We a trip coming up soon and have only had one application so far. Our listing says that we accept individuals or couples, but the application is a family with a 10 year old. We are a bit concerned about liability with the pool. I know adults could have accidents too of course, but children seem like a bigger risk. It’s our only application so far though and we are leaving in 11 days so trying to decide what to do. Any thoughts?
@Pgeiger You could speak to the family about your concerns and seek assurance that the 10 year old would only use the pool under adult supervision.
I think if I were in your position, I would be more concerned if the child were younger and had less awareness of risk. The 10 year old could be a really competent swimmer. You could ask about their swimming ability.
Maybe a good way to approach it is to express your concerns to the applicants, and see what response or assurance they give you. I think them saying that the child would only be allowed to swim under adult supervision would be a more reassuring answer than them simply saying that their child is a good swimmer. I still would not let my boys swim unsupervised, even though they can both swim a kilometre, and are 15 and 13. (I’m a swimming teacher, which might make me take risks more seriously.)
We have done sits where there is a swimming pool, but have only been able to use them on a second sit for the same owners, but this was purely down to the time of year.
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I dont think a parent with a 10 yr. old would apply to a sit that had concerns about their child getting hurt . I know I wouldn’t apply if i thought my child didn’t know how to swim. What would be the benefit of applying to a pool sit if a child cant have fun and swim. I think the parents are thinking boy this w
ould be a great sit for the family to sit by the pool and play. I think parents apply to sits that are also good for their child since kids get bored so easily, also to keep kids off of their phones to spend family time together. Now a days kids are so hooked on their phone, parents are looking for ways to get them off.
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I know you are not in the UK but you would need to check with your insurance company if it would be covered should there be an accident. Especially as you will not of course be present. I did a sit and the homeowner had to add me on to her policy. Not all insurance companies accept house sitters as a matter of course, especially for several weeks.
I would just chat with them. I have three kids and all took swim lessons since young a d by the time they were 8 yrs old, they were swimming in high school sized pools with no problem.
@Pgeiger you’re obviously in a tight situation where you’re going away shortly and have only received one application. Does this family have THS reviews? Any mention of the 10 year old in relation to their interaction with the pets? I know this isn’t relevant specifically to your pool but you may gain insight into the family. If you think the family could be suitable then you need to make contact with them asap and ask the important questions!
Thank you so much for this advice! We will definitely do that. Very helpful!
Unfortunately they are new with no THS reviews and nothing about how the 10
Year old is with animals in their profile . We aren’t opposed to new sitters as we have had great experiences with some new sitters. We also aren’t opposed to hiring someone to come in, but really prefer to have someone stay
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