THS Policy on 3rd Party Animals for Insurance Claims etc.?

Sitter Questions, Advice & Chat
23

I really don’t think THS would consider “temporary ownership” if this concept is not included in chapter II (definitions). They clearly specify:
“ This Plan is offered at our sole discretion but in any event we will never pay Sitters under this Plan where:

  1. Any loss, damage, liability, cost or expense of any kind caused by any pet which is less than 8 weeks of age at the start of a booking or does not belong to the Pet Parent.”

Anyway, @StanHants, if you only have 4, 5 days to go, I would try not to worry :crossed_fingers: :crossed_fingers:t5:
You could get in touch with THS support service and leave the sitting because of the pet condition not having been disclosed plus the fact that the pet is not the house owners’. Even if it is listed, it would not be OK if it breaks the T&C. But you would still have to contact the owners and give them reasonable time to make other arrangements and that would take you almost to the end of the sitting.
Even if you decide to go ahead until the end, you can still report this situation to THS and warn other sitters about this in your review.
Best wishes

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24

All I can say is “there are no words”. Unfortunately the SIL’s dog was in the listing so you agreed to that. I just find it so rude that someone, who clearly could afford to pay for a sitter, thinks they can share a listing and drop off their dog and at such a late hour. You’ve set yourself up for this though but hopefully have learnt from it. THS used to monitor listings so this wouldn’t have got through “in the old days”. THS should be made aware so I would report it.

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25

I now realize there are more irregularities. Was this dog not included in the welcome guide?

26

One more side comment to all…the insurance carriers, the FIRST plan of action is to figure out how to get out of the claim so they are not financially liable. This is regardless of the type of insurance.

If your home burns down, the insurance company will look at the owner first to see if they burned it down. When you crash your car, the first thing the insurance company will do is try to figure out how to get out of it…was your license tab expired by one day? That may get them out of the claim? If you have disability insurance and you become disabled…unless it is clear cut (like an arm and a leg getting cut off…but they will most likely make sure you didn’t do it to yourself as well), you have an uphill battle. And life insurance…if you are within the 24 month period of policy date (I am from the US), the insurance company will go back and audit…hopefully you didn’t forget to list a medication you took 9 years before you applied.

JUST because you are “covered” by insurance, it doesn’t mean benefits are absolute nor immediate.

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27

Ive seen lots of listings where it states something like: ‘My son’s / daughter’s / partner’s / friend’s dog will also be staying here…’

28

@StanHants

I am glad you did not take my writing to come off as brash and mean. I don’t intend to be that way in real-life…but my black and white attitude certainly has unintentionally offended some too easily.

One of the sitters I sat for, the home is $6MM so safe to say, they have a few bucks. I asked them, “Why don’t you just pay someone?” The response, “We have tried, even at $100/day we can’t find anyone to do a good job.” The sit…cats!!! 2 adult easy cats!
The sit could not have gone better. I will add, they keep inviting me back, not just for the cats but to stay in the home as a guest when they are home as well.

Back to you, I agree with many that indicated the sister in law is certainly taking advantage of you, as well as the home owners you are sitting for (or in legal words…“Pet Parents”).

I STRONGLY ENCOURAGE (BOLD AND ITALICIZIED!!!) you to mention this in your review and possibly, rate them a 4 star or even a 3 star if the alien dog is a menace for the inconvenience and the risk they exposed you to. As a reminder, the reviews are blind and I believe this is the best change that has happened at THS.

In your review, make sure you are factual and non-emotional. If you would like to write a draft of your review on this forum or to any one of us privately, I am sure one or many of us will be happy to proof read that for you. I am a very black and white guy, so having someone that is clear cut as well as someone that isn’t, might be your best bet for the future home owners reading your reviews as well as the ones you have written. Many HO and sitters definitely seem to lean toward having a lot of gray, which is a great balance.

I differ with some posters on this forum, at this point, I don’t believe contacting THS will be of much value, they won’t help you. You will be wasting your time and energy. Your best course of action is to treat this partially invited dog as an alien and assume that you have $0 coverage should anything go wrong. You can’t go wrong with that mindset.

Keep doing what you are doing, do not leave the property with the other animal and just keep running a tight ship! It is very obvious from your writing that you are actually reading the feedback you are getting, I am sure it isn’t all easy to read. Some OP’s simply don’t like what anyone has to say and some don’t ever follow-up. Thank you for being so involved with us.

Please at least let us know the conclusion of this once the reviews are written! I speak for me, I hate NOT knowing the conclusions!!!

Give us a quick update though as you sit here and respond. Is the alien dog at least good? Any accidents? Is the sit going smooth? Are the home owners (and Cruella DeVil) responding well to your updates? Is the home at least nice?

Best of luck!!!

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29

Thx TravelMan,
I have stirred a hornet’s nest here! I do read each of the comments but chose to ignore many silly remarks like the one ‘Fishy, Fishy… very Fishy!’ instead of simply typing ‘FOLLOWING’ if they want to get updates on this feed.

I have contacted THS Support and they are preparing a formal response, which hangs around ‘the legal ownership or right to house/own’ the 2nd dog. Their initial response is, as this is explicit within the primary advertisement, that I should be insured.

Once I have a formal THS response, I will then be able to advice the HO of any changes in exercise routine outside of their property and I will also place an update within this forum post for future reference, by others.

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30

THE VAST MAJORITY OF YOU ARE WRONG – I AM INSURED AND COVERED FULLY BY THS INSURANCE, BECAUSE THE 2ND DOG WAS LISTED WITHIN THE ORIGINAL THS ‘APPROVED ADVERTISEMENT’

(edited to meet Community Guidelines around not sharing direct communication with Trusted Housesitters)

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31

I suppose this just shows that you should ask THS rather than the forum on matters of policy.
Thanks for the update.

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32

Thanks for posting the THS response @StanHants that’s helpful.

So presumably that also means the Pet Parent that you have agreed the sit with is also the person ultimately responsible for any emergency vet bills for the SIL pet etc .

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33

To be fair, the responses claiming there was no insurance cover for this other dog were made according to the info in your original post, which did not state the dog had been included in the original listing.

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34

@StanHants you were given advice based on the information YOU provided :upside_down_face:

You didn’t say the dog was in the listing. You missed out an entire back story. Bit rich to come SHOUTING IN ALL CAPITALS.

Next time maybe include all of the relevant details upfront and you can gain appropriate advice.

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35

Even if it’s in the original listing but not owned by the HO it’s definitely not covered as I’ve had this situation in a future sit. The HO has taken unofficial ownership (probably temporarily) for my sit. THS then approved the 3rd dog which is her daughter’s dog (it’s her wedding).

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36

You can do both. It keeps us entertained and informed.
Thanks for the update @StanHants, like @TravelMan, I like it when the OP gives continuity to the thread.
I don’t like to play devils advocate and I don’t, usually, but there’s a caveat in that response

  • “THS would Likely not ask for additional documentation regarding the ownership”
  • “ We would, however, like to make you aware of the possibility that our plan’s underwriters could ask for supporting documentation. ”

So, one thing is THS and another the plan’s underwriters. Even THS can give different answers to the same question (you can check this thread) I guess we would need an answer from the legal team rather than customers service.
Please notice they insist that this is not an insurance policy, just a plan (not sure what the difference is but must be important when they insist) and can only be claimed after proving that the owners and/or sisters’ insurance does not cover it.
Coverage only applies if

I can only agree with @TravelMan

In this case, there would be quite a few liabilities to point to before actually accepting to pay.
There are quite a few occasions when I would love to be WRONG. This is one of those. I just wish we can never find out. I also do think everything is going to be okay.
Best wishes

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37

There is no Welcome Guide, just a printed sheet that was handed to me on my arrival

38

The bottom line is - I AM NOT FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR EITHER DOG!

39

Hello,

Just popping on with a quick reminder about our Community Guidelines around kindness and respect.

It’s ok to disagree with someone, but don’t make it personal, and please be respectful in your interactions.

Any advice provided here comes from people who are also Trusted Housesitters members, who are taking the time to give the benefit of their experience.

Everyone’s going to have their take on any given situation, which others may or may not align with, but in the case that there’s a disagreement we recommend that you disregard any views given without getting into a dialogue about it.

Thanks!

Jenny

40

@Jenny Why has the reply from member support been deleted ?

It was redacted so that it did not contain the name of the agents or any personal details of PP or sitter.

It did contain the answer to a very important question which members need to know the answer to . The answer is not found in the Help section of THS

On other topics , forum admin have advised a forum member to ask member services directly and to report back to the forum with the answer - so I don’t understand why this was deleted .

If the official answer to this question can’t be put in the forum - please ask member services to create a Help article that contains the answer to this important question.

Can a sit include pets that don’t belong to the Pet Parent ?
Does THS insurance cover this ?

Thank you

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41

I would also like to have access to that help article.
This is a recurrent situation, there are quite a few listings including members of the family’s pets and I think it’s reasonable for sitters to know if we’re covered in those sits and for owners to know it they need to sign some kind of “temporary ownership” document as mentioned by @BonnyinBrighton.
I think it’s just fair to know what we get for the extra amount we pay for standard and premium membership.

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42

I had the opportunity to read the full THS response prior to it being edited out. I really don’t think I would take as much comfort in the response as the OP.
As an aside @StanHants, you have 20 reviews on your solo account and some more on your couple account. I am puzzled why you seem to be letting some things ‘slide’ (accepting the extra pet on the listing, not insisting on a Welcome Guide, claiming not to be cognizant of THS T&Cs). I would encourage you to be more diligent or it will go pear-shaped one day.

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