Trip insurance question from potential renter... tia

[eeyore45]

Just trying to look at different options, and have been reading quite a bit here -

well actuall isnt late Aug - Oct/early Nov considered 'hurricane' season? And knowing that only 2 years ago was the only time I can recall hurricanes interupting flights - impacting travel... so anyway...

Just in case scenario...

If we were to rent points, and then due to an airport closing, how does that impact the renter? Obviously as busy as DVC/WDW is you cant just assume to add another day to the end of the ressies...

Can you get trip insurance to help? or something???

TIA for responses!!

 

[bicker]

Trip insurance is available to the member, and I would, as a member, allow a renter to pay me to get the trip insurance, and agree to give the renter the proceeds in case they cannot take advantage of the points they've rented. Understand, though, that if you need to use the insurance, you'd lose at least half of your money that way, if not more, on top of the cost of insurance.

 

[Doctor P]

Because you are paying cash, you can actually do better than having the member get insurance for you. We have had good luck using Travel Guard insurance (same ones who provide the insurance for member reservations). Just go to travelguard.com and you can find the information to buy a policy that meets your needs. Others have suggested insuremytrip.com as another possibility. I have no relationship to any insurance company and no vested intereste of any kind at all. I am, however, a satisfied customer of Travel Guard since we had to make a major claim due to a trip messed up by Hurricane Francis that Travel Guard handled very well and very fairly. I would, therefore, use them again.

 

[JimMIA]

I have also used Travel Guard on non-DVC trips and they are an excellent company. Unfortunately, we have had two situations where we have had to file a claim and they were great.

There are a couple of things you have to be aware of with trip insurance however. One of the biggest is that they usually only will issue travel insurance within two weeks or so of your first vacation purchase. For people who book airfare way ahead, or lodging way ahead and airfare much later, that can become an issue, so be sure you understand which of your vacation costs will be covered.

Also, understand what you are buying, what the coverage is, and what it is NOT. That is particularly important if someone in your party has a "preexisting" medical condition, and then has a problem. Sometimes it will be covered, and other times it will not...depending on the circumstances. For example, my MIL has a chronic walking disability, but when she fell and broke her leg that was considered an acute episode and the insurance paid. So know what you are buying.

Finally, travel insurance pays only NON-REFUNDABLE expenses. That's the problem with DVC points -- if you have to cancel, what is the value of the points?

That is NOT a problem for renters, however. Technically, you are not renting points, you are renting a reservation an owner made for you. Your outlay is cash, not points, and that is a finite number. So if your cancellation puts you in a position where the owner cannot or will not refund any money, the unrefunded amount will be covered. For a renter, the transaction is no different than if you were renting a ski vacation condo and had to cancel -- you paid money, you lost money, the insurance pays what you lost.

 

[JimMIA]

If we were to rent points, and then due to an airport closing, how does that impact the renter? Obviously as busy as DVC/WDW is you cant just assume to add another day to the end of the ressies..

To answer this part of your question, the only answer we can really give you is ...it depends.

For openers, the DVC folks are human and they are very reasonable. Unfortunately, over the last two years, hurricanes have not exactly been unknown concepts here in the Sunshine State. So if you try to leave and you can't because airports are closed, you should call the resort as soon as you find out and tell them what's happening. The thing you ABSOLUTELY do not want to do is delay your departure and just show up a day or two late -- you'll be sleeping on a park bench.

Secondly, the default position is that when a guest checks in (or FAILS to check in), all of the points for the entire reservation are applied to the ressie. So they're gone. That means that if you show up and then decide to leave early because of an impending storm, the owner can't refund you any money -- their points are gone. It also means that if you simply don't show up, the owner can't refund you any money -- their points are gone.

Third, if you ask the owner to cancel a reservation, the possibliities are endless...and most of them are bad for the owner. The nuances of that situation depend on too many factors to explain here, and they vary from owner to owner and from ressie to ressie. Unfortunately, even a lot of owners are not that familiar with all the ins and outs, and really are clueless to the jackpot they can find themselves in with a cancellation.

That is why it is critical to have a very, very clear understanding with the owner about what happens if a cancellation occurs.

My personal opinion is that the best situation for both parties is to consider the ressie non-cancellable and have the renter buy trip insurance to cover themselves. Owners are nice people, and many will say things like, "If that happens, we'll do everything we can to work it out." I know they mean well, and really will do their best, but I'm not convinced that approach is in ANYBODY'S best interest. A situation could well occur where the owner had ZERO ability to work anything out, and they might not know it until they tried. Neither you nor the owner want to be in that situation.