Lodger Wanting to have a Student Over for Lesson

davidmcn

lookstraightahead wrote: »

If you have a work laptop and it sets on fire, or you trip over cables, or confidential files went missing etc just wondering how that works with the company and or the House insurance policy.

Your work laptop isn't going to be any more flammable (or a trip hazard) than your own laptop.

If your work allows confidential files out of the office (or permits external access to them), that's their own risk anyway, I can't see it being something relevant to your home insurance.

The relevant risks from the insurer's point of view are going to be from visiting clients, higher value work equipment (or stock, or bringing your cash home at the end of the day), or actually manufacturing etc on the premises.

Smodlet

AdrianC wrote: »

No, there isn't.


And for some businesses, that's not an issue at all, ever.

For once, AdrianC, I have to disagree completely: Insurance policies ask specific questions regarding running a business from insured premises. The sticking point is as described by another poster: Whether the business will create additional traffic, foot or vehicular to the premises, thereby increasing the risk of damage, theft, you name it.

There is a reason insurance questionnaires ask whether you do only admin for your business from home; it has no effect on your premises because it incurs no visitors.

Albala

If you do work from/at home, talk to your insurer. Ours have always been fine about it, but you have to make sure they know, and that you stick to any rules they give you or undertakings you make. Usually, though, your tools and stock won't be covered, so you either have to take that risk, or insure separately (which can be very difficult). As a self-employed person I have, quite separately, PL (public liability) insurance. Depending on what you do you may need that - for example, I sometimes teach workshops (not at home, BTW) and I need it for that.

csgohan4

but this is the lodger not the op's liability, shouldn't responsibility with getting insurance lie with the lodger?

G_M

Murphybear wrote: »

Reading between the lines here, did you actually learn how to play the violin? Were you any good?:)

I'm a first rate fiddler.

trevormax

Personally, I would say no to him. You have no idea whom he is inviting in to your home, and therefore you are losing some control over the people inside your home. You lose privacy, security, and being comfortable in your own home.

What if he has someone over when you are not home, and this person goes to use the toilet and decides they like the look of your watch which you left there last night when having a shower? The watch is now missing, and you have no idea how. Maybe it was your lodger, since, to your knowledge, he was the only person in the house. Now you have lost all trust in this lodger.

What if this person, while on their way out of your house, picks up a spare set of keys you have hanging on the wall without your lodger seeing?

what if this person gets in to an argument with your lodger and decides to kick off smashing up your house?

What if this person is not careful walking up the road to your house and steps in a large pile of pre-digested dog food, traipsing it in over your nice, expensive carpet?

Is your lodger likely to take responsibility and pay for any of the above? Especially considering they likely don't have any spare cash since they need to do some work on the side to make some money.

Chickenlips

As someone who works in insurance, I can tell you the actual perspective of insurers.

There is a huge difference between doing clerical work from home (reading emails, working on a laptop, and taking calls ect) and using the domestic property for commercial means.

To have students entering the premises, or run a business that includes third parties entering the property, or holding and/or producing stock requires a different type of cover.

The risks with the above are far greater, both from a liability perspective and from the risk of material damage.

Each Insurer has a specific appetite for risk. Some domestic Insurers have a low appetite and will only cover domestic dwellings of a set age and size and will exclude cover for any guests that are not family. If you have a lodger and haven't checked your policy... now would be a good time. A large Insurer that has a lot of work in the domestic market simply won't touch any type of lodger agreement or live in carers.

If you had a claim and the true risk was identified, should the risk you present fall outside of the Insurers appetite they can void your policy. Having a voided policy would make finding cover more difficult in the future as you'd have to declare it.

Some domestic Insurers will accept the risk of a business run from home, but certain endorsements will apply such as defined areas in the building that are locked. As it will be their bedroom, this may be hard to achieve.

Personally, I'd be saying no on the grounds that it would cause you the headache and hardship if something went wrong. You would need to take out the additional cover, as your lodger has no insurable interest in your property (unless you have a well worded lease agreement that leaves him legally responsible for insuring the property... but these tend to be fairly rare even in commercial leases from my experience!).