I am a Premium member and I noticed by chance that the “Sit guarantee” is now called “Sit Cancellation Plan”
& the terms & conditions have also been changed on 11th March 2024.
I did not receive notification by e-mail of this which I would have expected since I am a Premium member . Did any other Premium members receive notice of the changes to the sit guarantee T&Cs ?
It’s difficult to spot what the changes as I don’t have a copy of the previous terms to compare with . However I noticed this part …
“This Plan is not an insurance policy and is not intended to replace the Sitters’ own insurance contracts.It is the responsibility of the Sitter to ensure that they have appropriate insurance in place to cover losses from having to source Alternative Accommodation due to a Pet Parent cancelling Unexpectedly.
If loss is suffered by a Sitter as a result of having to source Alternative Accommodation due to a Pet Parent cancelling Unexpectedly, we may at our sole discretion pay the Sitter up to $1500 (or foreign currency equivalent), at a limit of $150 per night, for up to 30 nights per membership year.
This is definitely a change in wording. It sounds like they can just decline to pay even if all the requirements are met. I guess I won’t bother with premium in the future.
That does sound dodgy the “at our discretion part”. There was also no requirement that you carry some kind of private insurance for this. In my case, if a sit I was flying to got cancelled and I was going with my partner and had a sitter coming, I would need to cancel that sitter. We’d be out about $200 on our plane ticket change to a future e-ticket fee, but we wouldn’t be stuck with possibly over $1000 in accomodations. If we knew we could claim the insurance and get some reimbursement on accomodations, we’d let the sitter come and wind up spending some of our own money on accomodations knowing we’d get something back.
As a petparent, I understand that sometimes petparents have to cancel travel plans due to pet illnesses. I would hate to do that to the sitter, but without the reimbursement for us as sitters, it wouldn’t be affordable for us to travel. The sitter we chose would wind up being the one bearing the cost. We can’t offer the sitter guest accomodations because we live in a one bedroom and work from home.
We paid more for the insurance to protect ourselves AND other sitters. THS really needs to think through this policy. It should be simple and transparent.
This also is going to make it more difficult for some Petparents to find Sitters. As a sitter, I already think twice about sitting for very old pets, especially those already suffering from illnesses, but this would make it even more of a precarious call for a sitter as a last minute cancellation for a good reason is more likely than for a younger healthier pet.
The entire system would just work better for everyone if there were clearer rules about the insurance on both ends and how to activate it.
If it is such a significant change in policy surely it warrants an email to all affected members or at the very least an update in the most recent newsletter.
Thanks for staying on top of these changes @Silversitters We also didn’t get any updates via email. Since we have unlimited lounge access through our credit card, I guess the “Premium membership” is no longer worth paying for.
We’re also premium dual members and didn’t get any email from THS notifying us of this change. But guess what, their T&Cs from Nov 2023 provided by @meow says they don’t have to and we’ve all agreed to that! They have posted the change on the website per tge T&Cs.
*6. Changes to TrustedHousesitters Guarantee terms *
Sitters acknowledge and agree that to the extent permissible by applicable law in your jurisdiction, TrustedHousesitters reserve the right to modify or terminate these Guarantee Terms, at any time, at Our sole discretion.
…
If We modify these Guarantee Terms, We will post the modification on TrustedHousesitters’ website.
Hi @Silversitters
I see that, as a Premium Member, you are entitled to Dedicated Member Support. I don’t have that so don’t know what it entails.
Are you able to use that to discuss this change?
I e-mailed member services and received a reply that it was a name change only and therefore no need to inform Premium members.
However as @systaran and @meow have already mentioned it is a change of wording and requirements in the T&Cs not just a name change .
I have no idea what the “dedicated member support “ for Premium members is - I am not aware of access to anything other than the general e-mail everyone uses .
Understandably, there are a few questions and concerns about the wording update, so we shared this thread with Membership Services and they would like to reassure you that the claim process, claim limits, and excess have not changed. Still, the wording was updated to make it compliant and clarify that we do not offer insurance of any kind as this is not an insurance policy.
That’s all the information that the Forum team have but if you have any specific questions or concerns please reach out to the Membership Services Team as they will be able to assist you further.
@Carla It does sound like it’s different since it was previously called insurance. When I filed a claim last summer, I was told it was sent to the ‘insurance partner’ for review.
The new wording makes it very easy for THS to just deny all claims even if they meet the requirements. What assurance do we have that should we need to use the cancellation plan that we will be reimbursed?
