No, neither do I. Any insurance that I have had only covers you if you have paid accommodation booked. I’m really sorry that you find yourself in this situation, it’s very disappointing and frustrating for you.
I had a similar situation many years ago when I was doing an open university course. I had to do a summer school in another city and my flight was supposed to be covered by the open university.
I live halfway between two different airports so obviously (as I thought) I flew from the airport that had the cheapest flight. The open university refused to refund me the cost because the airport I chose was a few miles further away from my home and I was supposed to fly from the closest location. It seemed crazy to me, I was trying to save them money.
Personally, I only have a basic membership because, as I mentioned in my first comment, I rarely pay more than €50 for a flight so I can afford to ditch it if need be. In all my years of house sitting I have only ever had one sit cancelled and that was because the cat was dying. The homeowners very graciously invited me to stay anyway, and it was a repeat sit so I knew them fairly well, but I felt it best that they were alone with their cat at such a difficult time.
I do hope you manage to figure out a solution to your current situation.
Hi Cathy Cat, All sorted I have booked an Air B&B. It does feel a bit odd going to Cyprus now without cat sitting. I will be meeting up with the HO, as she said she will be going stair crazy being couped up, will get to see Buster her cat who no doubt I will get to look after him in the future.
I constantly feed the street cats and dogs in Turkey, so I will just do the same there too.
@Cuttlefish, agreed. Our successful THS Sit Cancellation Insurance claim resulted from a cancelled housesit in a southern Schengen country. At time of cancellation then there were zero active listings in that whole country, nevermind within 20 miles. It was our impression that THS underwriters (remember THS is a policy holder, not insurer) would have been reasonable in applying policy terms, e.g. alternative accommodation may not have strictly been required to be within 20 miles. But we did not test such flexibility and preferred to clearly satisfy insurance coverage terms and claim expenses.
We got our flights refunded. When I think about it that happened twice. We had a sit booked in Mexico. An earthquake struck and the sit was cancelled. Their house was all but demolished. We got the flights refunded no problem.
Insurance for cancelled housesits? How would that work? There is no cost to refund as there is no cost for accommodation. I think we have to suck it up and dip into the emergency fund.
What @ElsieDownie suggested was instead of paying for the premium THS membership, take out the basic membership and buy refundable flights with the difference. I believe that’s what she means
We had a sit curtailed ( host had an accident and had to return home ) our Sit Cancellation claim for alternative accommodation was
paid out in 14 days from submitting claim.
We have booked an Air B&B, will still have a great break and will visit our HO who can not stop apologizing. Totally out with her control, but when you have lots of contact prior the situation, you become a little more than just a sitter especially when they are trusting their pets and home with you.
Hope you have a great holiday and please report back on the above thread how the claim process went for you . It will be very useful for other members .
Maybe you will get to sit for the host in the future .
@Happypets, we had already taken an international flight to housesit location. On arrival at property, Pet Parent cancelled trip and therefore housesit. They had their reason, nothing to do with us. We contacted THS shortly after learning of the sit cancellation. They confirmed facts and Sit Cancellation Insurance eligibility. We read coverage terms very carefully. We booked alternative accommodation (airbnb) within 20 miles; under US$150/night; and under C$1500 total cost; and enjoyed 9 nights. Submitted expense claim to THS and received refund for alternative accommodation.
I agree with the response that we sitters need to be responsible for ourselves including having money to handle emergencies and contingencies.
Being disappointed at losing a more luxurious house sit is not a crisis and is not something that is insurable. The THS policy terms therefore seem fair to me. I would guess that they want the insurance coverage to be adequate but not tempting to people who would scam by having friends pretend to be homeowners who accept them for a sit and then cancel, etc..
Like others, I self-insure outside THS. Being older and having had things happen before means that I now almost always buy trip insurance, including for regular (non housesit) travel.
There is a huge variety of policies available and the cost also ranges widely because of the different options. I have seen “any cause“ travel insurance that would cover situations people discuss here. However, you are going to pay enough for it that it might not be worth it, especially since you won’t know you need it until it happens and you may pay for it needlessly on other trips.
)
#thanksbuddies