Insurance
The gaps: what insurance usually doesn’t cover on a housesit, and what the agreement says instead
Home, pet and travel insurance each leave gaps on a housesit. Here are the usual ones, what the agreement on Reputable Sitters says about each, and where neither reaches.
Why this guide
Each kind of cover is built for one thing. On a housesit, several things happen at once, and the gaps between the policies are where people get caught out.
Knowing them before the sit lets you say so, and agree what happens.
“Under the agreement” below is what the agreement on Reputable Sitters says. If you use another agreement, or none, check what yours says.
Care while the homeowner is away
Insurance, usually: the only cover the Association of British Insurers (ABI) lists for looking after your pet is for when you go into hospital, on policies that include it.
Ask whether yours pays for care while you’re away.
Under the agreement: if the sitter calls off, doesn’t turn up, or walks out without a reason in the agreement, the sitter pays for comparable care the homeowner arranges instead.
That’s on receipts, up to the figure you both agreed.
Where neither reaches: care costing more than the figure is the homeowner’s.
And when the sitter can’t come or carry on through nobody’s fault, such as their own serious illness, confirmed by a doctor, all the care is the homeowner’s: nothing is owed for the sit itself.
The homeowner’s own trip
Insurance, usually: travel insurance covers cancelling a trip “under limited circumstances” (ABI). A sitter letting you down isn’t among the ABI’s examples: ask your insurer.
Under the agreement: each of you pays for your own trip.
If the sit is called off or ends early, then beyond the part of the sitter’s travel the homeowner agreed to cover, neither of you pays for the other’s own travel or plans.
That includes flights or a booked trip.
If something outside anyone’s control stops the homeowner’s trip or plans before the sit, such as a strike, a closed border or official advice against travel, it’s nobody’s fault.
Nothing is owed for the sit itself, and the homeowner doesn’t pay for somewhere else for the sitter to stay.
Where neither reaches: a trip lost because no care could be found, if your travel insurance doesn’t count a sitter letting you down.
Wear, breakdowns and genuine accidents
Insurance, usually: home insurance doesn’t usually cover “General wear and tear” or “Mechanical or electrical breakdown” (ABI). Accidental damage is covered only if your policy includes it.
Under the agreement: wear, breakdowns and genuine accidents are the homeowner’s.
The sitter pays for damage they, or anyone they ask to do part of their job, cause carelessly or on purpose; each person staying with them pays for their own.
Where neither reaches: wear and breakdowns stay with the homeowner either way.
An empty home, or one with someone else living in
Insurance, usually: home cover can be “restricted … when your home is empty for a long period, often 30 or 60 days” (ABI), and not telling your insurer about changes “could affect your cover”.
Under the agreement: nothing; this is between the homeowner and their insurer.
What to do: tell your insurer someone will be living in, and ask what it changes.
The vet, above the figure
Insurance, usually: pet insurance covers illness and injury, but not illness your pet “had or showed signs of having before the policy started”.
It doesn’t cover the first days of a new policy or routine care, and often has a limit per condition (ABI).
Under the agreement: the homeowner pays the vet bills up to their vet figure (the most the sitter can agree at the vet without the homeowner’s yes).
Above it, the homeowner pays for what they agree once reached, and for what the vet does on the vet’s own authority to ease suffering or to put an animal to sleep.
Anything the sitter agrees above it without the homeowner’s yes is the sitter’s.
Where neither reaches: anything pet insurance excludes is paid as the agreement says, with no insurer behind it.
Damage the sitter causes
Insurance, usually: whether a sitter’s own liability cover reaches damage in someone else’s home is up to its wording: ask.
Under the agreement: the sitter pays for damage they cause carelessly or on purpose.
Where neither reaches: if the sitter has no cover that reaches it, it’s theirs to pay from their own pocket.
The sitter’s own things
Insurance, usually: travel insurance “can cover you for lost or stolen baggage and personal possessions” (ABI); home contents or gadget insurance may too. Ask.
Under the agreement: not covered by the agreement; the ordinary law still applies.
How to talk about it
Go through the gaps together before the sit. “My pet insurance doesn’t cover care while I’m away” and “I don’t have liability cover” are two sentences that save an argument later.
How it works on Reputable Sitters
Your agreement says who pays for what, in plain words both of you see before signing. It doesn’t sell, arrange or check insurance.
The legal bit
This is information, not legal advice. Your agreement binds the two of you; it can’t change what any insurer pays. Only your policy’s wording and your insurer can say what’s covered.
Where next
Tell us what we’ve got wrong: listening@reputablesitters.com
Information, not legal advice. Laws change, so check anything important with the official source linked on each page.
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Reputable Sitters Ltd, registered in England and Wales, no. 17032078. Registered office: 71–75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9JQ.
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