Hello. We are new HE members located in Western Canada.
We have organized a number of exchanges and will have guests staying in our home in Sept and Oct 2025. However, our current home insurance company, Travelers Canada, has stated that their home owner policies do not cover home exchanges. They consider this activity a type of commercial rental similar to Airbnb. Therefore our insurance would be void if there was damage to our home or an accident leading to liability.
While HomeExchange offers certain guarantees, info on these policies is very limited so I have no confidence in this form of protection at this point. There is also no mention of liability protection in these guarantees. HomeExchange in fact recommends that home owners have their own insurance. But this is easier said then done based my inquiries to date. The manager of our insurance agency, with 20 + years of experience, has told me she has never provided a home insurance policy that also covers home exchange usage and so far has found no insurance companies with a standard offering for this situation. One person has commented they buy commercial insurance as if running an Airbnb for peace of mind but this is quite expensive.,
To those HE members in Canada, we are wondering which insurance companies and types of policies you are using to provide comprehensive home insurance that also allows occasional home exchanges.
Thank you for your assistance!
Norm & Beth
Mayne Island, BC
Canada