Insurance
Travel insurance, your own trip, and a sitter who doesn’t turn up
If your sitter lets you down, or your own trip falls through, what does travel insurance usually pay, and what does your agreement say? What to check before you book.
The night before her flight, the sitter texts: they can’t come after all. The homeowner rings three kennels, finds one with a space, and makes the flight with an hour to spare.
On the plane she wonders what would have happened if no kennel had had room. Would her travel insurance have paid for the trip she’d have had to cancel?
Why it goes wrong
Travel insurance is built around the traveller: falling ill, a family emergency, the trip itself being cancelled.
A sitter letting you down is a different kind of event, and whether a policy counts it is up to its wording. Ask before you book, not when you claim.
Your own trip: what travel insurance usually covers
The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says travel insurance “can cover your costs if you need to cancel or cut short your holiday”.
Its examples are “if you or a close family member falls ill, or the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) advises against travel to your destination”. Two limits come with that:
- it “usually operates only if you have been unable to get compensation from any other sources first, such as the airline or tour operator”;
- “Your policy may also only cover you for cancelling or cutting short your holiday under limited circumstances”.
The ABI also says to buy it “as soon as you book your holiday”, because it covers costs you can’t get back if you have to cancel.
A sitter who doesn’t turn up: what to ask
A sitter not turning up isn’t among the ABI’s examples, and many policies won’t cover “situations which are reasonably within your control”.
Whether yours treats a sitter letting you down as one of its reasons is something only your insurer can say. Ask before you book:
- If the person caring for my animals lets me down and I can’t find anyone else, would you cover cancelling my trip?
- Would you pay for kennels or other care I have to find at short notice?
- What would you need from me to show it?
Get the answers in writing; an email is enough.
Under the agreement on Reputable Sitters
If you use another agreement, or none, check what yours says.
- If the sitter doesn’t turn up, or calls it off without a reason, they pay for comparable care you arrange instead, on receipts, up to the figure you both agreed before the sit.That figure is the most either of you could owe the other for care or a place to stay, if plans change.If you pay some of their travel, none of it is owed, and they pay back what’s been paid.
- Each of you pays for your own trip.If the sit is called off or ends early, then beyond the part of their travel you agreed to cover, neither of you pays for the other’s own travel or plans.That includes flights or a booked trip.
- If it’s nobody’s fault, only costs already promised and already spent change hands, and you don’t pay for somewhere else for the sitter to stay. Nobody’s fault means:
- a death or serious illness in either of your close families, a pet included;
- either of your own illness or injury, if a doctor confirms it’s serious enough to stop you;
- something outside anyone’s control that stops the sit, such as a strike, a flood or a closed border;
- something outside anyone’s control that stops your own trip or plans before the sit, such as a strike, a closed border or official advice against travel.
- If you call the sit off for any other reason, such as a change of plans, you pay for somewhere comparable for the sitter to stay for the dates, up to the figure.You also pay your agreed part of their travel already spent that can’t be got back. And nothing is owed if you both agree in writing to call it off.
How to talk about it
“If you can’t come, tell me as soon as you know, so I can find a kennel” costs nothing to say.
It gives you the best chance of finding care in time and keeping your trip.
How it works on Reputable Sitters
Your agreement says who pays for care and travel if plans change, in plain words both of you see before signing. It doesn’t sell, arrange or check insurance.
The legal bit
This is information, not legal advice. Your agreement binds the two of you; it can’t change what your insurer pays. Only your policy’s wording and your insurer can say what’s covered.
Under your agreement, the sitter pays for the care that keeps your trip going, up to the figure. Your travel insurance is for the trip itself. Check both before you book.
Where next
Tell us what we’ve got wrong: listening@reputablesitters.com
Information, not legal advice. Laws change, so check anything important with the official source linked on each page.
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Reputable Sitters Ltd, registered in England and Wales, no. 17032078. Registered office: 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ.
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