Insurance

[Sylvia163]

Hi,

Re insurance:

I’m in Melbourne Australia, I have a house and contents policy with CGU.  They allow only 12 weeks of airbnb bookings per annum.

I need to let them know each time I have a booking and tell them the dates.

The cost is a normal household policy plus an increase in excess if I made a claim.  I’ve never made a claim.

Does anybody have a company that allows more than twelve weeks?  

And more generally, is it common practice to operate without informing your insurance company ie is it a legal requirement.

Appreciate any advice.

Sb

[Frances3408]

@Sylvia163. I use Terri Scheer (Landlord Preferred Self Managed) Holiday rental insurance for the Airbnb. Read the PDS to make sure you are happy with all the terms and exclusions but I have found it a fair policy and with insurance you generally get what you pay for. I also got the building insurance with them and they have multi policy discounts. One of the few companies I found comfortable with holiday lettings. No need to report any bookings, just pay the premium, which was cheaper than ordinary policy, probably due to how they handle loss of rent. Good luck.

[Sylvia163]

Thanks very much Frances, I appreciate the detail, it’s very helpful.

Is your holiday rental insurance a separate policy to your house insurance?

If it’s just the one policy (holiday rental), can you stay there between visits and you’re covered?

Agree you get what you pay for, I’m more interested in having possible problems covered than saving money.  Old and boring.

Will contact Terri Scheer tomorrow.

Regards,  Sylvia 

[Frances3408]

@Sylvia163. Sorry for late reply. Definitely recommend you talk to Terri Scheer direct as I found them very open and helpful answering questions. I have separate policies for the Landlord STR part (but that includes contents and some building) and the building with public liability policy. I think you can get a combined policy but that has limitations. I generally try not to stay at the properties unless I am undertaking urgent works that require it. I honestly dont know how it goes for the combined policy if you use it as a regular holiday house as that policy seems to be designed for those "used principally and primarily by tenants as a place of residence". I dont believe the stand alone building insurance has such limitations. If you find out, I'd love to know in case I change my usage in the future. I cant imagine Terri Scheer wouldnt want to cover this scenario. Cheers, Frances

[Sylvia163]

Great info, thank you very much Frances.

I'll talk to Terri Scheer next week and work out the best scenario.

Will definitely stay in touch, it must be an issue for most/all hosts.  I've stayed at several places where it looks like they don't have any insurance other than household.  I'm too belt and braces for that, I want to know that I'm covered so no nasty surprises.

I'm in Melbourne, if you're Melbourne too let's have a coffee.  

Sylvia