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.

[Sean140]

I would consider a conversation between myself and a prospect to be confidential.  I don’t know of any such obligation.  

[David126]

If you have disclosed to your Brokers that you are undertaking Short Term Rentals that would be a very different situation to you are considering this and what are your Insurance options/ consequences.

What would happen if you are would vary, no set outcome.

[Juzer0]

I am in Florida and called Proper Insurance and they gave me a quote with hurricane and without hurricane insurance.  They are underwritten by Lloyds of London. Unfortunately their quote with hurricane coverage is 3 times of the quote without this coverage.  They suggested I call around for hurricane only quotes and then buy their policy with no hurricane coverage.  I checked Erie and they don't insure in Florida.  

[Heather185]

This thread has been very helpful because through it I found Chicago insurance broker, Sean **, and he has been amazing. I'm a superhost in the Boston area and my home insurance doubled when I started hosting. It was a pleasure working with Sean and he found us a great package with Lloyds that saved us a significant amount of money. He outperformed other quotes I got and I can't recommend him highly enough. He truly understands the short term rental market insurance issues, so give him a call at [Phone number hidden as per the community guidelines]

[Till14]

Hi Heather, can you publish this info in some other way or PM me?

[Heather185]

I PM'ed you. And for everyone else, maybe mr. murphy can jump into the converation because I've seen him post as an airbnb member and he truly understands the insurance issues. 

[Sean140]

Heather thank you.  I’d like to help any people interested in discussing their insurance needs. I can handle most states.  Please google me:Sean F Murphy Insurance Agency. Worth,IL. 

Thanks. 

Sean

[Jennifer888]

I checked your page on the web and it says your company doesn't offer insurance in Alaska.  Do you have any suggestion for airbnb hosts in Alaska? Thank you!  Jennifer

[Sean140]

Jennifer I’ll have to see if we have a market in Alaska. I’ll be in touch with you. Please forward me your email.  Thank you. 

[Sean140]

Hello Till. I’d like to help you with the insurance.  Please contact me when you have a chance.  Sean F Murphy Insurance Agency Worth. IL.  

Sean

[Lorren0]

Just tried to get to the site peers.org and it is down. 😞  There was also this other company, https://mypropertyprotect.com, which charges $4 a night. Does anyone have experience with this company?

[David126]

@Lorren0

I am familiar with the Insurance Industry and am always interested in how such companies word their product, I would call it misleading to the unaware. I do not think it is illegal.

Firt thing you need to check is if your existing Insurer is OK with you doing Short Term Rentals, then decide if you need top up Insurance offered by such companies.

[Sean140]

The insurance industry doesn’t provide a lot of options for AirBNB operators.  I can help you to understand your options and provide assistance with finding the right policy for your needs.  Google me if you’re interested.  Sean F Murphy Insurance Agency, Worth IL. 

[Lorren0]

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@David126 wrote:

@Lorren0

I am familiar with the Insurance Industry and am always interested in how such companies word their product, I would call it misleading to the unaware. I do not think it is illegal.

Firt thing you need to check is if your existing Insurer is OK with you doing Short Term Rentals, then decide if you need top up Insurance offered by such companies.

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They are underwritten by Assurant. My friend is an insurance agent and she is double-checking on this type of policy on Monday, tomorrow.

[Tracy233]

Airbnb host members!  May 2018 and I'm having a difficult time finding an insurance carrier that will provide regular homeowner's insurance with the Airbnb insurance. I think all hosts should ban together and approach a major carrier - for insurance. What carrier would turn down the potential of insuring thousands of homeowner's who join en mass?  Anyone in? Or another idea is we ban together and get Airbnb to offer homeowner's insurance on top of their Airbnb insurance!! 

Legislators are trying to get rid of us! But we won't go away!  Let's do this! #airbnbhost