gite caretakers insurance - public liability?

[creme anglaise]

Friends of ours have just been offered a post caretaking a gite. Live-in role in a separate cottage.

Gite owner is non-resident and has his own property insurance etc. They are also non-resident at the moment, but  are anxious to ensure they are insured as they will be managing pool, woodland and a lake for guests and taking full responsibility for the property. Anyone got any suggestions or insurance contacts to recommend?

thanks

[AnOther]

Welcome to the forum.

Your question should provoke some controversy !

My take on it is that even with insurance they cannot work just like that and even setting up as

AE may be problematical as you are not supposed to work exclusively for

one client.

Let the fun begin [;-)]

[creme anglaise]

My original thoughts were that they should they obtain some form of  contract from the owner, even if it is just for seasonal work. We are AE's ourselves, but their situation is unusual.

He lives in the uk, but they would be employed by him. Would they need a french contract or an English one under these circumstances?

[EuroTrash]

Is this permanent or temporary? How is the owner proposing to pay them? Will your friends still have a home in the UK? Are they retired?

It will all depend on their circumstances but they should certainly be very wary of just going ahead without consulting HMRC/DWP and having proper legal arrangements in place.

If it is for a limited period of time they might perhaps be issued with a workers S1 (as was), with a UK work contract, which would enable them to keep their 'non-resident' status.

,

If it is a long term arrangement and the S1 is refused then they would need to look into it carefully. Working hours? Cotisations? Taxe d'habitation on the cottage?

URSSAF's website has information on the correct procedures for when accommodation is part of the package, and for paying cotisations when the employer has no company structure in France.

It probably sounds a very tempting offer to your friends, but to an outsider, on the info given so far it sounds like a very dodgy arrangement that palms off far too much responsibility onto them. They shouldn't have to pay for insurance out of their own pockets and they should make sure the owner is prepared to be above board with his social security obligations as an employer.

Do encourage your friends not to let themselves be taken advantage of.

[ebaynut]

Imagine this scenario in reverse. A French couple wishes to look after a holiday home in the UK. Easy, just come over, few phone calls to government departments and that's it. No threat of prison if you fail to fill in some form or even commit such a heinous crime as "working".

In fact the UK will even give you full access to the NHS.

So with the couple who move to the UK, they receive a job, somewhere to live and pay some tax, the owner of the holiday home can let his property, and pay some tax, and someone gets a holiday in the property.

Compare this with France, its just too much expense and hassle to bother, so no-one gets anything.

I blame the French people for allowing their government to treat them in such a way. Or perhaps they are just plain lazy and the way things are, are just a good excuse to do nothing.

[Aly]

I am no expert and much depends on how and what they are paid. There are many non resident gite owners with an array fof arrangements. But one way may be that they are paid by

CHEQUE EMPLOI SERVICE UNIVERSEL (CESU) this is usaully a method of payment for part time casual workers. The cheques are obtained from banks or post offices I believe and include at least min wage plus holiday and social contributions.  Lots of info on the net re this scheme. Looking after gites is casual work depending on occupancy.  That way I think insurance for the gites remains the owners responsibility. The owner should advise there insurer that they are non resident and detail the arrangments. As for the cottage a nominal rent or housesitting agreement may do. I would get an accountants advise to be certain. They would then need to sort out health cover again maybe an accountant can advise.

If they are taking over the gites as a business full time then they should do some kind of lease \rental contract on the property. In the same way that someone

leases a  commercial business. They would then run it in the same schemes as a resident owner. Again seek advise maybe from an estate agent as to the type of contract and accountant for operating advise and also as to its financial viability.