Has anyone successfully had THS Home & Contents plan cover them for significant accidental damage caused by a sitter. How did the process go for you?
I’m sorry to learn damage has been caused by your sitter @MountainArts. You have to go through your own insurance company first. If they don’t agree to cover the costs then THS may. Read the fine print as it is at the discretion of THS and the 3rd party they use.
I am working my way through. My insurance looks initially like it will cover the extensive water damage caused by a leak in the furnace that was not noticed. The deductible will be more than $5,000- which is better than the much greater price of not using insurance. I am awaiting information on how the home and contents plan will apply and hopefully help. This is the first time I have had a problem and have loved THS, but this is quite a big deal.
I don’t think you can blame THS or your sitters where it was a leak in your furnace. These things happen. Was the damage in an area where the sitters couldn’t help but notice it or somewhere else where they would not have needed to access? I’m glad your insurance company will cover it as that is why we take out home and contents insurance.
I understand your thinking, but it was not the furnace leak that I was disappointed in. The furnace is in the laundry room in the finished basement is where the sitter’s bedroom was. The furnace leak certainly was something that happens. I agree. The leak, which was a a steady drip filled the laundry room with an inch of water that passed through the wall to another bedroom as well as dialing the hallway connecting all the rooms. The plumber estimated it had been leaking for several days possible even a week. In the morning of my return, I texted from the airport asking if there was any problems I need to know about before I arrived home. The sitters said there were no problems and all was well. They added the house would be as I left it because they had chosen to sleep in their camper. This was the first I heard they were not actually staying in my house with my animals as planned.
The furnace leak is something that happens. Having a leak accumulate an inch of standing water damaging flooring and drywall is more what I had hoped THS home and contents would help with. In the end, it’s not going to be of much use at all, as I need to use my insurance. My insurance seems as though it will cover it and because I’ve had it for 25 years at the same company they will not drop me for making a claim. Because I have not made previous claims it is not likely my insurance rates will go up. I feel fortunate about this. I will have to pay $5000 of the deductible though, and that is not covered by the THS plan which doesn’t help unless my insurance denied my claim. It is still possible they will as the adjuster has not come to the house yet-only the plumber and they remediation services who came within a hour of my arrival home and I my call to them. The furnace and the plumber are all outside of the insurance. It is unfortunate, but normal wear and tear for furnace to have a leak. I would never connect that to any fault of a Sitter.It really is about the damage that happened next when it was left unattended.
Maybe that is more clear.
The bit that THS might help you with is that the sitters broke the Ts&Cs by not staying in your house overnight. Maybe that changes where the liability lies? Part of the reason hosts have sitters is home care as well as animal care so perhaps you have a case. Try support again and see what they say. Sorry it’s such an expensive experience! #insuranceissues
Thank you for explaining further @MountainArts. So, the sitters chose to sleep in their camper rather than in the bedroom in the basement where the furnace is. Is that correct? If so, they may have had no reason to be down there unless they used the laundry but that may depend on how long the sit was. The other parts of your house affected, do you know whether they accessed these rooms? Have you actually spoken to them to follow up getting more information from them? Not in an accusatory manner but just to learn more.
It’s very disappointing for you to come home to this and deal with the damage caused by the leak from the furnace.
I explained this when I wrote to support to ask how I might engage the home and contents plan. That was not mentioned, but is a good idea. Thank you.
I have only been home for a few days and have been figuring this all out as I go. I also have a full client schedule now that I’m home and work to catch up on. I am a little overwhelmed. The sit was 2 1/2 weeks long to take care of my elderly dog and my service dog while I traveled to visit my daughter and attend and present at an international retreat overseas. The good news is my animals are fine and I have no complaints there- Only confusion as the plan was for the sitters to stay in the bedroom and be present at night as my animals are not used to being alone. It would never have occurred to me that someone would not stay in the house for a housesitting job. I did text the House Sitters when I discovered the standing water to see if they had noticed any flooding in the basement, as it was flooded now. The response was that they had done laundry sometime the week before and hadn’t noticed any water. I would not have agreed to them sitting if I had known they would not stay in the house as things happen not just to the house to my animals too that need someone there to respond to. I am still stuck in some bewilderment at all this. It’s going to be a multi week and very invasive repair while I am welcoming home my adult children for visits and also have not enough bedrooms that aren’t impacted. I am trying to get my head around what I am in for.
I do feel for you @MountainArts with all that is happening and can understand you being overwhelmed. The sitters should definitely have stayed in your home and not in their camper as that is one of the requirements as pointed out by @Cuttlefish. Thinking of you.
Did they give a reason for this ? I would like to know the sitters POV why they chose to sleep in the camper rather than the house ?!?
To hear this on the morning of your return is MIND BLOWING!! And totally unacceptable. Certainly had they stayed in your home in the area where the leak occurred there would have been lees damage. Hopefully THS will help with some cost. After all, the name is Trusted HOUSE Sitters. Good luck and I am so sorry this happened. What a mess. I will follow this along as I am interested to see what happens with your insurance and THS coverage, I am also Premium Member and HO.
I have learned from your post - if someone arrives in a van/camper, I will make sure to mention what seems obvious to me - they must stay in my home. thank you for sharing.
Yeah, trusted HOUSE sitters is meant to be the clue. If they were in the camper you are not hearing a dog with any issues during the night. Not good enough.
It seems to me that as a sitter is watching the house, that should include stuff like noticing a massive leak in the basement. We had a housesit a couple of summers ago in a house where we weren’t “using” the upstairs much but I still checked up there especially as there’d been a storm and there was indeed a leak from the roof that would have caused a lot of damage if I hadn’t seen it.
I totally agree with you @anon9376833 as I do the same. However, we are home owners and experienced sitters. We don’t know anything about the sitters in this case. With the huge influx in members, perhaps they were relatively new; don’t have their own home; younger than us; did what sitters often do and don’t check rooms not in use; just didn’t think. Your example of a storm I understand, because it would hopefully be normal to check the house out for any damage or leaks during and after it. A furnace leaking in a basement that might otherwise not be used (yes, their bedroom was down there but they chose not to sleep there) is perhaps something different. I’m not offering excuses for them as they should have been in the house overnight. It’s just we don’t know anything about them. I hope they have been contacted because they may honestly not have known anything and could be quite mortified.
I am sure they honestly didn’t know anything, just weren’t there. It was not malicious in any way. They were not young, have adult children, and property managers by trade renting their own home and others out as a way to fund a traveling lifestyle and doing it on a budget using TrustedHousesutters and similar organizations.
They know the situation I arrived home to and condition of my home upon my return, as I described the standing water and extent in a text to them and asked when it may have started. The response to my text when I discovered the flood in the downstairs was they had been using the laundry room some time before and hadn’t noticed. Also that they hadn’t stayed in the house but in the small truck bed camper. They had five 5 star reviews and were over seas at a sit taking care of a small farm when we met over face time and I talked about my 16 year old dog needing company as she was very nervous when I left. I also talked about my highly valuable to me service dog who has never been without me and though I trusted she would be ok as she focuses also on taking care if the old dog, I did not know exactly how she would react. I also have livestock. The welcome packet is very complete and had all the information for the plumber if there were plumbing problem. When I say basement I mean a full and used floor of the house with two bedrooms, bathroom, and laundry area.
I would never have anticipated this outcome based on my interview of them, and the night we overlapped before I left. The promise was to take care of everything while I was gone like the many wonderful house sitters I have had previously.
They know the situation and have simply said they are sorry for me and the situation sounds terrible. It would never have occurred to me they would choose the back of a truck over my home that all others have been delighted to stay in. It was not the care of my dogs I specifically named- that they not be left unattended for long stretches. What they had said was one of the couple worked remotely and was planning to be there a lot so it was no problem.
I’m sure there is something I could have done differently, although I’m not sure yet what that would be. I was hoping this would be the exact situation the home and contents plan through THS was made for and would help me with. It is also true I had not understand until now how it works and that it really covers nothing unless insurance is denied and then only by the discretion of THS. It does not cover out of pocket things like the $5000 deductible from my insurance.
If I were a new homeowner, or recently switched insurance companies, or had a previous claim I would be risking losing my insurance or having it go up by making this claim it’s a lot to think about. I still don’t have 100% certainty that I am covered as the adjuster has not come out yet the mediation if the water is still ongoing the floor is drying but the water wicked up four feet into the walls
Thank you for giving us insight into your sitters @MountainArts. Knowing their background as property managers, there’s really no excuse for not checking all over your house occasionally. It doesn’t sound as though there were any red flags throughout the process to alert you to possible issues and that they were actually a good choice. Not so where your house is concerned. It doesn’t help you but it may be a lesson for them to learn.
I’m really sorry you are having to deal with this.
I hope there is something THS can do to help you.
This thread makes me think that I should perhaps ask hosts if they want me to check on the areas I don’t use.
It had never occurred to me that some kind of incident like this might happen. So far, nobody has asked me not to use part of the house but I have never opened a closed door, just assuming it was their private space. Only if pets go in there do I check in case it needs cleaning.
Every day is a school day.
Hi MountainArts, I feel really sorry for you and this all sounds a bit fishy to me. They never mentioned spending time sleeping in their camper van, yet you find out when you arrive home. Is it possible they did notice the leak but just did not want to get involved, or have to wait for repair people to come out etc.? And very conveniently they had not done any laundry washing for over a week? And if they were just living in their camper van for the full two and a half weeks, were they just coming in to feed the dogs and then disappearing back into their camper van?
Surely there would have been a damp smell to have alerted them, or the sound of dripping water etc. Just seems very odd for them to say that they did not notice. And there is a possibility that they only slept in the camper van, when they started to notice the leak. Hope you get it sorted and that insurance will at least cover some of this. Good Luck.
I agree. And I’m horrified for the homeowner. I think a lot of “new” sitters might not get that any sit involves both pet care and home care. I think homeowners probably can’t take it for granted that sitters know what to do in household emergencies or even to check for stuff so it does fall to the homeowner to do stuff like tell sitters to check the house including parts they are aren’t using for leaks and such. In the case, it sounds like the leak would have been spotted if the sitters had been sleeping in the basement.