Airbnb Property Insurance

Airbnb is a brilliant solutions for the many millions of users of accommodation-sharing site and its host who earn an additional income from renting an additional room or space that they own. What is Airbnb? Airbnb is an online marketplace which lets people rent out their properties or spare rooms to guests. Airbnb takes 3% commission of every booking from hosts, and between 6% and 12% from guests.

Do Airbnb provide insurance?

Backed by Lloyds of London, Airbnb provides an insurance policy for any loss due to theft or vandalism – in Britain and 28 other countries. Property owners or “hosts” as their known are protected by a £600,000 “host guarantee”. Airbnb advise that hosts also have additional, appropriate home insurance

The below is an extract taken from the Airbnb conditions: “The Host Guarantee is not insurance and should not be considered as a replacement or stand-in for home-owners or renters insurance. Hosts may want to consider independent insurance to cover valuable items like jewellery, artwork, or collectibles which are subject to limited protection under the Host Guarantee. See our Host Guarantee terms for more details. We strongly encourage all hosts to review and understand the terms of their insurance policy and what it covers and does not cover. Not all insurance plans will cover damage or loss to property caused by a guest that books your space.” – Airbnb

Do I need to tell my home insurance company if I am an Airbnb host?

Unfortunately the insurance market has been slow to react to the popularity of Airbnb. As a result most have done almost nothing to adapt their policies or their underwriting stance. Many UK home and landlord insurers will not accept the property being used for Airbnb purposes so it’s important to tell your insurer as you may be in breach of your policy terms and conditions. If you don’t tell them you have Airbnb guests occasionally staying at your property, and may refuse to pay out on an insurance claim you make – even if the claim has nothing to do with an Airbnb guest.

Their justification would be that you had withheld an important piece of information that affected the risk they were taking in insuring your property.

Clarke Williams have specialist property markets who are able to provide insurance cover for landlords and home owners who are using their property for Airbnb purposes.

What insurance do Airbnb hosts need?

At Clarke Williams insurance brokers we would recommend that anyone thing or hosting a property or room would consider having the following types of insurance in place:

Property Owners Liability – which covers you against the cost of claims arising from injury or damage suffered by a guest or visitor as a result of a fault in your property. This could be a tile falling off the roof and injuring a passer by or a guest slipping in the bath, if your guest, one of your guests visitors or any member of the public on your property suffers an injury or damage caused on or in connection with your property, then Property Owners’ Liability will protect you financially should the third-party claim compensation. Property Owners Liability is typically automatically included if you take out Landlords Buildings Insurance but with more Landlords purchasing individual flats for rental we are seeing a rise in the uptake of Property Owners Liability on its own. This is an extra layer of protection for the Landlord in the event of any accident within their individual flat in a block.

Loss of Rent Insurance – This cover enables you to claim back some of the rent you lose if an insured event, like a storm, fire or an escape of water from a burst pipe, means you can’t host for a while. The limit is based on your annual estimated income and you can choose to have indemnity period ranging from 6-36 months.

Buildings Insurance – do not rely on the Airbnb Guarantee. It only provides cover for some elements related to your buildings, there are limitations and it won’t cover damage that’s not related to your bookings. For instance neither the Airbnb Guarantee nor the Host Protection will cover storm or flood damage to your home. You should arrange a standard landlord or home insurance policy advising that property is partially or fully let.

Home care emergency–  Clarke Williams have access to comprehensive property policies which include Emergency Care Cover. This feature will come into effect if an emergency situation arises that if left could cause further damage to the home e.g. a burst pipe. A 24 hour number will be provided to call for someone to come out and fix the problem before it gets any worse.

Your contents–  Accidents will happen and Airbnb include some aspects of your contents within their guarantee, but again, if damage is caused that’s nothing to do with your bookings, then you won’t be covered. There are different levels of insurance to consider when covering your contents. You can choose basic cover for perils like fire, storm, flood and theft, or include risks like accidental damage. The Airbnb Host Guarantee doesn’t cover cash, valuables, or pets – so if a guest stole money from you, damaged your laptop, or injured your dog, it would not pay out.

Accidental damage– Accidents will happen – but what’s covered under accidental damage on your home insurance? The definition of accidental damage is pretty uniform across the landlord and home insurance policies:

Damage that occurs suddenly as a result of an unexpected and non-deliberate external action.

In layman’s terms, that usually means an unintentional one-off incident that harms your property or its contents such as DIY and children related accidents. Limited cover is provided by Airbnb – and although it could protect your no claims bonus by claiming via Airbnb just remember Airbnb won’t cover damage which is not caused by a stay within your property so it’s best to cover all bases and have this in place on your insurance policy too.

Malicious Damage by Tenant – Unfortunately not all guests may be as respectful of a property as someone might hope. Malicious Damage by Tenants cover are designed to get your rental property back to the way it was before the damage occurred, so you can get back to renting out your property. Looking for a landlord or a home insurance quotation? Speak to Clarke Williams Insurance brokers. We are able to assist with following types of property insurance to name a few:

• Local Authority Tenants
• Asylum Seekers
• Resident Associations
• Block Management and Property Portfolios
• Unoccupied Property
• Airbnb Rented Property
• Unoccupied Property
• Non standard construction
• Commercial Property Owners