Travel Insurance for holiday Cottages in Loch Lomond Park

Here's a question. Should guests have their own travel insurance for damage done to the property they are staying in?

Today I had a flood at 2 of my properties because a guest left the tap running in a sink with the plug in from 5am until 7am. The upper flat damaged the ceiling and walls of the property below. I now have holes in my ceiling which were made to stop the ceiling from collapsing and stains on walls that will need repainting.

Fortunately for me I had guests in the house below who spotted it at 7am and were able to get the tap turned off so that the ceiling did not collapse and cause a potential costly repair bill.

I have building and contents insurance etc. that has a large excess due to previous water damage claims so if I had to claim there would be a large shortfall.

In this case it just needs polyfilla and paint so I will do this with out a claim or cost to my guests. The guest below have been accomodating and not made a fuss about the inconvenience to their holiday either, which might not have been the case, and could have involved large refunds etc. I will still make a partial refund.

But all of this made me wonder how many guests actually take out travel insurance and does it cover damage done to property by accidents? Most will probably take it out if abroad but not if staying in the UK.

Are Owners expected to foot the bill for damage and pay the insurance excess and increased premiums? Trying to claim costs back from people without insurance would be a very difficult business involving courts etc which would not look good for business.

I think the reality is like me most owners will foot the bill. Maybe the answer is cleaning / housekeeping deposits. I have always tried to avoid this as it just implies a lack of trust in people.

Anyway thats my rant over
Richard