Evacuated due to Hurricane Ian

[mickeyboots]

Hi I was in Florida when hurricane Ian hit. We had spent 2 weeks in Orlando, and went to Anna Maria Island for a week. This had all been planned and paid for in advance.
We arrived on Sunday the 25th of September, unpacked our cases and food we had taken with us. I spoke to the owner on Monday the 26th of September, regarding a completely separate thing, and he told us that we had to leave on Tuesday, as there was an emergency evacuation order for the area. We were advised to look for temporary accommodation, beyond the I75. We were travelling with 2 disabled adult sons, so hotels are not a great option for us, as we need some cooking facilities, and a fridge, toaster, microwave for them.
We were lucky to find a small 2 bedroom apartment to rent for 3 nights in Lakelands, and the eye of the storm bypassed Lakelands, and we did not lose electricity. There were trees and vegetation down, and thankfully our rental car was not damaged. There was nothing opened for 3 days, and we survived on sandwiches and frozen meals. We had only 2 beds, so took it in turns to get some sleep. We were hoping to return to Anna Maria Island on the Friday, but while the Island was not badly hit, electricity and water services were down, so we could not return. We stayed in Lakelands on Friday night, and managed to get a villa to stay in Orlando on Saturday.
Travel insurance will not cover our losses, it gives just a set amount per person.
There is nothing in the terms and conditions about renting the villa in Anna Maria Island regarding the situation of emergency evacuation, when staying in a villa. So we are left short of quite a sum of money.
Should I approach the villa owner and either ask for a partial refund, or a reduction for staying there again for a future holiday in 2 years time?
Perhaps villa owners might be able to advise.

[Floridadreams]

Originally Posted by mickeyboots

Hi I was in Florida when hurricane Ian hit. We had spent 2 weeks in Orlando, and went to Anna Maria Island for a week. This had all been planned and paid for in advance.
We arrived on Sunday the 25th of September, unpacked our cases and food we had taken with us. I spoke to the owner on Monday the 26th of September, regarding a completely separate thing, and he told us that we had to leave on Tuesday, as there was an emergency evacuation order for the area. We were advised to look for temporary accommodation, beyond the I75. We were travelling with 2 disabled adult sons, so hotels are not a great option for us, as we need some cooking facilities, and a fridge, toaster, microwave for them.
We were lucky to find a small 2 bedroom apartment to rent for 3 nights in Lakelands, and the eye of the storm bypassed Lakelands, and we did not lose electricity. There were trees and vegetation down, and thankfully our rental car was not damaged. There was nothing opened for 3 days, and we survived on sandwiches and frozen meals. We had only 2 beds, so took it in turns to get some sleep. We were hoping to return to Anna Maria Island on the Friday, but while the Island was not badly hit, electricity and water services were down, so we could not return. We stayed in Lakelands on Friday night, and managed to get a villa to stay in Orlando on Saturday.
Travel insurance will not cover our losses, it gives just a set amount per person.
There is nothing in the terms and conditions about renting the villa in Anna Maria Island regarding the situation of emergency evacuation, when staying in a villa. So we are left short of quite a sum of money.
Should I approach the villa owner and either ask for a partial refund, or a reduction for staying there again for a future holiday in 2 years time?
Perhaps villa owners might be able to advise.

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I would definitely approach the villa owner. You paid for services they could not provide - albeit for circumstances outside of their control but they must realise that you would have been out of pocket. It is definitely worth asking at least!

[tim17]

We were due to stay a little further north than the OP from the 30th and had booked a townhouse via VRBO, the owner had a 'hurricane' clause in his rental contract so that if a mandatory evacuation was put in place (which it was from the 27th) we would get a full refund and true to his word the owner cancelled the booking immediately and he refunded the full cost.

I would ask the owner to consider a partial refund as he couldn't fulfil his contractual obligations and he should have some sort of insurance to cover loss of income for hurricanes or bad weather events.

[DisneyCupcake]

I agree about contacting the villa owner but with regard to your travel insurance have you had a good read of all the policy terms and talked to them about the situation. Certainly worth trying all avenues.

[DebsMK]

We also cancelled our VRBO villa and the owner gave us a full refund. Thank goodness we cancelled as apparently the villa took a direct hit. I think the owner should do something for you surely?

[scooby99]

We also had a mandatory evacuation from the Gulf Coast and had to leave our rental condo due to Ian.
The rental agency advised us beforehand that we’d be refunded for the days a mandatory evacuation as in place and we have been.