What happens if a guest causes damage to my home?

If you have your own place, you probably want to entertain guests. It’s fun to have people over and show them around the house, giving them the grand tour and all that. It’s one of the best parts of having your own home. But there’s a small catch – what if a guest is a complete klutz and causes damage to your precious house?

Well, that would suck.

Ideally, the guest would apologize profusely and offer to cover the costs of repairs without hesitating. But unfortunately, people stink sometimes. And your friend may not offer to pay for the damage. So now you’re in the “does home insurance cover it boat” – and you’re not very happy.

First and foremost, the person who damaged your poor house is responsible for repairing it. Like, in a legally responsible way. And if they refuse to repair the damage, you could even take legal action. (Okay, and you’ll probably be bidding farewell to that friendship, but whatever.)

Okay, back to home insurance. In general, yes, home insurance could cover you if you have a guest who causes damage. (But – yes, there’s a but – you could end up facing higher insurance rates because of it.) So you might want to really think hard before using your insurance to repair damage caused by a guest.

Anyways, you also have to consider what your home insurance would cover. Does it only cover accidental damage? Does it only cover the structure of the home – like the floor and walls? These are important questions. (When it comes to insurance, questions are a big deal.)

Like we said, ideally your guest would be like, “I was a klutz and damaged your house – I’m so sorry! Let me pay for that.” But unfortunately, such is not always the case. These situations can be super awkward, of course, so proceed with caution.

And if you need some home insurance, we can help you out with that. All you have to do is send us a LiveChat message and we can get you some quotes. We love insurance, so throw your questions our way! We’re happy to help.