Hi all
I’m Heather from Australia and new to the home exchange world.
I’m sure it differs country to country, insurer to insurer but generally speaking are exchanges covered in one’s home insurance?
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As you say, will vary not only country to country, but also company to company. Our policy definitely does cover HE guests.
We also swapped a car recently. That I was unsure about so I asked our insurer. Just as well I did as the answer was they were covered, but had to have drivers licence in English, with a sworn affidavit if in another language.
So the simple answer for hosts (and guests) is ask. Laws and practices vary widely.
The Guarantees that HE provides should suffice for most things related to the exchange itself. That, couples with whatever home insurance you might already have, is generally enough. I recommend reading the information about Guarantees on the HE site to get a clear understanding of what is covered.
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I agree need to ask the Insurance company in advance of the exchange my host caused a water leak in the bathroom and damaged my both bathroom HE asked me to declare my own insurance but should not be because it will cost me 200 EUROS franchise to my insurance + 10% raise per year on my housing insurance (approx 80eur more the year after)…
I would contact your insurance company for clarification and get their advice in writing. It took our home insurance company 4 months to give us an answer about coverage for home exchanges (property damage, loss, liability for injury of guests, etc.) They said we had to add an occupancy surcharge. When we went to add the coverage, they backtracked on their answer and it took many more months to sort that out. Eventually, what they required is that we add short term rental insurance.
Does someone know what are the 1 000 000 ISD Dollard of damages guarantee and in which case? Because if you read the conditions everything is on our own, Home Exchange getting off of all responsibilities…?
I’m yet to hear a positive story about HE guarantee from a non ambassador. From what I’ve gathered online you really need a good insurance and document everything, otherwise you’re just hoping that someone is not going to accidentally damage your place. I get that most experiences are positive, but it’s just a matter of probability and your willingness to gamble.
I’m on the fence myself. The insurance provider I have, quoted me for $1500 annual premium increase when I told them about home swapping.
Watch out for exclusions by HE. We had a guest bring a dog at the last minute. It’s a dog free house so they agreed it would stay in the garage. When we returned the garden lawn was dead in patches due to dog urine. Reading the small print we weren’t covered.