I just emailed THS again. Our claim was approved Aug 1, but money still not deposited. I’ve been told on 3 separate occasions (Aug 4, Aug 24, Sep 16) that there was one problem or another and it will be deposited in 7-10 working days.
I’ve now asked if they can PayPal it to me instead, or even just send me a cheque. I do believe I will eventually get the money but sheesh, this is getting a bit silly.
So anyway, that’s my update for those who were asking.
@Smiley We are at a similar point in our THS sitter journey as you- started Dec 2018 now on Sit 53 and we too have remained with the basic membership. I personally see no benefit from upgrading when our current membership has always worked for us.
We too had several sits cancelled in Australia (Perth area) when the pandemic started. We’d just arrived in WA for 3 months of Sits, completed the first one, and then the world shut down and our other 4 sits had to cancel…
Because we’d planned to stay 3 months anyway we did not try to leave the country- as many did- as it would have been me back to the UK & the (now!) hubby back to Germany. We stayed on in Australia and our 2nd hosts, where we’d been due to sit 6 weeks, put us in contact with some wonderful friends who basically gifted us their beach house-where we ended up staying 3 months! Talk about being taken care of- they were our guardian angels!! 
And when finally the internal borders of WA opened people were able to travel north and we quickly picked up 4 new sits which took us up to 5 months in Aus (visa extended etc) when we were finally able to leave! What a ride! We’re so grateful for our wonderful experiences in Australia. 
How fantastic! But it could have been very different
Our experience. On a sit in France recently we were advised that the owner were coming home early. We were invited to stay on (with the owners in residence) but decided that we preferred to move to a hotel.
We did not consider this to be a cancellation of the sit and so did not make a claim on our Premium membership.
I guess it may not have been treated as a cancellation anyway because you were invited to stay
@smiley Yes absolutely! We were so lucky. We felt totally blessed and extremely grateful. In all those 5 months being locked down in Western Australia we only spent a total of 2 weeks in airbnb accomodation! Housesitting (and our kind benefactors) really saved us. We had friends who got stranded in Melbourne at that time and it was a very different story for them…
I had been housesitting & travelling in NZ & was about to do my first Oz sit in Brisbane when the pandemic hit. I just got out in time back to the UK!
Have you had the money yet?
Not yet, but they think they’ve sorted out the problem. I hope. They kept sending the money and it kept coming back. Turns out they needed a Swift code from my bank and the money has to go thru a couple of intermediaries before it arrives. They are trying again today. It’ll be another 7-10 business days. Fingers crossed. It’s too bad that they wire transfer money only though. PayPal could have been done in a week.
I’m definitely sticking to my original basic membership
Oh I would totally file a claim. Just make sure when you give them your banking info, you call your bank first and ask for an international wire transfer number. We would have had our money months ago if we’d known that.
Just thought I’d update our insurance claim saga.
Another month gone by but no money. It seems there’s only one way for the insurance company to send us the money and that is with an international bank transfer. Trouble is, it doesn’t work, it gets hung up in limbo somewhere. I’ve been on the phone with my bank and shared the info with THS but it’s not working.
I’ve asked THS if they can mail me a cheque (nope, they don’t have cheques), if they can send it via PayPal (doesn’t look like it), or if they can put it on my credit card like they would if they are giving me a refund (no response on that suggestion yet).
I know other people have received the money from an insurance claim but I guess none were Canadians?
And so we continue to wait.
That’s not good to hear @Kelownagurl. You’ve been very patient and cooperative over this. Really makes one wonder whether the higher tier memberships are worth it. I’ll stick to my old Classic membership!
@Kelownagurl with all the ways to pay someone quickly these days this is sad to hear. They’ve found a way to receive our membership fees easily no matter where we live.
Me too. I’ve never been convinced about the other memberships, brought in after the pandemic to no doubt make more money. Sadly it’s likely going to bite them in the proverbial and backfire!
This is not good. So sorry you’re having to fight for your rightful claim
Well I do believe we will eventually get our money but it is kind of amazing that they’ve had this much trouble. I lay most of the blame on the insurance company, rather than THS though.
Hi @Kelownagurl I’m sorry that this is taking so long to settle … Please Direct Message me if there is anything I can do to help.
It’s going to be ok.
Hang in there.
I don’t work for THS but I know that these things always take time. I am still waiting to settle my claims for lost luggage from 3 different entities that is now well over 3 months and . It’s challenging and frustrating.
Bureaucracy is always a pain where the sun doesn’t shine. 
just keep facing towards the sun.
I can’t believe you still haven’t had compensation. I wonder who has your luggage and contents….