dollars.
The higher level THS membership does not cover airfare.
A refundable ticket would have been about 1500 dollars.
IMHO THS should have an insurance plan that covers this. We can barely afford to absorb these losses when we’re sitting for free.
I ended up being able to change my itinerary and dates a little and took a much shorter trip since I no longer had 9 free days of lodging. I happened to acquire a new boyfriend while was there and he’s arriving this Thursday for a visit. So not a total loss.
If you’re laying out money you can’t afford to lose, it’s worth considering travel insurance.
If THS added such coverage automatically, all the costs would inevitably be spread across membership. And some members already have their own policies or wouldn’t necessarily want to pay for it.
@Maggie8K Would travel insurance cover that? I assumed that travel insurance wouldn’t cover losses due to a cancelled house sit. Maybe it depends on the policy. The policies I’ve looked at were only for illness, etc.
It depends on the policy, so I’d check. Generally, it’s better if you can afford to handle changes and/or buy airfare that you can change, even at a markup. That’s because insurers typically do the math and often come out ahead.
For transparency, I used to work at NerdWallet, which produced that content. Its writers travel extensively and closely read fine print and often talk to businesses about specifics to address questions that consumers might have. Some of the writers are nomads as well. They typically travel on points and try to lay out as little money as possible. To them, it’s fun, LOL.
I have travel insurance that covers cancellation of a trip in the event of ‘the death, serious injury or illness of … anyone outside your home area that you had planned to stay with’ so depending on the reasons for the homeowners cancellation, it could theoretically be covered. Given that some sort of proof would inevitably be required, I think it would be difficult to make a successful claim. I can hardly imagine asking a homeowner who’d cancelled to send me a doctor’s note as proof, and certainly not a death certificate.
I’ve never encountered any travel insurance that would cover you in this scenario. You are essentially choosing not to take your flight because your accommodation that was free is no longer being provided for free.
You could certainly try a bespoke insurance but that would be costly and have a lot of limitations similar to those of the trustedhousesitters insurance.
The easy way out of this situation is buy refundable tickets or tickets that can be changed. I know they cost more but at least sitters don’t lose money if they home owner cancels.
I’m sure there have been instances where the HO was left high and dry when a sitter cancelled days before the sit. They would have the same problems. Either fork out for a paid sit, kennels etc or cancel the trip.
I’m going to check our travel insurance , no this situation is not covered.
I am curious to hear what happens for you, I had a HO cancel the night before a sit when I had already arrived in town and was staying at a hotel before meeting them on the day of the departure. I elected not to file a claim for reimbursement as it was a much lower price point ($150 for the hotel and I guess the petrol and tolls to get there, about another $100) and it was not a hardship for my budget.
It sounds like it wasn’t as bad a loss for you as it could have been which is good. It’s a shame the airlines didn’t keep their more generous change and cancellation policies they had for the covid times.
At some point someone will stand to lose a very large sum of money for a late cancellation by an owner or a sitter. With a family or a couple losing out on long haul flights or a very long costly hotel bill it could be more of a loss than they are able to brush off.
I’m not going to spend time discussing each person’s insurance and what it does or doesn’t do, LOL.
For the OP, best to check with insurers if you want to explore that possibility. The link I posted earlier mentions this, which probably is your best shot, if they would cover (I don’t know and am not personally invested in whether insurance does or not, because I can handle cancellations and such financially personally):
Cancel For Any Reason trip insurance
So what if you want the flexibility to cancel your trip for reasons other than those covered by your policy? For that, you’re going to need the CFAR insurance mentioned above.
CFAR is often available as an add-on to travel insurance policies, and while it can come in handy if you want to cancel your trip just because, you’re not likely to get all your money back.
Most CFAR policies will only reimburse 75% of your nonrefundable travel expenditures.
One more time, as mentioned before more than once, I had cancel for any reason insurance.
I’m afraid you’re missing the entire point of this post and seem to be focused on the sitters ability to absorb a financial loss. I can handle this financial loss too. But I really shouldn’t have to. THS could self insure these sorts of losses for those who opted into the higher level membership.
Cancel for any reason insurance is exactly what I got. And it does not cover cancellations by unrelated people like a homeowner who is ill. It would only cover me and my family members illness.
Please reread the OP, because it mentions the ability to absorb financial loss. I focused on what the OP requested and pointed them toward a resource to explore. As I’m sure you know, insurers differ on their coverage, so I wouldn’t use anecdotal info. If they talk to insurers if they choose to, maybe they can get what they need. If not, they’ll know that, too.
You will not find any insurer who will cover cancelations not related to the affected individual or their immediate family.
Your continued assertions that they exist is distracting from the point of the post which is THS could and should offer an insurance policy for the losses incurred when a HO cancels.
Perhaps you could find an example for the forum of a policy that will cover cancelations related to the circumstances of unrelated strangers. We’re waiting.
