XCover: Info & FAQs

How to set up refund protection for your guests from your Anytime Booking account and increase your revenue

Important note: refund protection can only be sold on direct bookings through Anytime's own booking forms where the guest can see the generation of a quote and agree to XCover's terms and conditions. You cannot sell this protection through a third party OTA.

We are integrated with refund protection partners, XCover, so you can now offer the option of refund protection to your guests during the booking checkout process.

Once you choose to activate XCover within Anytime, their friendly team deals with all aspects of the refunds process, taking all the hassle away from you. Plus, you’ll even earn additional revenue on every sale of XCover.

Benefits to you:

• Exceptional service, so you have confidence your customers are in safe hands

• Additional revenue generated through every sale (cover cost to your guest is between 7%-8.5% of the booking value, of which you will earn 30% commission every time)

• No set up cost, no hidden fees

• Integration with a secure, purpose-built refund platform

• Provide the best possible experience to your guests, building more loyalty and repeat business

• Increased customer confidence to make non-refundable bookings

• Save time – no more dealing with customer complaints and refund requests

• Track sales and commission in real-time through a dedicated XCover dashboard

XCover is rated Excellent on Trustpilot and provides a really wide range of protection. They cover the entire booking and are one of the only providers to cover pre-existing medical conditions. 

Please note, XCover do not cover Government or Government agency travel bans. If you are unable to provide the service that you have sold to your guest due to a travel ban, you will need to refund them yourselves or amend the booking to an alternative date.

For more detailed information, please read XCover's full Terms and Conditions

To speak directly with the XCover team before making a decision on whether their refund protection product is the right cover for your business, please email liam.o@covergenius.com and they will be in touch. If you want to get going, the turnaround is fast and easy!

This is what to expect:

• XCover will reach out within 48 working hours to talk you through how the product works and to check you want to move ahead

• XCover will work with Anytime to add refund protection to your booking process

• Your customers will be given the option to purchase refund protection on their booking (they will have to say Yes or No to proceed with the booking)

• Xcover invoice you on the 1st of each month for their share of the BP sales made in the previous month, whilst you retain a percentage of the product sales as a commission

To reach the claims team at XCover please contact: partner.support@xcover.com.

They have a 24 working hours SLA for replies. 

FAQs

Who collects payment for XCover?

If a guest takes out protection, they go through the booking process as usual and pay the XCover fee directly to you.

Once I have taken the payment directly, how is fund distribution then managed?XCover will invoice you on the 1st of each month for their share of the product sales made in the previous month, whilst you retain 30% of the product sales as a commission. Invoice payments are collected via direct debit within 7 days of you receiving your monthly invoice.

How much does refund protection cost?

The protection is typically between 7%-8.5% of the booking value. Pricing will be shared with you prior to activating Xcover.

How does XCover work with my existing terms and conditions?

The XCover product is designed to complement your terms and conditions so there is no need to make any changes. XCover protects your customer and their ability to use their booking, taking over what the customer would have been liable for based on your terms. For example, if you allow a customer to cancel up to 8 weeks before, then this would stay the same whether the customer has purchased the protection or not. In this example, for those who purchase XCover, their cover would apply once they are inside of 8 weeks.

How do I monitor my XCover sales?

XCover will provide you with access to their platform which allows you to monitor sales, see detailed breakdowns, and retrieve all previous invoices.

How do guests request a refund?

In the event of a refund, your guest submits a refund application directly through XCover's online refunds portal and XCover handles the whole process.

How long does it take for refunds to be processed?

All refund applications are reviewed within 48 working hours and providing XCover have everything they need at this stage, the refund will be processed within this time frame.

How can I stay up to date on refunds?

XCover will keep you up-to-date by sending you instant notifications and weekly reports on the refunds they've paid.

If a booking is amended does the refund protection become invalid?

When you make amendments to a booking on behalf of a guest, XCover needs to be made aware of these changes, eg. if the length of stay is changed, a party member is added that affects the price, or the holiday is moved completely to next year. XCover is happy to work with you to bring the cover in line with the new details of the holiday.

Is there a facility to back-sell this product to people who have already booked?XCover is unable to offer the protection retrospectively on an adhoc basis, unfortunately. It can only be purchased during the original booking process (online or over the phone).
However if you are signing up to the product for the first time, talk to the XCover team about mass-applying refund protection to people who have already made future bookings with you. For a limited time frame, they have said they would support this while you contact your guests to see if they'd like to take you up on your new product.

If a guest takes out refund protection and then changes their mind, can the protection be cancelled and the guest refunded?

Yes, the protection can be cancelled off within 14 days of the purchase date. XCover covers this in the Go Live Pack they send new clients under the “Cancellation Advice” section. To cancel the protection, you can log into their platform and cancel it yourself, or email them directly and they will remove it for you. All refunds of the XCover fee are issued by the accommodation provider directly.

Can I add XCover after the booking has been made?

This isn't possible currently. The solution would be to cancel the booking and made again to include XCover.

If a guest books a holiday, purchases XCover, but then decides to cancel their holiday, what should I do then?

Any refund of XCover fees to the guest will always come from you as the accommodation provider directly. But bear in mind that XCover doesn't typically refund XCover fees to you outside the 14 days cooling off period, as past this point they can't recoup any fees from their insurer. As such, you should refund the cost of the holiday to your guest for any cancellations past this point, less the XCover fee.

If a refund for the XCover fee is made within the 14 days and within the same month protection is purchased, then when XCover cancels the sale off at their end, the sale just won't be included on your next invoice. If however you are refunding a XCover fee to guest who has cancelled their holiday and XCover has already collected the money from you, then when they cancel it, a credit will apply on your next invoice to ensure you're not left out of pocket.

Can I exclude refundable extras such as security deposits from the XCover refund protection?

Yes, you can exclude your sureties or security deposits in the advanced options section of your Extras by ticking the relevant box there.

Does XCover refund a guest if they have been told to self-isolate by the Government's Track and Trace app?

The XCover coronavirus guidance is based on their core terms and conditions, the relevant line being: “What will we refund? We will refund the cost of your booking if you are unable to attend a booked event due to: an injury, or an illness affecting you or a member of your immediate family.”

As per the above, they provide cover for illness affecting the guest or immediate family, therefore if an immediate family member tests positive for Covid (or another illness), they can offer a refund as this meets the above.

Or if a member of the guest's immediate family tests positive and the guest is therefore required to self-isolate due to this and can evidence this then the refund will be paid.
They don't however cover self isolation requested by the government’s T&Ts app alone as this doesn't meet the above term (i.e. the person isolating hasn't been confirmed to have Covid, nor has any of their immediate family). However, if if they had a test in that self-isolation time and were confirmed ill with Covid they’d refund.

How do I offer my guests the option to take out protection when taking bookings over the phone?
When you activate XCover, the team will send you a link to their “Partner Pack” which along with some other resources, includes a Telephone Script.
The wording provided within the script is just a guide and may need amending slightly to suit your business, however it will give you an idea on how to position the offering over the phone and is always there to refer back to if you need.
If a guest confirms that they’d like to add the protection, then you just need to tick the box on the form and continue through the booking as usual. Once the booking is confirmed, a link to the XCoverTerms and Conditions will be included on the guest's confirmation email. Since your guest won’t actually see the XCover Terms and Conditions when booking over the phone, it’s worth pointing out to them that a copy is included on the confirmation email and that they do have a 14 day cooling off period, meaning that they can cancel the protection off within this time frame if they decide it's not required.

Do you have any advice for providing links to our guests so they can make a claim easily if they have taken out XCover?
Yes, when you go live, XCover will issue you with a live link to their terms that is unique to your business. We advise that you put this link in your own T&Cs and also as a line in your booking confirmations emails, such as this:
"XCover:

If you have taken out the optional booking protection cover please take a look at the terms: [hyperlink your unique link]".

Can I track the figures for XCover within my Anytime account?
Yes, if you run a Daily Cash List you will see the XCover figures at the bottom. 

What happens if my guest bought the holiday protection cover under Booking Protect, before the rebrand to XCover?
Any purchases of protection prior to the rebrand will still go via the Booking Protect refunds portal in the event of a claim. Any purchases post-rebrand will go via the XCover claims journey. Any guests who purchased protection via XCover will have received an email directly from XCover confirming their purchase, whereas any guests who bought protection via Booking Protect will see Booking Protect-related links/guidance on their booking confirmation email.