Short term rental insurance

[Sean-And-Kimi0]

The subject of insurance liability has been covered extensively in this forum. Pardon me if I am repeating things quite well covered.

The bottom line appears to be that under most circumstances, homeowners insurance does NOT cover liability incurred by a short term rental guest.  The AirBnB policy is secondary insurance that pays only what your primary (homeowners insurance) does not. It is my understanding that in many instances if you make a claim on your homeowners, it most likely will be denied, and then canceled.  Additionally, if you have a mortgage on your property and you lose your homeowners insurance your mortgager can (and often does) require you to pay the mortgage in full.  Correct me if I'm wrong.

I am currently approaching several insurers who will take on risk associated with short term rentals. Farmers is one, Slice another. I have no results to report at this time.

Slice allows for good coverage on a pay as you go basis (IOW, one only pays for dates that one has guests).  However, I can only convey this charge to a guest in the additional fee section of my listing, and only for the first night.  If the guest stays multiple nights, I have to absorb the liability cost. Is there a way to convey these costs over multiple nights without incorporating it into the nightly rate? like a cleaning fee, I'd like to add an additional fee for insurance for the number of nights the guest stays.

A suggestion to airBnB: 

You are twice the size of Hilton. Please negotiate a group homeowners policy that Host/Owners can access that protects us when we host. You have the clout.  As individuals, we have very little but to go along with whatever is offered.

I'd really appreciate others thoughts on this.  My house is worth a great deal, both financially and emotionally.  To risk it for a few hundred dollars is not worth it. And Airbnbs' secondary coverage is insufficient and cumbersome. If I am wrong, help me understand.

[David126]

ABB is a woldwide operation and Insurance is usually Country specific, State specific in the US.

Liability is just one aspect, Buildings and Contents may be what most people think of. first.

You should not rely on ABB you need to have adequate cover yourself.

Some Home Owners insurers will cover incidental STR most seem not to. Obviously best to find out before you need to make a claim.

Slice by the day etc needs the annual insurer to be OK with you STRing, most Insurers who are not will cancel or not renew.

Insurance is a cost of doing business and should be in your fee.

[John143]

Try North Light which is available through Allstate agents.  I have it on my property and they specificly cover Airbnb vacation rentals.  I also use Slice on another property.  Also I recommend an umbrella policy.  

[Lydia76]

I too have many concerns over liability and losing everything I have due to some law suit. I do not want to call my insurance company and ask them about extra coverage for the two rooms I have on ABB due to the fear of being canceled. We also want to do th new "Experience" gig. We are going to offer sunset sails. Again, we have talked about doing an LLC to cover or personal assets. I think the only way to be fully covered is to get comercial insurance. Has anyone purchased this? Was it a lot more? I also heard and umbrella policy will not cover any rentals in your house or on your boat.Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Lydia76]

We thought about the umbrella policy but we would need comercial insurance. Our regular home owners insurance will not cover rental guests.