I get a lot of that.
@BBZ @OnTheRoadAgain It really depends on the country you’re in. Here in the Netherlands personal liability insurance is about $5 / month and pretty much everyone has it. Pending the country she’s from, she very well may have such insurance as well and just because you wrapped up a sit doesn’t mean you have no responsibility anymore.
E.g. if I break something at my neighbours and then walk out of their house, that doesn’t mean my responsibility ends there and then. I would still tap into my PL insurance, as is expected.
With the type of insurances we have here in NL, and I assume the same in Germany, you cannot easily make a claim for this via your own insurance as it’s expected the person who caused the damage uses their PL insurance for this.
I would raise it with THS, such that they can inquire on your behalf if she has PL insurance. If she does, she should take her responsibility to let the insurance apply.
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Thank you for a voice of reason.
Yes, I am also in touch with THS on this. They are trying to push me to claim it with my insurance, only to get a rejection, and then they would replace my couch, through their insurance, for which I will still have to pay $250 deductible.
As you, I assumed the sitter would have liability insurance and that she would feel responsible and accountable outside the strict platform regulations and avoid for me to end up with a negative insurance record (for nothing) and a $250 bill.
@BBZ, really sorry for your ongoing challenges.
As an experienced sitter then I must confess that I believed that THS “Accident & Third Party Insurance” was insurance that covered accidents and third party incidents. Huh. But reading policy then it only covers damage and third party injury caused by pets.
Given policy name then we presumed, ugh, that it covered accidental damage caused in housesitter. In 50+ sits and perhaps 100+ video calls then zero Pet Parents have asked us whether we have third party liability insurance. As a parallel - when PP kindly permits use to use their vehicle - in a country where named drivers or incremental premium are relevant - then we ask for copy of policy document … just in case PP decides not to insure us.
@Jenny, irrespective of surprisingly limited coverage (feel free to upgrade) then is there not a more appropriate name for this THS insurance? That includes “pet”.
Full-time housesitters out there … especially international … do you have insurance that covers accidental damage or third party injuries? Given no THS coverage even for Premium Members, we’re interested to learn of insurers that offer standalone policies (not as part of residential property insurance).
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When you say “responsibility ends” are you referring to a legal or a moral question? That is, is there a practical legal recourse for @BBZ ? If not, we’re looking at an issue of the sitter’s personal integrity and financial capability (including whether they have PL coverage). If a sitter does not step up quickly, they probably won’t because they likely can’t. That this sitter is ignoring queries from the OP indicates there’s some kind of problem going on with the sitter. Other than the THS insurance, THS won’t be much help here.
Cannot easily submit a claim or cannot easily get reimbursement from your own insurance? The point of submitting the claim would be to have the claim rejected which then enables use of THS insurance. It may be that the sitter can afford $250 but not a new couch.
I don’t know the significance of negative reports on insurance claims for @BBZ . Maybe it is like my insurance coverage and the conventional wisdom that discourages submitting claims because they might trigger rate increases (though rates have been increasing steadily for 10 years without any claims submitted). In my locale, I would be more concerned about my liability exposure from a sitter injuring themselves than black marks with my insurance company or the $250 deductible. But insurance coverage is wildly different in different locations.
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Since you’re not the sitter in question here, what you might do in a similar situation is irrelevant. People don’t all have the same values or financial means.
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Ok, but @BBZ lives in Germany, I live in the Netherlands, so I have some understanding of how this part of the world works.
Here it would be HIGHLY unusual to just ‘disappear’ after causing damage to someone else’s property when the property owner is totally known to you and you were at their premises on their invitation. Those are things ‘you just don’t do’.
Just like: yes, while driving you may crash into someone else’s car, but that doesn’t mean it’s common to just drive off again. You would put your car on the side of the road, and talk insurance details with the other driver. That’s what I’m referring to. Social norms.
So I’m not just talking about what I find normal. I’m talking about social norms in this part of Europe. For example, in a case like this you can -in this country, the neighbours of Germany - send a letter to the other person who caused the damage and hold them liable for the damage, and request them to use their insurance. That’s a normal thing to do here and it would be very bad form for the other person to not respond to that.
So please be kind and don’t immediately relegate my comment as ‘irrelevant’
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The sitter has been unresponsive for the most part. The host has pretty much accepted that the sitter is not going to be accountable for her actions.
Social norms are all well and good but unfortunately not everyone conforms to them.
Taken to its extreme, in every culture, in every country in every part of the world, prisons are full of such individuals.
Just curious, is that the ladder and was she opening the top window? As a short person that stepladder would not be sufficient for me to open the window without a high risk of falling.
Also, was the sitter from Europe? Types of insurance available and what is covered seems to vary a lot by country and continent.
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Just another potential minefield to tiptoe carefully around. Never occurred to me I might potentially break a couch while sitting but apparently it’s possible. I would be horrified, but do not have that European insurance and I wouldn’t be keen to buy a new couch either. No larking about on ladders for me.
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Why do we have to take such a negative tone? I’m just trying to add my advice to the question of @BBZ.
Instead, I’m pretty much told off by someone else.
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Your advice is that everything will be fine and this non responsive sitter who shows no accountability will be responsive and accountable because that’s how people are in her country.
I simply voiced my disagreement.
Thanks for the photo and additional information. This does confirm that to open the window it was necessary for the sitter to climb up on the steps that you provide for that purpose as explained in your Welcome Guide . The damage to the sofa from the fall is accidental damage .
Sitters pay for THS membership . They are not required to get personal liability insurance. THS says that THS hosts can claim for accidental damage up to $1M via the THS home contents plan . The only additional insurance that THS advises sitters to get is travel insurance and health insurance.
From the photo this appears like “an accident waiting to happen” - thankfully it was only the sofa that is broken and no injuries to the sitter or your pet(s)
If this accident had happened to you , who would you claim from ? The sofa company since it’s a newish sofa or your home contents insurance?
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To clarify a few practical details, since the discussion has shifted toward window access and “risk”:
• The lower window handle is 137 cm from the floor.
• The upper handle is 175 cm from the small step/ladder provided.
• I also have a second ladder that allows the upper handle to be reached at around 130 cm.
All of this was visible in the listing photos and available during the sit — nothing unusual or unsafe. These are very standard window heights and setups for Central European apartments.
If a sitter knows they have specific accessibility needs or cannot open windows without risk of falling, that’s something that should be communicated before accepting a sit.
Also, this was in November, with daytime highs around 5°C, so airing the room only requires a very short window opening. And if someone genuinely cannot reach the upper window safely, there are simple alternatives:
a) Open the lower window and stay nearby so the cats don’t jump out
or
b) Place the cats briefly in one of the other rooms — and there is ample space: the flat has 3 rooms + kitchen + hallway + bathroom — and air out the living room safely
These are basic, sensible solutions.
TrustedHousesitters relies on trust from both sides, and that includes sitters exercising common sense and responsibility when handling someone else’s home. From some comments here, it feels like that expectation is being dismissed entirely.
I’m not asking for anything extraordinary — simply accountability for a situation that could have been avoided with more care and helping to solve it, so that everyone involved is okay. And yes, the sitter is from Europe.
Thank you for articulating this so clearly — this is exactly my experience as well.
Living in Germany, the expectation is very straightforward: if you accidentally damage someone else’s property, you take responsibility and you use your liability insurance. That’s not a personal preference, it’s the legal and social norm here.
As you said, it’s comparable to causing a small accident with someone’s car — you wouldn’t just drive off, even if it wasn’t intentional. You exchange details and you sort it out properly.
That’s why this situation feels so strange to me. The sitter is known to me, stayed in my home with my full trust, and admitted the accident. Under normal circumstances here, the next logical step is simply:
the person who caused the damage contacts their insurance.
I really appreciate you bringing in the broader European context, because it helps explain why I’m struggling with how this is being handled.
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wouldn’t say I’ve “accepted” that the sitter won’t be accountable — I’ve simply acknowledged that she hasn’t responded in the way one would normally expect here.
And as Bluehorse pointed out, this isn’t just about personal preference. In Germany (and much of Europe), the norm is very simple: if you accidentally damage someone else’s property, you take responsibility and you use your liability insurance. That’s not just a social idea — it’s literally how the legal and insurance system works here.
I spoke to my insurer, and they confirmed that this type of damage cannot be claimed under the homeowner’s policy. It falls under the liability insurance of the person who caused it.
Beyond legality, there’s also integrity. Where I live, if you break something in someone’s home, you take responsibility and help make it right. That’s just how people behave — socially and legally.
I also don’t want to live in a world where people only act sensibly when there’s a specific rule telling them to. Common sense and basic decency should still matter.
And honestly, I find it a bit absurd how quickly some commenters defer to whatever a platform says, instead of considering what is actually right or wrong between two adults in a real situation.
I didn’t sign up expecting to hand my (foster) pets and my home over to people who will default to “not my problem” the moment something goes wrong. I chose Trusted House Sitters because I trusted the concept — not because I wanted to discover loopholes that let people avoid responsibility.
So no, the expectation isn’t unreasonable. This is the standard way it’s handled where I live, and I’m still hoping the sitter chooses to act accordingly. I’m aware she may not — but I didn’t post here to get the legal situation explained to me (I already understand that part).
I posted because I was hoping to hear from other homeowners who have been in similar situations and managed to turn things around.
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To make it even cleareer - no it was no necessary.
If it is legally required that all residents and visitors to Germany have personal liability insurance you should give this information to Trusted House Sitters .
In the U.K. where THS started it is not a legal requirement and not a common practice. Now that THS has expanded internationally, the T&Cs that THS members agree to should be updated to ensure that it conforms to the laws of all the countries that they operate in .
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I cannot claim this through my home contents insurance, because the damage did not happen to me or through my actions. In Germany, Hausratversicherung only covers damage to your property that you yourself incur. Any damage caused by another person falls under their liability insurance, not mine.
So the question “who would you claim from if this had happened to you?” really isn’t applicable here — because it didn’t happen to me.
And just to address the idea of “an accident waiting to happen”: no, it really wasn’t – please see also my other reply here. These are completely standard windows for a Central European apartment. The heights are normal, the setup is normal, and everything was visible upfront in the listing.
If a sitter chooses to stay in a beautiful, bright 1900s apartment with large windows and sweet cats, then part of that choice is also taking basic responsibility and using common sense when navigating the space.
I would have thought sitters want to be seen as capable and confident enough to handle a space like this — not as people who can’t manage.
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@BBZ
You have tried to resolve this with the sitter and you are not happy with their response . You have come to the forum for help and solutions
So far the suggestions given by forum members are
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If the damage was caused by negligence or misuse and you are unable to resolve it directly with the sitter because they are not accepting responsibility for the damage you can raise a member dispute
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If this was accidental damage you can make a claim through THS Home Contents Plan (as THS have also advised you ) . THS says host can have peace of mind that they are covered for accidental damage through this plan - so not unreasonable for the sitter to say that you need to pursue this route . You can ask your insurance for a letter/ e-Mail that states they don’t cover accidental damage by third parties and submit this to THS and then follow the rest of the procedures for making a claim. You have said that they have told you that if you do this you will be able to claim for a new sofa -£250 . This seems very fair and typical of most insurance policies as the sofa wasn’t brand new so you already had a years use of it and now will get a brand new sofa .
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If the newish sofa is still under warranty or is not sufficiently sturdy and you feel that it doesn’t meet the quality / strength standards that you would expect - you may be able to get a replacement from the manufacturer.
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