Do I need holiday let insurance and public liability insurance?

[Linda1477]

Hi,

Can anyone help me please?

Do I need holiday let insurance (building & contents cover) as well as the air bnb guarantee and host protection?

Also, do I need public liability insurance as well as host protection insurance?

TIA,

Ria.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Linda1477 Yes, yes and three times YES. The Airbnb guarantees and insurance have far too many loopholes to not have proper insurance as well.

[Linda1477]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.

I was planning on getting the holiday let insurance. However, wasn't sure whether I needed public liability insurance as it seems as though its covered under the host protection insurance?

Ria.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Linda1477 Not sure what country you are in but in the UK I think the public liability element is pretty standard in any policy you get. We have buildings and liability insurance for our short term lets but don't have contents as we are willing to take the risk on these. This keeps costs down considerably.

[Jenny1516]

Hi Mike and Jane

Who do you use for insurance? I am in the UK and let my spare room on Airbnb, I am running up against problems with renewing my insurance. Any help would be gratefully received.

Jenny

[Liz3840]

Hi Jenny, I've just come on here to ask the same thing. I saw on a different thread someone had used Pikl. I've just looked at their website/trustpilot reviews and they look good. I did the quote process and you can either get them to do the buildings and contents AND the short term let specific insurance, or they can just do the top up.   Not sure if it helps - I've only run a quote so haven't had a claims experience, but looks a solid option from the research I've done so far.

[Lucy747]

Read my experience which should probably convince you not to rely on Airbnb insurance. I've never had to make a claim with Airbnb before despite hosting for quite a few years however 2 weeks ago, an Airbnb guest supposedly verified by Airbnb checked into my property and turned out to be a drugs gang.  They were there for a week, would not leave and I had to get the police involved. They trashed the flat and caused all sorts of damage.  The next guest had to be cancelled.  Airbnb assured me they would help the guest find more accommodation at no extra cost to them and apparently that just didn't happen.   When I first spoke to Airbnb they were hugely reassuring. They talked about the $1000000 insurance that each host has.  But the reality is a far different a story.  As I have began to log the damages with photographs and a list of the damage the Airbnb shutters have begun to close down.  First, they informed me there was actually a cap on the lock replacement so the amount refunded was less than the amount we had to pay to change the locks (the drugs gang took keys).  Second, the cleaning costs refunded were less than we paid because they say they don't pay for devices.  We didnt buy devices but we had to buy a fair bit of product to get rid of the smell of drugs.  And now? Now  nothing. I've asked for more details about the insurance policy so that I can make decisions. I need to know what other caps there are in place before I go and spend money incase I have to resort to buying second hand but I'm getting absolutely no help from Airbnb on this at all. They simply ignore the question.  So for all the loud and proud claims of the large insurance that hosts are supposedly covered for, I can only say that my experience has so far has just been appalling.  If I phone, I'm being told that it has been passed to the Regulatory Response Team and I'll just have to wait until they contact me.  Meanwhile, I'm having to turn down guests and am getting absolutely no sense of when and who will come back to me about insurance claims for the damage and additional payments for the sheer amount of people who stayed over and above the original booking.  They won't even answer a question about cancelling the next booking.  So to be perfectly frank, I am moving to an agent to handle the property through Booking.com, Plum, VRBO etc.  I seriously wouldn't rely on any insurance policy Airbnb claim you'll be protected by. 

[Sammy98]

Did you ever get sorted with this?

[Yolande97]

Lucy what did you end up doing?

[Jane3162]

This is appalling! It’s almost as though Airbnb have tricked everyone into trusting them!!?

[Irene316]

That’s actually really scary. Sorry this has happened to you. The other places that you can list on are they hood so you know ? Is it easy like Airbnb is ?

[Cathy965]

I have been hosting on Airbnb and VRBO in Texas for over 10 years and, knock on wood, have not had any serious issues including coverage by my Homeowners insurance which was Hartford. Upon renewal of my homeowners in January 2022 I called Hartford to tell them I planned to move to town and rent the entire home as short-term rental and they said they could no longer cover me and cancelled the policy.  In January we also began hosting small events and weddings in addition to the lodging so I began researching other insurance companies for liability coverage. Of the 12 or so companies I looked into coverage was almost $1,000 per month.  Let me add however that part of the reason for the higher premium is that we have an in-ground swimming pool. The entire backyard is fenced but not the pool itself. I've concluded that I am going to have to fence the pool in order to get decent liability coverage, and pay out the wazoo for it!!!  Anyone have a swimming pool that is not fenced and can you offer any advice or have an insurance company that will cover a pool without putting up a separate fence? Thanks.

[Pam49]

Hi everyone.  We have our own 3 bed house in the uk with separate one bed annex which we let on a B and B basis through Airbnb.  I insure the lot but this year we have received our renewal that shows a whopping 15.2% increase.   I do always explain that our guests are never in our own home, only in the annex, and that Airbnb covers me for public liability and damage/theft etc by guests.  We are always here when guests stay and have never had any situation to claim.  
it seems that our insurance company penalise us for being hosts and in the past when I’ve tried to get insured with other companies some of them close down immediately I mention Airbnb. eg Saga, Liverpool etc. 

has anyone out there any suggestions for companies that may help us?  Just wondered how do people get cover for other similar garden rooms, log cabins, tree houses etc etc 

thanks

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Pam49 Talk to JL Morris insurance brokers. We are lucky that our house is semi detached to our holiday apartments and we have two title deeds so we insure the house and contents cheaply via the internet and the holiday flats separately with JL Morris.

If you explain your set up they should be able to find you suitable cover.

[Lynette167]

Hi all, I am just starting out as a Airbnb host and had to cancel my home contents and building insurance as a holiday let would cancel out the policy. Now struggling to find anyone to insure us. We have a main home and an annex. The annex will be a self catering cottage let on a weekly basis. Other quotes are very high (jlmorris as recommended above) just wondered who other people use in the uk and if they also pay high prices.

Anyone with a main house and annex on the side do you include the whole building or separate out the annex please.  Thanks lyn