I wanted to ask for some advice. What can sitters do when a sit gets cancelled just a few days before the start date?
We already have our flights booked to London for April 14th, and now we suddenly find ourselves without accommodation after having everything agreed for months.
As far as I understand, the “last minute” section is mainly for hosts, so what options do sitters actually have in this situation?
It’s quite an unpleasant and vulnerable feeling to be left without a place to stay with such short notice, especially after planning everything in advance.
Do you think it would be appropriate to mention our situation on our THS profile, in case any hosts might come across it and need a sitter?
Any advice or experiences would be really appreciated
I don’t think you’ll have too much trouble finding another sit. I just did a quick search for the period 15-30th April in England without specifying types of pet, duration or any other filters. there are nearly 200 sits available.
Are there any last minute sits anywhere near London (anywhere within 100 miles may work with the public transport system) you can apply for?
I’m not sure of your budget but there are a number of travelodges or premier inns in outer London for as little as £35 a day.
Sorry to hear about the cancellation ( was this in anyway related to international travel situation ) ?
The good news is that your flight is to the UK where there are hundreds of sits listed for those dates .
The chances that hosts will see your profile amongst the tens of thousands of sitter profiles is very slim . However , if you change your location in your sitter profile to London - your profile is more likely to be seen by hosts who are based in London .This is because the search function brings up “local “ sitters first .
Then add a sentence to your experience section ( this is what is seen first ) explaining that your flights to U.K. are booked and you arrive in U.K. on xx date .
Is it London specifically you are looking for or any region in the U.K. ?
If your flight is to Gatwick - (classed as a LONDON airport ) it’s actually in Sussex where there are many lovely sits listed . It is also easy to travel to Kent, Hampshire and many other places from Gatwick.
Unless you have the top membership tier that includes cancellation cover there’s not too much you can do.
Try and find another sit
Travel and stay in hotels
Cancel your travel and absorb the flight cost
Hope that something happens to cancel your travel and have travel insurance cover it
You can open a member dispute with THS if you feel the owner doesn’t have a good enough reason to cancel this late in the day. Probably won’t go anywhere but if they are regularly doing this to sitters it may accomplish something.
I recall a homeowner saying on here years ago they were suing their sitter who cancelled last minute forcing them to cancel their trip and lose money. Don’t remember who they were or if they ever reported back. They did say they were a lawyer. You’re not a lawyer are you?
The lawyer would not win the case. The sitter did not force him to cancel his trip. The lawyer chose to cancel his trip without making other arrangements. You would think he can easily afford a private sitter. Or he can board the pets. If it’s in the US he can be responsible for her court cost once he loses.
Even if they have premium membership, cancellation coverage only applies if the sit is cancelled within 14 prior to the sit. If it has been already cancelled on the platform, it would not apply. If it’s just a private message, that’s different.
Thank you for your answer. No hard feelings towards the host. The reason for the cancellation is completely understandable, health issues. These things happen, sometimes at the worst possible moment.
If it’s a US carrier then it’s likely you can get credit minus a penalty for another flight at a later time. So check with your airlines on what you can do. You could also look for hotel deals if that’s withing your budget. I’ve noticed that outskirts of London and places where you might be able to go in for a few hours (especially if it is a cat sit) don’t go as fast as trips in the city itself so you could keep looking but it’s unlikely you are going to find the exact days you planned.
Premium would not have helped in this case as it’s more than two weeks so don’t beat yourself up about not having it.
You can certainly mention it in your profile but I would put it in a way that implies your openess to other than London in case you apply to a lot of places to use your air credit.
I am sorry to hear that. But getting a cancellation for somewhere like the UK is probably one of the best case scenarios as far as finding another sit–particularly if traveling internationally and having invested in potentially expensive flights– especially with almost 3 weeks to go.
Not sure how long you were planning on staying, or if you only wanted to go to London specifically, but if you happened to not find something there, you can easily get to the rest of the country via train or bus. We house sat in the UK for six months last year and finding sits was incredibly easy, even with being limited to sits that didn’t require a car. In that whole stretch we only needed to pay for one night accommodation.
Not sure where in London the sit was, but there are lots of sits in the outer boroughs. I know this might not be as appealing if your location was more central, but having done some sits in such areas, there are lots of really nice towns.
So still heading over there and finding another sit I think it totally doable if you were still hoping to get over there and are open to other areas.
Also, that you already have flights booked would probably give you a leg up with your applications.
If you have travel insurance, check to see if it covers your host cancelling due to health reasons which sounds like this is the case in your situation. As sitters, we had a similar scenario years ago. It was an international sit and the homeowner had an accident and couldn’t travel. Our insurance had a clause covering us due to the host having an injury and we were fully covered for the cost of our flights. Definitely worth checking - good luck!
Firstly, I’m really sorry this has happened — it’s such an unsettling position to be in, especially with flights already booked. It does sound like you’re taking a very balanced and practical approach though, which will stand you in good stead now.
As you’ve said, sometimes these things genuinely can’t be helped, so the most useful focus is on what you can do from here — and there are still good options.
Even though the “last minute” label tends to feel host-focused, in reality this is exactly the kind of situation where it works in your favour. There are often plenty of sits that haven’t yet had many applications, particularly within a couple of weeks of the start date. It’s worth checking frequently, being flexible on location within London (and even just outside), and applying quickly with a short, tailored message explaining your situation. Many hosts really appreciate sitters who are ready to step in at short notice.
A couple of practical things that can help:
Check listings multiple times a day — new sits do pop up regularly
Look for low-application or newly listed sits rather than just “last minute”
Be open to slightly shorter or overlapping sits to bridge gaps if needed
Make sure your profile is fully up to date and clearly shows your availability
On mentioning it in your profile — you could add a brief line about being available at short notice, but I wouldn’t rely on that alone. Proactive applications will likely get you a faster result.
Given your dates and destination, I’d be optimistic that something suitable will come up — London tends to have a steady flow of listings, even close to the start date.
Wishing you the best of luck with it — it sounds like you’re approaching it in exactly the right way.
@MyrCar, gosh that’s nasty.
We’ve been in your situation on two occasions - in a foreign country where pet parent cancels housesit at last minute. Ugh. Stressful. Time deep breath. Encourage read Sit Cancellation Insurance terms.
One of our cancellations was in a large US city with lots of other housesits. We determined best bad action was to take a last-minute marginal housesit and get through it (there were reasons why not attracted housesitter!). One of our cancellations was in Schengen area with zero other active listings in country (so Sit Cancellation Insurance applied).
Depending on your THS membership level then you may have Sit Cancellation Insurance. But it’s probably worthless in a big city like London as there are ample unfilled housesits. Perhaps THS MS Sit Cancellation Insurance mindset has changed - doubt it - but suggest engage with THS but definitely not assume insurance eligible.
Encourage setup plenty of Saved Searches for UK, nevermind London. Some domestic flights or train fares are less expensive than a single nights accommodation. Time to embrace creativity.
Sit cancellation only applies to cancellations that are within 14 days of the start date - this sit was cancelled was 21 .+ days before so wouldn’t qualify for a claim.
If you are still headed to London, and looking for sits in SE England, I strongly recommend National Express bus service. They have a good service to a huge range of provincial destinations, with tickets at a fraction of the price of trains.
Many Forum threads have offered ideas & encouragement to THS to enhance coverage under Sit Cancellation Insurance. With alas zero impact.
And even if cancellation had occurred within 14 days of start date (maximum per THS policy) then a THS Premium member would still be required to let THS MS find an alternative sit (unclear if housesitter required accept proposed sit) and any alternative accommodation must be within 20 miles of housesit property (for seemingly no credible reason, especially for international housesitter - good luck finding hotel/airbnb for US$150/night in central London).
This example - long distance international housesitter cancelled 21 days from start date with zero coverage, and frankly limited value benefit even if within max 14 days start date - seems yet another example of challenge of very limited coverage terms under THS Sit Cancellation Insurance. It remains our suspicion that a portion of THS Premium members may even pay incremental annual fee for enhanced sit cancellation insurance. As it can make a big difference - as per OP example.
Thank you!
Yes, I agree that the UK is one of the best places to find last-minute sits. We’ve actually been house-sitting in the UK for 3 years (on and off), and as you said, it’s relatively easy to find something.
The problem is that I’m not really a last-minute person, and I can feel the clock ticking
THS is definitely stretching my flexibility, patience, and creativity.
We’re open and a bit flexible about areas outside London, but I’ve also made this mistake before, applying for the first thing that more or less fits, and it wasn’t a great experience.
Applying out of urgency or desperation is a guaranteed way to disappoint your future self.
I believe the solution to your problem lies in your hands. There are plenty of house sits available in and around London which has great transport links as you know.
Many of us have had this situation and found a new house sit and sometimes better than the original.
THS can be blamed for many things but I don’t think they are “stretching your flexibility, patience and creativity” as you have had time to find an alternative.
