Host Insurance Australia

[Wendy117]

I think I have read every conversation relating to insurance on airbnb 🙂 

I list permanently the upstairs of my home via airbnb for guests and live downstairs myself.

My Home & Contents insurer (Retirease) has advised that my cover is still in place even if I am using Airbnb but they have added an exclusion 'Theft or damage caused by myself or guests will not be covered'. 

So I decided to get additional Landlord insurance.  Unfortunately I cannot find a product that will cover short term lets - with the exception of NRMA/IAG Sharecover which requires a new policy for every guest.  This insurance seems to offer everything I need but when listing permanently with a minimum of two day stays it would be administratively challenging to keep taking out policies as so far I have had 15 stays in 4 months.

Each landlord insurance company  I spoke to - Terri Scheer, St George Bank, BUPA all said they were looking into setting up a policy for the 'sharing' community in the future. 

I understand that Host Protection Insurance is available automatically for airbnb hosts but I have read in the Community Centre that one should not rely on  airbnb 'Host Protection' insurance as there are a lot of exceptions.

But for now, I will rely on my existing insurance coupled with HPI until such time as the insurance industry catches up.

If anyone has found a more advanced insurer in Australia offering an annual policy which also covers loss of rent, for short term stays where the owner is also residing, please let me know.

[Julie339]

I have exactly the same concern. I am totally new to Airbnb (listed one week ago) and only have a few bookings as yet. I need to get things organised pronto and have been wondering what insurance to put in place but after trying to read through Airbnb's info. on their insurance and guarantee I was bamboozled.

My homeowners premium is already huge and that's before letting them know I'm going to be renting out. I may need to change companies anyway.

I have found a readable explanation that suggests you need more than the Airbnb insurance and guarantee (but it is kind of an advertisement for Canstar). I think I'll try them out for getting quotes. Here is the link in case it helps:

https://www.canstar.com.au/landlord-insurance/get-extra-home-insurance-before-joining-airbnb-and-sta...

Would love to know what others do or what you find out.

[Wendy117]

Julie

Airbnb automatically cover us with Host Protection Insurance when we list on Airbnb.

I think you will find that Canstar only refers to what I have mentioned - HPI and IAG Sharecover.  I have since received a quote from BJS Insurance Brokers insuring through CGU but havent absorbed it all yet - just that it is double normal insurance and the excesses are very hefty so it would have to be a very expensive item stolen or damaged to be worth it.  In my case, as my area is not accessible by guests, I feel it is too high.

So if you are not letting at all times you are probably better with IAG taking out a policy for each stay. 

[Bernadette35]

Insurance companies in Australia have been very slow when it comes to taking on house & contents insurance when you have your house open to Airbnb guests. But I have have found 2 companies that will insure both house & contents with the allowance of Airbnb guests. BJS Insurance Brokers underwritten by CGU, which we have decided to go with and RentCover.  I called CGU and asked about the cover and they advised that brokers will often tailor a product to suit the market's needs. You cannot go directly to CGU as they will not cover and we were happy with the cost for House & Contents cover with BJS.

Also from our experience.... we did have 1 group thru who did a fair share of damage i.e. $400 worth, but was able to successfully obtain the money from the guest via Airbnb guidelines.  We have also put a security deposit on our listing, so we won't need to have too much difficulty with reimbursement for damage.

[Craig125]

I'm with BJS, which I'm happy with. The premium isn't much higher than standard insurance - could be because of where we are - not sure. As we're doing $75k a year in rental income I wanted a policy with loss of rent cover which BJS have.

[Wendy117]

BJS and Trident both tailored a  single policy covering Building and Contents to cover both myself and short term guests (I live in the house).

With Trident Landlord Insurance I needed to add an additional policy to cover my personal contents and the whole policy costs less than policies just for guests or standard building and contents.  They have several options to suit different requirements. It also covers me for rental loss - you can specify the amount. 

BJS Home Share Insurance was a bit more expensive and they did not offer me rental loss but I can see an earlier post says they have rental loss cover with BJS .