More Manitobans are offering their swimming pools up for rent, but the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) has warned that this practice could get homeowners into trouble.
Homeowners have been renting out their pools with the use of apps like Swimply, and it has only gotten more popular over the pandemic. A Swimply spokesperson told Radio-Canada that the number of pools being privately rented this year compared to last year is "quite an increase.”
But homeowners also expose themselves to risk whenever they rent out their pools, warned IBC director of consumer and industry relations Anne Marie Thomas.
"It's important for people to understand the risk that they're taking," the director told Radio-Canada in an interview, additionally explaining that homeowners who rent out their pools may unwittingly expose themselves to considerable legal liabilities, which could force their insurers to void their policies.
Thomas also warned that a person who books a private pool and invites other guests may also find themselves involved in a lawsuit if something goes wrong – like an injury – and someone files a lawsuit over it.
CBC News/Radio-Canada reported that Swimply offers hosts liability of up to a million dollars, but Thomas has also advised that users should not rely on it, because it may not be enough to pay for liability claims. She also cautioned that insurers can also refuse to defend liability lawsuits because the pool rentals were not within their policies’ terms.
“No longer is it a personal insurance policy with a family," the director said.
"Now the risk, meaning the home, is operating as a business, and it changes the risk and it changes the policy."
