Is this true

[Bugsy]

A friend of ours has just received this note with the booking form for a gite holiday. Is this now the norm or a one-off.

Extract from T&Cs:

Insurance

It is now mandatory in

France for paying guest to have their own insurance against damage to

house or pool caused by the client or any member of his or her party

since these are not covered by the owners’ insurance. The Client is

therefore strongly advised to arrange comprehensive insurance,

including cancellation cover and to have full cover for the party’s

belongings, personal injury and liability as described above. This can

be covered by a travel insurance policy.

Reservations

To reserve the property the client should

- complete and sign the booking form and return it by Fax together with

- a copy of their insurance policy showing personal liability cover against damage to rental

property and

- payment by bank transfer of a non-refundable deposit.

Once these are received the owners will confirm by e-mail a formal acceptance of the booking.

Please check availability first by e-mail.

[Clair]

It is the norm in France and I have a similar section in my T&C.

[zeb]

We've always had to provide our house insurance policy number when booking French owned gites.

Just a thought...how do UK based holiday makers get round this?

[Bugsy]

Thanks Clair..............[kiss]

.

[Owens88]

We always advise renters to take out travel insurance as this would also include cancellations.

[Théière]

Crikey Clair, so would you advise that we take note of their UK home insurance policy which should cover damage to third parties property (the gite)?

[Quillan]

I have always thought (I can't remember where I heard or read it) that its up to the guest to ensure they have suitable insurance liability not only to cover health, accident and cancellation but also insurance against any damage they might do. I also thought this is the same for B&B's as well, in fact any holiday accommodation in France.

[Clair]

All clients should be able to provide such proof of insurance on request. My French clienst provide it without me having to request it.

Most French clients are covered through their household insurance, via a section called "villégiature".

I am not aware if there is a similar section in UK-based household insurance, but the T&C clearly state that 'the clienst should "... ensure every person in the party is covered by a

comprehensive insurance policy during their say at the property,

particularly with regards to public and third-party liability, since

the Owner's insurance does not cover these risks."

[betoulle]

This is an independent holiday and clients are strongly recommended to take out adequate holiday insurance cover to provide for full reimbursement in the event of cancellation due to illness and also to provide full cover for the party's personal belongings, public liability, etc, which are not covered by the owners' insurance.

 

We have the above on our gite booking contract Ts&Cs & I make sure it is on the confirmation email I send out on receiving the deposit.  I have to confess that for B&B bookings I do not have written Ts&Cs just the standard GdF reservation form.  Am reluctant to be more forceful on the subject of insurance as it could put some prospective clients off booking with us, think if I was bookiing a couple of nights B&B & was asked for a copy of my home insurance policy I would probably think 'Oh God - a host with OCD.....'  In over 20 years of staying in French owned properties in France (both before & since we started offering accommodation 7 yrs ago) have never been asked for such a thing & our last trip down south was just 4 months ago - both a gite & several B&Bs.  Interested to see how many of you are more exact in your insurance cover demands.

[Cendrillon]

Owens88 wrote the following post at 12/01/2010 18:52:

We always advise renters to take out travel insurance as this would also include cancellations.

Ditto

[sid]

I don't think the original post was about cancellations.

This is an interesting question, to me anyway, as we don't have this condition in our T&Cs. We have 3rd party liability cover for the gite but I had never considered ensuring that guests were covered for damage they may cause. Travel insurance won't necessarily cover this.

We'll definitely add this one this year! 

This forum throws up interesting issues doesn't it!

Sid

[Chancer]

Add the requirement to the T&C's by all means as has been stated most French households will have it anyway but you may lose all UK bookings if insisting on it.

AFAIK most travel insurance does not provide this level of cover, until now most renters have had the deposit to fall back on and kept their fingers crossed regarding potential damage beyond that. I doubt that the law has actually changed or ever insisted on it.

[Benjamin]

Clair and betoulle

I think both of your T & C's are open to misinterpretation by Brits.

They may consider themselves liable for wilful damage they cause ( although these sort of people will always try to wriggle when found out) but I seriuosly doubt if they'd consider themselve liable for accidental damage, expecting the owner's insurance to cover that.

I would add the words wilful and accidental. But that's only my interpretation.

[Clair]

[quote user="Benjamin"]Clair

I think your T & C's are open to misinterpretation by Brits.[/quote]

I find it so impressive that you can say that after reading just one sentence! [:D]