Homeowners' Insurance - Help!

[Anonymous]

I have been setting up my home to rent two bedrooms through AirBnB.

Today I talked to my insurance company about adding any coverage that would be needed for this use, and was unpleasantly surprised to find out that if I do AirBnB, They Will Not Cover Me At All.  They assured me that since my policy had just renewed I would still be covered for almost a year, but that they would not renew me, and they would not pay claims related to AirBnB.

They were also unable to provide me with any suggestions of companies that Would cover my home, and so far I have not been able to turn anyone up.

I searched the user forums, and found that this appears to be a fairly common problem, and that there are numerous horror stories of people having their insurance cancelled after just -asking- about AirBnB.  A few of them appear to have lost their mortgage as a result.  The only suggestions I saw were in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, which does not help me much in the United States.

I called AirBnB support (after considerable effort finding a phone number), and was informed by the agent that she "Never heard of that kind of a problem before". Apparently, she does not read the community forums.  The agent promised to escalate the question to her supervisor, but I have heard nothing yet.

Needless to say, I want to get this taken care of, since it appears that there is a reasonable chance of losing my home over it.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Carol-Lee1]

Hi Susanne,

i contacted him and he doesn’t cover me but suggested I call travelers.  They are super expensive.

Big news is Progressive has a Share insurance just for AirBnB type set ups.  You pay by the day only when you have guests.  Mine is about $5.70 a day but only when I have a guest.  I just tell them in advance and pay and I’m covered for the days the guest is there.  For bookings I already have I will have to pay the extra fee, but I just raised my rates $6 a day for future guests.  You can stop it anytime just by not logging on and providing info so I’m going to use it at least for awhile and see how it goes.

[Anne226]

Good news for Connecticut and Massachusetts US hosts who share their home with guests.  

An agent informed me that as of 2/15/18, Boston-based Bunker Hill Insurance Company automatically includes a home sharing endorsement that offers $100,000 liability and property coverage specifically for home sharing activities. http://www.bunkerhillins.com/home-insurance/. 866-322-2442. Find an agent: http://agentlocator.bunkerhillins.com/

[Anne226]

FYI: My Home Sharing endorsement was $10 on top of the new homeowner's policy.

[Anna1142]

Hello All,

Been doing much research on properly insuring owner-occupied homes where one rents a bedroom out on Airbnb to see if any insurance companies have gotten up to speed on the "new" economy... 

We are based in CA and are looking at possible options from reputable insurance companies.  We are open to any advice. 

Looks like Peers.org, which is the "Featured" answer, is no longer in existence?  The website is down.  Anyone know the story there?

Proper Insurance has mixed reviews and is only rated as an A as opposed to A+++, etc.

Many thanks! 

[William291]

Hey Anna,

Not entirely sure about peers.org and their situation, but, I can tell you right away that Proper/CBIZ aren't really in the market for covering your home when renting out rooms only, while owner-occupied. They're more in the market for when the entire home is being short-term rented. 

I have three different insurance carriers (that aren't on a commercial form like Proper) that would be willing to insure your home the way you have everything set up? The specific carrier that would be best for you is called Aegis, they're A rated, admitted, and one of the better-reviewed carriers that would be a good fit for you! 

I specialize in property insurance and am also a host... I don't believe I'm allowed to give out numbers or anything... But, my insurance agency is located in downtown, Los Angeles, zip 90007. Called Broadway Insurance Services... 

I'd be happy to at least get you a quote so you could see what it looks like. You'll be surprised, as it's exactly the same as any other owner-occupied homeowners policy,  just with an added endorsement that surcharges a little bit more for the added exposure of having random guests... That's really it! 

Kindest,

-William

[Richard-and-Isabel0]

Yeh.... I love how the "resolved/chosen solution" answer is an extinct company.....

[Shirley26]

 I'v been working with Erie and it looks like they will be able to provide coverage for my Airbnb.   Before I sign on the bottom line I want to make sure I understand a 3 page document  Erie provided called "Incidental Business Occupancy Enorsement-Wisconsin".  In the meantime, I wanted to get more than one quote  and somewhere on this forum someone suggested Farmers, so I got in touch with them and they quoted me over $3,000/yr just for homeowners.  Yikes!

And then I saw something on this forum  (Susanne 8.3.16) that said to check withPeers.org. They cover Uber, Home Away, and AirBNb and the cost is only $30 a month.   I did a search for them on the internet and couldn't find them.   The bottom line is, I can stay with  my current insurance company (Hastings) and the cost is comparable to Erie, but Hastings limits me  to 1 family of 2 people.  So, if Erie falls through and I end staying with Hastings, then in order to be in compliance, I will have to pull one of my rooms off my site.  

I'd like to end conversation with two things.  One, I believe that many Airbnb hosts are under the impression that their homeowners covers them, when in fact if they checked, they would find out differently.  Ingorance is bliss, I guess.  Second, because home-sharing companies are still fairly new, I don't feel the insurance industry has caught up with the real world. 

If anyone has any other suggestions for securing homeowners insurance, please let me know. 

[Richard-and-Isabel0]

Rich has been working with @Anonymous. I recommend for anyone in California (since I don't know if he can assist outside of CA) to reach out to him. He found us not only adequate coverage for our temporary occupancy renting circumstances, but also for a tad less than what we were paying to AAA and MetLife.

I hope this helps.

Cheers.

Isabel **

[Adrian239]

My friends have used these guys for finding insurance for their various rentals on AirBnB and VRBO and are very pleased as this is more comprehensive than standard insurance that AirBnB offers. https://completemarkets.com/company/proper-insurance/Airbnb-Insurance/ 

[Lesley107]

Has anyone in Ontario found an insurance company that will provide homeowner's insurance coverage?

Mine has denied me coverage and another was going to charge  $3,565 for coverage for a max of 180 days.

[Jamie222]

Hi. I have a historic home that was built by a famous bridge builder in WV. Built in 1856. It was being used as a museum but then the museum business hasn't paid off so I invested a ton into converting the upstairs into an Airbnb.  If someone was to burn the home down, it could never be replaced. It is a unique home and built with custom freatures. I am willing to take this risk. However, I'm having trouble with insurance. It is not owner-occupied.  It is 1700 square feet  with only one level being an Airbnb currently. The rest will be used as community meeting space.  Our insurance quote from a local company was $2600 for $100,000 in coverage.  Since the home is in a  poor part of WV, the property value is low. The insurance quote I was given went off the square footage and not the old-growth building materials, investment,  or quality of the home. I bought it in 1997 for $80,000 and invested $125,000  into the restoration. You can see why 100k seems way too low.  Does anyone insure a whole house Airbnb even if part of the house is used outside of Airbnb for community get togethers? Can I get coverage that doesn't pay out based on the average market around me but rather the quality of the house itself? Any suggestions are welcome!

[Sean140]

Jamie,

   Your home sounds beautiful.  I think I can help you.  Please contact me if you would like to discuss.

Sean F Murphy Insurance

Worth, IL.

[Christina376]

Hi Sean,  We're in Va.  Any suggestions for here?

[Rebecca193]

I am in Virginia and I did find an insurance company that would insure my home sharing business. I don’t have his information at hand this minute, so I’ll send it later today.

[Nicole221]

I have been hearing about insurance companies dropping owners when they ask for information about airbnb coverage.  Does anyone know if talking to a broker "obligates" them to notify insurance and therefore risk getting dropped in 20 days(with notice_?