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Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) travel insurance is now available!

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Due to the coronavirus scare, we've had a zillion requests in the past week to provide a Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) option on travel insurance.  We've had CFAR on the backlog for awhile, but the requests over the past week were overwhelming.  So we listened!  We dropped everything and got it out!

If you already have Travel Insurance turned on, you don't have to do anything to get CFAR.  CFAR now rides along as an option in the guest form.

And we've changed how the guest forms look to call out Travel Insurance much more clearly with a bottom "No, I decline" option to force the decision.

In the case of adding on travel insurance after the fact, CFAR also shows there and will smartly detect if it's available and show the guest the correct language and options accordingly.

If you want to turn on travel insurance in your account, you can do that at any time under Settings > Travel Insurance.  Read our support article about travel insurance and remember that properties need to have an address on file in order for travel insurance to work.

Enjoy!

36 Comments (add yours)

Lydia B
Mar 23, 2020 5:42 PM
Joined May, 2019 159 posts

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Deb's Beach Cond
Mar 23, 2020 5:55 PM
Joined Jul, 2016 5 posts

Does the CFAR cover cancelling for the co vid 19 virus at 100% or 60%?

OPCD TX
Mar 23, 2020 5:55 PM
Joined Aug, 2019 24 posts

YOU GUYS ROCK!!!! THANK YOU

Susie T
Mar 23, 2020 6:09 PM
Joined Oct, 2017 6 posts

yay... thankyou for being so responsive to our needs!

Paul W
Mar 23, 2020 6:23 PM
OR Team Member Joined Jun, 2009 826 posts

Deb's Beach Cond said:

Does the CFAR cover cancelling for the co vid 19 virus at 100% or 60%?

This depends on entirely when the TI policy was purchased. If it was purchased back before covid-19 was a known event and thus "unforeseen" then it might. On the other hand, if they cancelled because of the scare alone and not because their travel was restricted (ie. government mandated curfew, STR shut down, airline stopped flying) then it may not. So it depends entirely on the time of purchase and the trigger event both.

But CFAR will cover 60% if the standard side does not work regardless. CFAR always works no matter the trigger event or reason.

Sheila
Mar 23, 2020 6:47 PM
Joined Jul, 2016 2 posts

This is great news! Can guests who have already purchased standard insurance for upcoming trips upgrade to CFAR or is this only offered on a moving forward basis for new reservations?

Also, will we have the option to make CFAR a requirement like (I believe) we can standard insurance?

Solterra Villas
Mar 23, 2020 6:54 PM
Joined Aug, 2019 13 posts

Is there any chance this can be extended to those outside the US?

Paul W
Mar 23, 2020 7:44 PM
OR Team Member Joined Jun, 2009 826 posts

@Sheila: You can't make CFAR required at this time. The guest would have to select it.

@Solterra Beach V: The purchaser (ie. traveler) must be a US resident to buy CFAR. This is a hard and fast requirement at the moment. We are checking to see if there is a program for Canada, but nothing at the moment. The address of the destination (ie. property) doesn't matter - it can be outside the US. Also, NY and WA state residents are excluded unfortunately.

Sheila
Mar 23, 2020 7:48 PM
Joined Jul, 2016 2 posts

Thanks, Paul... Can guests who have already purchased standard insurance for upcoming trips upgrade to CFAR or is this only offered on a moving forward basis for new reservations?

Lydia B
Mar 23, 2020 7:56 PM
Joined May, 2019 159 posts

Paul - Normally you can purchase the insurance up to 30 days before traveling or at any time before final payment. Is CFAR included if guests who are already booked for travel later in the year decide to purchase (assuming the 30 day/final payment conditions)?

Stacie S
Mar 23, 2020 8:45 PM
Joined Mar, 2019 24 posts

Thank you so much!

Ella
Mar 23, 2020 8:58 PM
Joined May, 2014 139 posts

Paul W says:"Also, NY and WA state residents are excluded unfortunately.
can you clarify. Does this mean that any guests that resides in New York state or WA CANNOT purchase the insurance?

Glen and Lisa O
Mar 23, 2020 9:43 PM
Joined Jul, 2019 1 post

What does the Exclusion mean? Only residents in these states or because the VR is in these states?

Sandy R
Mar 23, 2020 10:41 PM
Joined Aug, 2019 1 post

Is this something that could also apply to reservations through OTA's like VRBO? Maybe give the guest an option to purchase it after they book?

Paul W
Mar 24, 2020 9:22 AM
OR Team Member Joined Jun, 2009 826 posts

@Sheila: Sorry, I missed that first part! In theory, you can upgrade standard TI to CFAR but you'd have to call RentalGuardian to do that as we don't have the ability built in yet and it would have to still be within the CFAR time frame. So if it's been more than 14 days from initial booking date, you could not upgrade to CFAR.

@Lydia B: Yes, CFAR is still available for pre-existing bookings/guests, however the CFAR limitations apply. Notice above how we mentioned the 14 day rule. The 30 day/final payment is for standard TI, not CFAR. CFAR has it's own special time limitations.

@Ella: Yes, due to NY and WA state insurance laws, the CFAR policy is not legal for residents of that state. Residency is based on billing address. So if your guest has a billing address in a different state, they can use that when buying the insurance.

@Lisa O: The exclusion is for residents (ie. travelers or guests) who live in those states. So when the guest goes to buy CFAR and enters a NY address in their credit card info, the system will kick it back with an error message. The property itself (eg. your rental cabin) can be anywhere, even outside the US

@Sandy R: Yes, it sure can! And we highly encourage that - emailing OTA guests and pushing them to buy it right after the booking comes in. You can create a trigger in OR specifically designed to go out to anyone that does not have TI right after a booking comes in.

Duane W
Mar 24, 2020 11:24 AM
Joined Aug, 2016 3 posts

Will the basic coverage (not CFAR) cover a guest if the government closes the destination to travel?

Chuck K
Mar 24, 2020 2:56 PM
Joined Oct, 2019 83 posts

I tested how it appears to some of my bookings 5-6 months out and the CFAR says it is not available for that booking. Can we confirm for sure that existing guests get the option?

I'd like to send out a special notice to my guests telling them, but don't want them to go to the page and find it is not available.

Ken T
Mar 25, 2020 8:11 AM
OR Team Member Joined Aug, 2019 1545 posts

Normally the CFAR can only be purchased via OwnerRez within 2 weeks of the booking being made. Sometimes, if the guest has the basic travel insurance already, they can call the number in their insurance policy and upgrade with the insurance company directly.

VisitIslandPark
Mar 25, 2020 9:33 AM
Joined Sep, 2019 3 posts

is there a template email for the announcement to send to customers if they'd like to purchase it now ( or would it be worth it now for current reservations?

OPCD TX
Mar 25, 2020 11:46 AM
Joined Aug, 2019 24 posts

What if a guest decided, today, to push their dates back to 3 months from now and there was a cost to move the dates; would today mark the date as if this was a new booking? Since we are applying outstanding balance due, a new reservation date and a new agreement?