Received call from host the day before the 3 week sit was to start that they needed to cancel due to a recent health diagnosis requiring immediate treatments. Understandably the situation was beyond anyone’s control.
I immediately notified THS and made inquiry as to submitting a cancellation claim with my THS Premium membership via chat. I received instructions on what required criteria were necessary and details I needed to provide and within minutes had an email outlining the same and how to submit.
This sit was in London and I was on another sit, long term repeats, now friends who offered to accommodate me the entire 3 weeks but I just couldn’t do that. I stayed 2 additional nights with them, looked for other sits and went to a hotel.
May 10 Claim submitted May 16 Confirmation that it had been submitted to claims adjuster and that it could take up to 30 days
June 4 Notifified that claim had been approved. Given a form to initiate transfer of funds to my account and that could take 7-10 days to receive reimbursement.
June 6 Funds received
Thank you THS for your support, extraordinary team, Ari, James, Georgie and all who work quietly in the background.
And in the words of Snoop Dogg,
Thank you me for being a Premium member.
This is very encouraging to read. If we ever branch out beyond local sits here in the UK and Perth Australia having read about your experience I would certainly upgrade to Premium…
I’m curious though whether THS require evidence from the HO if it’s a genuine emergency?
Also did you have to pay the excess of £50?
Hi @BonnyinBrighton
They required screenshots of our messages relevant to the cancellation and reason.
To my knowledge the HO was not contacted.
To my understanding, it had to show that cxl was HO initiated.
My hotel bill was $1800. It was a very nice place with daily full breakfast. The criteria clearly states it must be within 20 miles of the sit and this was a prime location and a very upscale residence.
The cancellation plan covers up to $1500 per incident minus $100 processing. I received $1400.
I essentially paid $500 out of pocket for 18 nights in London. My flight expenses don’t factor in as I had several months worth of sits here, where I wanted to be.
@Amparo thats really good to know that the sit guarantee worked and that it was paid promptly and also that the HOs prognosis is good . Thank you for updating the forum.
@BonnyinBrighton hopefully you won’t ever be in this situation however if it happens the alternative accommodation must be within 20 miles of the sit that cancelled - so even if you find cheaper accommodation slightly further away THS sit guarantee won’t cover it .
In some remote areas there won’t be alternate accommodation available within 20 miles so you won’t be covered at all and in some cities the nightly rate for alternative accommodation will exceed what THS covers ($150 per night ) so you won’t be fully reimbursed…just some things to take into consideration when making a Plan B .
I haven’t got Premium membership but, am I right in thinking that if cancelled and I was more than 20 miles away from the sit I would have to move to within 20 miles in order to claim?
“ we will never pay Sitters under this Plan where:””…
6. The Alternative Accommodation that the Sitter uses is further than 20 miles (32 kilometres) from the location of the original Sit.”
I’m trying to thinking of any location where there wouldn’t be accommodation within 20 miles though…. even in Australia in quite remote coastal areas we’ve stayed in Airbnbs when driving around. Possibly in Queensland if the sit was on a sheep station….
And if we were only reimbursed part of the nightly cost it’d still be nice for us I think as we are only doing this for fun.
Thanks @Amparo for the good information and other’s clarification on what is covered. It’s good to know i do have a premium membership as i upgraded prior to leaving in February for my UK sits that I had through May.
@BonnyinBrighton There are places where it might be difficult to find a hotel that’s available at the last minute. I had a 10-day sit cancelled 4 days before the sit was to start in a small, but popular town in Switzerland last summer. I had a really hard time finding accommodations because everything was fully booked. I ended up having to split the 10 days between 2 hotels because there were no other options.
Yes certainly timing and seasonal availability is a variable. I wonder if THS allows exceptions if you’re able to prove that no accommodation was available in a 20 miles radius?
@BonnyinBrighton I asked them when I was having trouble finding accommodations and they said no, if it was farther than 20 miles it would not be covered.
Happy Friday! 
