Good economy or bad we can expect about 200-thousand visitors for the Olympics. Some will be only short term, others like officials and media are longer term visitors and many will be looking to rent private homes and condos. It sounds like a way to make some easy money -- but before you do anything -- check your home insurance.
A lot of people will assume if they have insurance on their home they are covered if they rent it out for a week or a month. That could be a very costly assumption. People really don't understand insurance. We think the insurance company is insuring a structure like a home.
But they are really insuring risk the risk that something could happen. And if you rent it out -- the way the insurance company sees it is you are changing the risk. Some companies are willing to take that risk -- for a fee -- others are not.
And if you don't check before hand if something goes wrong -- you may find that they won't pay up.
If you are renting a room to foreign students or have a downstairs tenant or are running a business out of your home you need to tell your insurance broker about it to make sure you are covered. Many people renew their insurance in January -- so now is a good time to ask questions. There is no point paying for insurance, if it's going to be void when you need it the most.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen
