My insurance company will not cover HE guests at all. Can anyone suggest one that understands HE and will give cover?
1 Like
Welcome to the Forum Kaysie. I am in the UK and I also had difficulty trying to explain to my insurance company what Home Exchange is. I donāt think it is so commonly known here as in some other countries. In the end they decided that it is similar to having friends to stay whilst we are away, and they said they would prefer someone was in my home than it was left empty. Iām afraid though I canāt recommend specific companies.
1 Like
My current insurer does allow home swaps. (I also get a bolt-on cover for the swap period with another company too, to cover guest related damage.) However my insurance company has just hiked up their prices 40% so Iām looking for an alternative. Iām struggling to find any other company which allows home swaps. As soon as I ask the question they refuse cover.
1 Like
I use Aviva for my buildings and contents (not cheap!). They said they would cover for periods during home exchanges but I am supposed to tell them in advance the dates and details for the exchanges. They said it is not the same as friends staying. I checked with several other insurers who said my building and contents insurance would not be valid during a home exchange even if it is just a swap and no money is exchanged. I would be interested if anyone else in the UK has building and contents insurance that is valid during a home exchange that might be cheaper and less cumbersome than Aviva! Elizabeth
1 Like
My insurer is AVIVA and they told me that they would not cover āLoss or damage caused by paying guests or happening while the home or any part of
it is lent, let or sublet.ā The lent element seems to cover HE guests. So most of us must be uninsurable!
1 Like
Hi Melissa
Would you be kind enough to share the name of your home insurance company? Mine wonāt allow HomeExchange and I need to change. If youād prefer to do this privately, of course that makes sense. Thank you.
Jack Herbert
Hi Kaysie
Did you get any solid advice on this in the end? Iām in the same position as you and would love a bit of direction towards an amenable insurance company rather than cold calling them all and describing HomeExchange in the hope of finding them amenable.
Thanks,
Jack
I have not found anyone yet. Will post if I get lucky. Without insurance being valid when you even lend your house to friend they are being excessively careful. Most of my visitors use my private room, so I feel they are not ālentā the house. A month next March will be my big test.
Hi there
Just reposting this to state clearly that I feel Iāve hit a wall here.
HomeExchange has 200,000 customers. But despite a couple of attempts to ask them directly or posting about it on this forum, I canāt find anyone who can suggest an insurance company Who is amenable to allowing people to stay in their homes on this basis. Through one direct contact I was put in touch with a company that did mainly farming communities, and whose quote was five times my current insurer. So I could start messaging various people who are on here offering homes in cities ā and I might! ā but it seems there must be an insurance company somewhere who regularly offers to cover urban houses who want to use their home for a few weeks a year in this way.
If anyone is prepared to specifically name the insurance company that they use, with whom they have been transparent and open about the use of HomeExchange, I would be very grateful.
Many thanks
Jack
I am with SwiftCover, which allows 30 days of āfriends and familyā staying in your home, and that includes HE (doesnāt include the damage or theft they would do). However, I am slightly over that and struggling to find a new insurance company. I called the British Insurance Brokers Association and they put me through to Brunel, which does specialty insurance, but they were going to be 3x the cost.
Also, ALWAYS be transparent and upfront. They will find out otherwise and your insurance would most likely be denied in case of a claim. Its not worth it.
Hi I used LV for home and contents and they said they could allow up to 3 instances of home swapping (c Ā£550 for the year for our 4 bed) . I also topped up with PIKL for Ā£50.
Thank you very much for these last couple of posts. Iām grateful. Iāve dug around a lot on this. In short what I canāt quite believe is that there isnāt an insurance company who want the business and that HomeExchange is prepared to engage with for a mutually beneficial partnership. It seems like a no brainer. There Iāve said it.
Many thanks everyone.
I have had a very useful quote from PIKL which identifies Aviva with PIKI add on for reasonable price. Aviva is my current insuer who absolutely refused to cover HE and did not help find an add on! Very odd.
To remind, HomeExchange had before a French insurer as investissor. Itās a complicated market with very different rules in each country and the site has 157 countriesā¦too complicated for a small company ( itās not a multinational company to remind, less than 150 persons).