Three large umbrellas in a round concrete base on the front patio. When heavy winds suddenly start blowing, the umbrellas can fall over and be damaged. We warn sitters to not leave the umbrellas open when not in use due to unpredictable rapidly changing weather conditions as we on the mountains overlooking the ocean. It’s happened twice, replacement cost 100 euros.
Accordion style screen door on second entrance on side of house. If the glass doors are left open but the screen door closed and the main entrance door is closed, thus blocking the pet door, our large dog may try to break through the screen to get in or out. We advise sitters to either not use that door at all, or make sure to never close the screen and leave the glass doors open while at the same time the dog is not given access to the pet door at the main entrance. Replacement cost of the door is 300 euros, it’s happened twice now, the second time the sitter was warned in advance. Nothing was said to us, we discovered the damage after she was gone.
3- There is a large, heavy ceramic cooking pot that we keep on the stove. It’s slippery when wet. We came home to a cracked fiberglass sink which the sitter denied knowing anything about but it is my wife’s contention the only way it could have happened was dropping the pot in the sink. 350 euros replacement cost.
The sitter can avoid the possibility of damage by simply not using any of the above items or using them with care and heeding the warnings provided.
This has not happened yet, however if the sitter is given use of the car, we would hold them responsible for any damages they incur that are not covered by insurance.