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.

[David126]

@Tracy233

AirBnB offer some very limited liability insurance, what you are wanting is a much much bigger issue.

[Tracy233]

Yes, I know. That's why I'm proposing that we group together - to make this happen. Otherwise, Airbnb wil lose out on great hosts like yourself. What insurance carrier do you use?

[Sean140]

Tracy I use a variety of carriers depending upon the specific risk and state.  The carriers that are participating in this segment of the market are not "household names".  

[Anne226]

Sean, you and I spoke several months ago about the difficulty in finding STR coverage for hosts who share their homes with guests. Although you were not able to find coverage for my Cape Cod home, I appreciated your efforts. I did get a policy with a short term rental home sharing addendum through Bunker Hill Insurance out of Boston. They write policies in Massachusetts and Connecticut. 

[Sean140]

Members- Unfortunately, private insurers have not responded to the AirBNB market with a product that is accessible to members.  I personally am working with all of the carriers that I contact to see if we can put together a product which will address the needs of AirBNB hosts.  Progress is slow to say the least.  I am hopeful that major carriers will come around to offering coverage for this risk.  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or need help with your AirBNB insurance needs.  Sean F Murphy Insurance Agency, Worth, IL 

[Heather185]

The insurance industry will eventually catch up to the "sharing economy," but they haven't yet. Sean Murphy in Chicago really understands the market and found me excellent coverage that includes my attached short term rental unit at half the price of anyone else I spoke with. I highly recommend getting a quote from him. 

[Tracy233]

Sean - call me! Or email me. I'm available tomorrow anytime before 11:15 am.

[Personal information hidden as per the community guidelines] 

Thanks!

Tracy

[Heather185]

I've spoken to Airbnb and encourage others to. It's in their best interest to help shift that industry, but it takes time. Recommend calling Sean Murphy in Chicago. I got the same price from him for insurance that I had before hosting and my attached appartment is fully covered. 

[Veronica377]

Do you happen to have contact info for Sean Murphy?

Thanks so much!

[Sean140]

Veronica please google me: Sean f Murphy Insurance Agency Worth IL

Sean

[David126]

AirBnB are a booking company, they are not an Insurer.

[Tracy233]

David, Airbnb is not an Insurer. However, with millions of hosts, 200 million guests, more than 4 million listings, presence in over 190 countries and a valuation of more than 30 BILLION dollars, not to mention the threat of losing thousands of hosts due to homeowners insurance problems - I think they not only COULD, but SHOULD provide homeowners insurance to hosts at a reasonable and fair market cost. They have more listings (hosts) than the top 5 major hotels brands COMBINED. The global economy with unemployment high and the demographics of aging increasing yearly (and the highest growth that Airbnb has for hosts are those over 60) along with the world's partisan views provides Airbnb's platform of "gig economy" a great opportunity for people around the world. But hosts need support. Let's use some of that billion dollar funding to help make Airbnb even better! I love hosting. In fact, I recently helped a man from Belgium find his long lost family in the United States. He cried as I told him he had 3 step siblings he never knew he had - and we got to Facetime with them. This is what Airbnb is all about - connecting people with each other and humanizing the travel industry. #airbnbhost

[Kathleen87]

Very well put Tracy.  I agree!

[Fred-and-Kathi0]

We have two stand alone short term rental properties in NH. The first is a small cabin which we were able to get home owners that covers short term rentals through Co-Operative Insurance for about $350 a year. Our newest STR is a manufactured home and Co-Operative does not insure manufactured home. Our agent found us a policy for manufactured homes through Foremost which is more per year than our personal homeowners policy and does not at this time include STR coverage. We are planning on going live with the new rental next month and are having a problem getting Foremost to give us a quote. They want to know how many weeks we will be renting it which is unknown until we see what our market share ends up being. Any suggestions from the community would be most welcome.

[Marty44]

Hi all, I'm purchasing a property in St. Petersburg that currently is use solely as a beach-rental year round.

I'm looking to make this my primary residence but also renting it out as a short-term rental for the times I'm not there.  Scheduled to close the end of June but won't be able to "move" until September, so it might be great to rent out in the meantime since it's fully furnished and turnkey.

Anyone have experience with this area in Florida insurance-wise?  I'd think with the population of tourists, Disney, etc., and the market being FLOODED with tourists, it'd be an easy process.

The regular homeowners insurance policy is half of a commercial policy but I'm guessing if that's the only way to cover it, it may be the only solution.  Would a commercial policy still cover "me" when I live there?

I'm just wondering what other people do (or are they just gambling without insurance?).  With so many AirBNB's, I can't believe that insurance is the thing that is making it difficult.

Thanks!!