Wheatherbill: Betting for Good or for Bad wheather

WeatherBill will pay refunds to Itravel2000 customers if it snows five inches (12.7 centimetres) or more on Jan. 1 at Calgary, Halifax, Montreal or Toronto airports.

This quote from The Star drew my attention to WheatherBill

What is WheatherBill

According to its site:

WeatherBill is the first service to provide affordable and easy-to-use weather coverage to protect revenue and control costs for the millions of businesses impacted by the weather.

WeatherBill coverage is safe and reliable. There is no unnecessary paperwork, no claims process, no proof-of-loss and no waiting for payment. WeatherBill is the only service that enables customers to customize, price and buy weather coverage online in just minutes, and pays automatically when good or bad weather occurs.

In addition to weather coverage, WeatherBill provides free services for businesses affected by the weather. Our free weather correlation tools help individual businesses understand how weather impacts their financial performance. Our research reports provide insight into the ways weather affects all industries. We believe every business should understand how the weather affects demand, yields, costs, schedules and the bottom line. WeatherBill can provide the earnings protection critical to every weather sensitive business.

In order to create an account with WeatherBill, you must meet several eligibility requirements. They are listed as follows.

1. You must be acting for your own account.
2. You must be based in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Norway, or The Netherlands.
3. You must meet the definition of “Eligible Contract Participant”. We have made it simple for you to determine if you qualify as an ECP – when you register for an account you will be asked several questions that will determine your eligibility.

   In short the requirement is assets of over US $ 5mio for pools, assets of over US 10 Mio for corporations or individuals, unless a Committee designates you as eligible.

So its not for the lesser to do of this world…..

The site gives examples of possible contracts.

WeatherBill has its own Blog

A recent Blog Entry refers to the following publication and clarifies it a bit:

Priceline.com Includes Potential Hurricane Season Destinations In New Sunshine Guaranteed Vacation Packages Promotion for Fall 2008

Get a Full Refund for Airfare, Hotel, Rental Car & More If Rain Ruins Your Vacation

NORWALK, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Travelers who missed their first chance to book a Priceline Sunshine Guaranteed vacation package now have another opportunity. Today, priceline.com (Nasdaq: PCLN) www.priceline.com announced a new Sunshine Guaranteed promotion for late Summer/Fall 2008 that will refund customers if rain ruins their vacation.

“We were pleased by the positive customer response this summer to our Sunshine Guaranteed vacation packages, and we have decided to offer them again for late summer and fall travel,” said Tom Trotta, priceline.com’s Senior Vice President, Vacation Packages. “With schools back in session, fall can be an excellent time for a crowd-free vacation. We also recognize that rainouts may be a particular concern for some destinations during the peak hurricane season, and we have included many of these destinations in our new Sunshine Guaranteed promotion.” Priceline’s Sunshine Guaranteed promotion includes over 100 destinations in the U.S., the Caribbean, Canada and Europe. Destinations throughout Florida are included, as well as New Orleans, Hawaii, Nassau/Freeport, Costa Rica, Jamaica and San Juan.

Priceline also announced today that, so far, it has refunded nearly 200 packages for families and individuals whose rainy vacations qualified for Sunshine Guaranteed refunds. In addition to refunding 100% of the airfare, hotel and rental car, several of the payments included refunds for Disney theme park passes and other tours and attractions purchased as part of the Sunshine Guaranteed packages.

Hannah Singleton of Rockport, IN, was one of those Priceline customers who qualified for a Sunshine Guaranteed refund for her trip to Charleston, SC. “I purchased the package through Priceline because the price was fantastic and no other service was offering Sunshine Guaranteed vacations,” said Ms. Singleton. “Now, because of the refund, I can take two vacations. Thank you, Priceline.”

It is not insurance, because insurance is against loss or damage. It is coverage of a clearly defined future uncertainty. Close to betting, but not really betting. If I translate the Dutch equivalent contract in English I would call it a chance contract.

I wonder whether the organization of the Opening Party of the 2008 Olympics took coverage…

Update August 13: The Olympics people simply used planes with lots of stuff to make the rain stay away. They simply didn’t need the coverage.