I am being attacked by the cat I’m looking after- what can I do?

Hi everyone, I’m at loss for what to do so here reaching out for advice.

Some quick details for context- I am premium sitter, sitting full time in London for the last 1.5 years. I am currently on day 3 of a 16 day sit. The homeowners are new to the platform.

So here’s the situation;

The cat i’m looking after has major behavioural issues. Anytime i’m near it, it acts aggravated- hissing, tail twitching, or sitting in a “stalking” position and staring at me.

Twice now, when going about my day, it has ran up behind me and bit my leg. It first happened on the first night and has happened again this morning.

Naturally i’ve become quite intimidated by it, I can’t make a cup of tea without fear of being attacked, so i spend most of my time at home in the bedroom, with the door closed.

Now, this is where it gets interesting- often when i come out of a closed door (the bedroom or the bathroom) the cat is waiting outside for me, and tries to tries to prevent me from the leaving the room, by hissing at me, and clawing/attempting to bite at my feet.

The first two days I said to myself “this cat is scared, it’ll calm down once it gets used to you” however there has been no improvement by day 3, so now I feel I really need to leave this sit.

I have spoken to the pet parents and they said via text message:

“Sorry to hear this, he uses biting as a way to communicate sometimes, if it makes you feel better, he does it to us too. You just need to show him who is boss and ignore him.”

This is clearly a much bigger issue, and it is breaking the TH guidelines. The TH terms and conditions clearly state that any pet who has harmed a person shouldn’t be on the platform.

Now here’s another issue- I want to cancel the sit, book a hotel/airbnb (I have nowhere else to go) and claim my TH premium insurance afterwards. Unfortunately, it clearly states in the terms and conditions of the TH cancellation policy that claims will be denied if the sitter cancels the sit.

What if the sitter cancels the sit, because the pet parent has broken the clause about pets that cause harm? Where is the sitter protection?

I’m at a loss because I’ve spoken to customer service both on the phone via email, and they have said a lot of words just to say something, but not really said anything helpful. They’ve basically said “read the terms and conditions” and “our partner MIGHT pay out” but haven’t given me a straight answer.

Does anyone have any experience with this or any advice?

Thank you!