Insurance- No pay out with lodger???

A question about : Insurance- No pay out with lodger???

Hi

A good friend of mine recently lost his hearing aid which he recently acquired. Before he spent 2k on said item he phoned his insurance company to check that it was covered under accidental loss or damage on his home insurance. It was. He lost it! He has now been told that as he has a tenant it has negated his policy against accidental loss and damage. Can this be right? Is there anything he can do?
thanks

Best answers:

• It's hard to answer without knowing
  - what policy he has
  - if he informed his insurance company that he had a tenant
  It is likely that he should have informed them when his tenant moved in. It's not really reasonable to change your living circumstances without telling an insurer and expect them to just cover you anyway, harsh as that sounds.
• It's normal for cover restrictions to apply when non-family members live with you - increased risk of unexplained loss, theft and accidental damage.
  Some insurers won't provide any cover.
• I'd argue that AD is not that commonly excluded but certainly loss is often removed and theft is restricted to only cases where there is evidence of violent entry into the property if there are non-family members co-habiting
  Obviously they need to read their policy and check that the terms have been correctly applied