OwnerRez
Core Concepts » Travel Insurance
Updated today

Travel Insurance Overview

Many travel providers and vacation rental managers offer Travel Insurance as part of the booking experience, giving guests the opportunity to protect their vacation investment when unexpected events disrupt their travel plans.

While Travel Insurance is designed to protect the guest, it can also create meaningful benefits for your business. Offering Travel Insurance can help increase booking confidence, support stronger conversion rates, reduce cancellation-related disputes, and provide guests with a financial safety net when plans change unexpectedly.

Consider a guest who becomes ill the day before their scheduled arrival. Without Travel Insurance, they may be unable to travel and could lose their prepaid vacation costs. This often leads to difficult refund conversations, requests for exceptions to cancellation policies, or guest dissatisfaction.

When Travel Insurance is available, eligible guests may have the ability to seek reimbursement for covered losses through their insurance policy. This allows you to maintain your established cancellation policy while giving guests an additional layer of protection and peace of mind. The result is often a better experience for everyone involved: guests have access to potential reimbursement options, and property managers can reduce friction surrounding cancellations and refunds.

Offering Travel Insurance can also help differentiate your business by demonstrating a proactive commitment to guest protection and customer service. In an increasingly competitive vacation rental market, providing travelers with added peace of mind can enhance the overall booking experience and help build trust with your guests.

It's important to note that Travel Insurance is a contract between the guest and the insurance provider. Property managers and OwnerRez simply provide guests with the opportunity to purchase coverage during the booking process. You are not involved in the claims process, claim decisions, or claim payments. Any eligible reimbursement is handled directly between the guest and the insurance company.

Key Benefits of Offering Travel Insurance

  • Increase guest booking confidence.
  • Help support booking conversion rates.
  • Reduce refund disputes and exception requests.
  • Enhance the overall guest experience.
  • Demonstrate a commitment to guest protection and peace of mind.
  • Provide guests with a dedicated claims and reimbursement pathway for covered events.
  • Differentiate your business from competitors by offering an additional layer of traveler protection.

When Can Guests Purchase Travel Insurance?

OwnerRez users should note a couple of key points about travel insurance.

  • Travel insurance is automatically offered to guests that book direct through OwnerRez hosted websites as part of the booking process.
  • Travel insurance coverage may be purchased at the following times:
    • At time of initial booking
    • WHEN the check-in or arrival date is 30 days or more in the future.
    • At the time of booking, or within +5 days of booking, WHEN the check-in or arrival date is 30 days or less in the future.
    • Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) travel protection cannot be purchased less than 30 days prior to check in date.
  • Other eligibility rules apply such as place of residence and destination. If the traveler resides in an ineligible location or is traveling to an ineligible destination, no purchase will be allowed.

Offering Travel Insurance

You can configure travel insurance for each of your properties in OwnerRez: for each property, you can specify if you want to offer it or not.

Go to Settings > Financial > Travel Insurance to get started.  You'll see a list of your properties, along with whether Travel Insurance Is Enabled or Disabled for each property. If you want to make changes, click the Change button at the top. 

Set the option you want for each property, then click the Save button. The options are as follows:

  • Disabled - travel insurance will be turned off completely, and nothing is ever shown or offered to the guest

  • Enabled - an option to buy travel insurance will be shown on the quote.  It won't be selected, but the guest can select it if they choose.

Travel insurance is always paid separately by the guest.  Even if the guest selects it during the quote acceptance process, it will not be paid for via your merchant account.  The guest's billing info is passed securely to the travel insurance carrier for processing; they charge the guest's card and collect the money themselves.

There is nothing you need to do, as an OwnerRez user, to fulfill or take care of the travel insurance process.  After the guest has selected and paid for travel insurance, they are sent policy information from the insurance carrier and OwnerRez with everything they need.

If the covered guest(s) need to make a claim, that is handled by the insurance carrier directly.  Any reimbursement for trip cancellation or any other covered losses are sent to the guest by the insurance carrier.

You are not the insurance agent of record, and have no legal responsibility or liability for anything to do with travel insurance claims.  If the guest contacts you about a claim, simply refer them to the contact information on their policy, or if necessary, reach out to OwnerRez to assist.

Purchasing Travel Insurance

If you have Enabled the travel insurance option, direct-booked guests will have it presented to them as part of the booking checkout process.

Guests who booked through a channel also see the option when they sign your rental agreement in My Stay. Airbnb guests sign only if the property has an Airbnb exception. See Rental Agreement Rules.

Last, you can also go to the Insurance tab of the Booking and send them a link they can use to purchase it, if they're still eligible.

Travel Insurance Types

OwnerRez offers the ability to purchase two different types of travel insurance:

  1. Traditional travel insurance.  This program responds to risks incidental to planned travel and includes reimbursement for the cost of the booking if a covered event occurs that forces the guest to cancel the trip; additionally, proportional reimbursement can be made for covered events causing the trip to be delayed or interrupted. Covered events include things like
    • being hospitalized,
    • death of a close family member,
    • unforeseen hurricane or a mandatory evacuation.
    See the sample certificate for details. OwnerRez platform enabled travel insurance offers are available to residents of all US states and all Canadian provinces except Quebec. See policy for details.
  2. Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) Protection.  This is what it sounds like - the CFAR benefit pays out if the guest cancels the trip for any reason at all, even one that isn't listed as a covered reason in the policy.  The catch is that it only pays out 60% of the costs if you don't have a covered reason.  At the moment, CFAR can be purchased only by residents of the United States and Canada. CFAR is not available to residents of New York, Washington, and Quebec. The CFAR benefit must be claimed at least 48 hours prior to scheduled trip departure date (check in). See CFAR policy for details.

The guest is given the option to choose (opt in) which type they wish to purchase, or to refuse the protection.

Insurance Policy Details

You can find answers to many common issues and questions here.  You can also contact the RentalGuardian Support Team for assistance at 888.885.5550 x 2 or at support@rentalguardian.com.

NOTICE

Travel Insurance and CFAR protection Products for US residents are offered by InsureStays (dba of Sandhills Insurance Group), via the RentalGuardian.com software distribution platform.

RentalGuardian is a unique online software service provider, specializing in the needs of property managers, with state-of-the-art features including fully integrated, scalable API; multi-underwriter support tools; unique online claim wizard for simplified claims administration; and superior document delivery and administrative functionality.

RentalGuardian.com as an online service/support distribution platform is not a licensed insurance agency, nor does it represent or sell insurance. This presentation is not intended to be an offer to solicit or sell RentalGuardian.com Recommended Platform Provider insurance programs in any jurisdiction where a RentalGuardian.com Recommended Platform Provider or their Underwriter(s) are not authorized or where such action would be unlawful.

Travel Protection Products offered by InsureStays and its authorized travel retailers for US residents are Underwritten by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Companies and Affiliated Companies, Columbus, OH.

Play Travel Protection is underwritten by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Companies and Affiliated Companies, Columbus, OH. Play Travel Protection is distributed exclusively through the InsureStays network of agents, agencies, and authorized travel retailers. See www.InsureStays.com.

InsureStays is a dba of Sandhills Insurance Group, LLC, a limited liability company organized under the laws of South Carolina, a licensed insurance producer in all states (NPN 16269113, California License No. 0M14453, TX License No. 2194106 and 2205876); dba in California InsureStays Insurance Agency; dba in Florida InsureStays Agency. This retailer is an authorized travel retailer and referral provider of Sandhills Insurance Group LLC, dba in California InsureStays Insurance Agency and dba in various states InsureStays and InsureStays Agency; mailing address is PO Box 4443, Pawleys Island, SC 29585. Phone is (843) 286-5144. Visit www.insurestays.com for more information.

Play Travel Canada travel protection is underwritten by Northbridge General Insurance Corporation, PO Box 337 Station A, WIndsor, Ontario N9A 6K7 and offered by CanAm Special Risk Insurance Agency (2018) Limited PO Box 62, Station A Windsor, Ontario N9A 6J5.

Only licensed insurance agents are qualified to evaluate the adequacy of your coverage or provide detailed explanation of coverage provisions, terms and conditions.