DVC owners selling confirmed reservations

[FlynnRiderSwitch]

If we sell a confirmed reservation, what is our obligation if the buyer decides or has to cancel?

We never sold our points or made a reservation and sold it before. Should the buyer purchase travel insurance? I can see how that can be a problem since they are using your contract and points.

Thanks all!

 

[Sandisw]

When we have rented out points, we made it non refundable so if they renter had to cancel , they were out of luck.

If you go through a broker, they will let you know your obligations as the owner.

Typically they just find someone else and all you have to do is change the names.

 

[crvetter]

I haven’t found any travel insurance that covers timeshare rentals. It’s really one of the reasons I say renting DVC points is cheaper than booking a hotel. There must always be a risk/reward relationship. So accepting a higher risk/less protections for a much cheaper price.

With that being said I think a lot of renters already understand that.

 

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

It all depends on what is agreed to when the rental took place. It’s also why you should have a contract in writing that spells everything out.

 

[houseofduck]

You can get travel insurance for DVC rentals. Although I haven't used it myself, I called and asked previously and was told that as long as there is a rental agreement and proof of payment, the trip could be insured. There was a poster here that made a successful claim on a rental. I copied and pasted a post that I made in 2022 below:

Take a look at the last post in this thread on the same topic.​

​

http://disboards.com/threads/trip-insurance-for-renting-dvc-points.3859198/​

@magicmountainmama bought travel insurance for rented points from AIG and made a successful claim in 2017.​

 

[FlynnRiderSwitch]

When we have rented out points, we made it non refundable so if they renter had to cancel , they were out of luck.

If you go through a broker, they will let you know your obligations as the owner.

Typically they just find someone else and all you have to do is change the names.

How exactly did you make it non refundable? Written contract, text messages, or just verbally or another way?

Thank you for the advice

 

[Sandisw]

How exactly did you make it non refundable? Written contract, text messages, or just verbally or another way?

Thank you for the advice

We used email but it had all my terms and conditions. I always charged less than the going rate for being non refundable and in most cases non changeable too.

My terms also required full payment in 24 hours after I made the trip and they had a confirmation.

I didn’t borrow points so it was easy to do that.

However, if I rent to strangers again, I will just use a broker, DVC Rental Store, and make it easy on myself.

 

[robinb]

If we sell a confirmed reservation, what is our obligation if the buyer decides or has to cancel?

We never sold our points or made a reservation and sold it before. Should the buyer purchase travel insurance? I can see how that can be a problem since they are using your contract and points.

Thanks all!

It all depends on what you want to deal with. If I have time, I allow changes for a fee if I can and reselling of the reservation if they need to cancel. I’ve only had to modify once and my renters were very thankful. Others allow no changes whatsoever.

 

[Bearval]

If we sell a confirmed reservation, what is our obligation if the buyer decides or has to cancel?

We never sold our points or made a reservation and sold it before. Should the buyer purchase travel insurance? I can see how that can be a problem since they are using your contract and points.

Thanks all!

If I rent to family, full payment up front and their obligations written and signed. If they have a need to cancel it will depend upon if the points can be banked or not. If not then they would have the ability to find a "replacement" but I would not refund the money, their replacement would have to pay them. My reason for being so harsh is that I have been burned in the past more times by "family" when renting out a condo in Ocean City Maryland than I care to remember for poor planning on their part or lame excuses which caused me to lose out on that rental income.

 

[CastAStone]

You can get travel insurance for DVC rentals. Although I haven't used it myself, I called and asked previously and was told that as long as there is a rental agreement and proof of payment, the trip could be insured. There was a poster here that made a successful claim on a rental. I copied and pasted a post that I made in 2022 below:

Take a look at the last post in this thread on the same topic.​

​

http://disboards.com/threads/trip-insurance-for-renting-dvc-points.3859198/​

@magicmountainmama bought travel insurance for rented points from AIG and made a successful claim in 2017.​

From what I have read elsewhere, the ability to insure a timeshare rental has tightened considerably in the past 24 months or so, and a 7 year old claim is not necessarily indicative of the current reality.

 

[houseofduck]

From what I have read elsewhere, the ability to insure a timeshare rental has tightened considerably in the past 24 months or so, and a 7 year old claim is not necessarily indicative of the current reality.

As I said, I haven't done it personally, but I did inquire a few years ago and was told that a timeshare rental could be covered. I believe I called Travel Guard or Travel Ex and was told that if you had a contract that showed that the payments were non-refundable and you could provide proof of payment, it could be insured.

Travel Guard still advertises that they cover vacation rentals.
https://www.travelguard.com/travel-insurance/trip-types/vacation-rental-insurance
Whether or not they currently consider a DVC rental a vacation rental, I do not know. They did a few years ago.

 

[CastAStone]

As I said, I haven't done it personally, but I did inquire a few years ago and was told that a timeshare rental could be covered

I believe you that, a few years ago, you were able to do this.

 

[bdrex28]

I believe you that, a few years ago, you were able to do this.

The link provided seems to show its still available.

 

[CastAStone]

The link provided seems to show its still available.

It also says in the FAQ that they won’t cover award flights because they can’t assign a monetary value to an airline point.

It never spells out the timeshare rental coverage but I don’t know why it wouldn’t be the same.

I’m confident that you can still find someone to take your money. I’m less confident you can find someone to give you money *in 2024*.