UK: Booking and property management system for self-caterers, SuperControl, has teamed up with travel and damage protection platform RentalGuardian to bring its Master Cancel protection to the self-catering industry.
Those in the travel and tourism industry are amongst those most affected by Covid-19 travel restrictions, and as a result, many rental property owners are facing financial hardship due to exclusions in their business interruption insurance.
Master Cancel, described as a “fully-flexible, no questions asked, cancellation protection for short-term rental bookings”, is set to make it possible for property owners and agencies to have bookings from all sources covered by cancellation protection, something it says is a “first” for the self-catering industry.
SuperControl, which was established 12 years ago, wants to remove the financial risk from bookings, allowing guests to book accommodation with both trust and confidence in these times of global uncertainty. The cover also includes cancellations for coronavirus-related reasons.
Here is the summary of what Master Cancel will offer:
- Master Cancel is a “flexible cancellation protection for the property owner and their guests”.
- The programme protects the business owner against losses – it does not rely on guest opt-in.
- Coverage protects all bookings for all properties from all sources.
- It enables businesses to offer guests flexible cancellation terms, with a full refund from 60 days up to and including two days before arrival.
SuperControl product director Robert Kennedy said: “At SuperControl, we have always considered cancellation protection to be an essential component of our eco-system. We met our friends at Rental Guardian many years ago and by February 2019 we knew them well enough to share our dream for our clients.
“We already integrated with cancellation protection that guests could opt in to, but with only around ten per cent opt-in, it was not safe and certain enough. With our strong sense of responsibility for the protection of our property owners and agencies we wanted them to be cancellation-protected for all bookings, so we asked: “Can it be done?”,” he added.
Rental Guardian launched Master Cancel in October 2019.
Chris Baxter, business development consultant at SuperControl, said: “We’re the only UK and European property management system offering this ‘Covid-is-covered’ booking cancellation protection. Master Cancel provides financial safety to agencies, owners and guests so it is absolute marketing gold since travellers are flocking to book stress-free.”
For more information, visit the SuperControl website here.
