Insurance

[josephinekelly]

Just wondered what the situation would be if a villa was rendered unhabitable by adverse weather, fire or Act of God as they describe it? If the rental was paid up front before such an event, would it be up to the owner to refund the money, or to the renter to try to claim it back on their insurance? What is the normal procedure in cases like these?

[chrisj]

I would have thought the Renter would have to claim off their insurance, but others may
know for sure what would happen

[huckleberry house]

Hi Josephine

Has this happened to a home you have booked ? I would advise you to check the terms and conditions of your agreement and contact the owner concerned who presumably will do their best to locate another home for you. It is always advisable to cover all possibilities with good holiday insurance to cover cancellations etc. I expect most owners agreements are in line with the majority of holiday companies and travel agents.


Lesley

[Nostromo]

My guess is that the owner's insurance would cover all damage to the property and contents the same as our own houses, although I suspect the premiums for holiday homes will be higher. The visitor's travel insurance, assuming it is a comprehensive one, should cover any damage sustained to people or their possessions by natural events and catastrophes.

[josephinekelly]

No it would seem the villa we have rented for next month has only minor damage, but the possibility for a number of days that it could be unavailable, did cause me to check my travel insurance. This is with the Natwest Bank which is quite a reputable institution. They state that they would definitely not pay out for any cancellation or curtailment of holiday due to adverse weather conditions, industrial action or act of terrorism etc. Not good enough really - hence my question of whether the owners insurance would cover refunds if their property was not fit for habitation. Obviously the airline tickets would have to be used if no payout would be made on the travel policy. Which leaves a renter possibly paying twice for accommodation if they are lucky enough to find some alternative at the last minute.

There is nothing in the rental contract I have which covers such a contingency and although I am lucky this time, it is something I will give consideration to next time. I suppose on the face of it, the owner contracts to provide accommodation for the renter and if this is not forthcoming for any reason, then I would have thought the insurance of the owner would cover refunding monies paid. Certainly the travel policy I have doesn't cover this, although I do now accept there are probably better policies available.

[ctgirlscout]

I think it would depend on the individual owner, as most owners' policies do not cover loss of rental income. Our villa had no power for 24 hours, and although my guests tried to find alternative accommodations, they could not and stayed in the house anyway. We ended up compensating them for the one day, even though we do have a clause in our contract covering "Acts of God".

[blott]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by josephinekelly
There is nothing in the rental contract I have which covers such a contingency and although I am lucky this time, it is something I will give consideration to next time. [/quote] It's really unusual not to have something in your contract in the Terms and Conditions about this. Are you sure it doesn't say anything about 'force majeure' (which means a superior or overpowering force or an unexpected or uncontrollable event) somewhere?

[jmack]

I am a U.S. insurance broker. In insurance terms an "Act of God" as you described would be a covered peril under most DP3 policies which most of the STR policies are written. Some can be endorsed to cover the "loss of use" coverage that would pay the owner of the property for loss of rents due to a covered peril (windstorm). So, if the house was damaged and unrentable for a period of time the owner could potentially recover from his own STR policy. Most STR policies have high hurricane deductibles so the down period would have to be a longer time period in order for the loss to exceed the deductible. There is no source of recovery for the renter through the owners STR policy.

The only recourse for the renter would be to try and work something out with the owner or Travel Insurance. I am not real familiar with travel insurance so my advice would be to read the policy for the exclusions which I am sure are many. Hope this helps.

[huckleberry house]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by jmack
I am a U.S. insurance broker. In insurance terms an "Act of God" as you described would be a covered peril under most DP3 policies which most of the STR policies are written. Some can be endorsed to cover the "loss of use" coverage that would pay the owner of the property for loss of rents due to a covered peril (windstorm). So, if the house was damaged and unrentable for a period of time the owner could potentially recover from his own STR policy. Most STR policies have high hurricane deductibles so the down period would have to be a longer time period in order for the loss to exceed the deductible. There is no source of recovery for the renter through the owners STR policy.

The only recourse for the renter would be to try and work something out with the owner or Travel Insurance. I am not real familiar with travel insurance so my advice would be to read the policy for the exclusions which I am sure are many. Hope this helps.
[/quote]


Only over and above the hurricane deductible figure though which is incredibly high in most policies and would still most likely result in the owner payng for most minor repairs.


Lesley

[josephinekelly]

This would appear to be a really grey area and I have a feeling both owners and renters will bear this in mind after the terrible damage suffered. I think I understand what is being said, but it still seems to me that the major loser would be the renter if not refunded as the money has been paid for nothing at all, whereas the owner has received it to cover that period of time.

If I were an owner, I think I would maybe offer a freebie for another time, but as you say, it would be up to an agreement between the two parties. I think I shall look much more carefully at my travel policy than I have done in the past. It is just too much of a loss to bear if accommodation has been paid for in full and is not forthcoming.