Damage in my rental: what should I do?

Fires, water damage... These mishaps can happen during a rental stay. So how should you react when something goes wrong?

Check your insurance policy

As the owner, you should normally be covered by comprehensive home insurance including holiday letting cover. This type of policy contains one of two clauses: waiver of recourse or renunciation of recourse.

These clauses set out whether or not the owner, and therefore the insurer, may claim payment from the holidaymaker.

Do you care about your rental and your customers? Choose comprehensive home insurance with a waiver of recourse. It is the only way for the holidaymaker to be covered for public liability, fire and water damage.

For tenants

If you had tenants in the property when the damage occurred, it is up to them to claim on their own comprehensive home insurance. Their policy will include what is known as a "holiday letting" clause covering rental stays.

You can check with your tenant beforehand whether this clause appears in their policy. Bear in mind that if it is missing, the tenant can take out temporary home insurance (1 to 90 days) covering them for the duration of their stay. It works like a comprehensive policy and costs very little.

Have you ever had to deal with a situation like this? If the subject interests you, we also have an article on the partnership between Luko and Airbnb.