With the holidays coming up, it’s an ideal time to review your insurance solution for your short stay or holiday rental property.
The rise of Stayz, Airbnb, VRBO (vacation rental by owner) and other websites that connect hosts with potential guests has truly disrupted the short-term accommodation industry.
With any disruption on this scale, there can be huge opportunities, as well as unintended consequences.
On the plus side, it’s much easier than ever to list your property and find potential short stay renters. And on the other hand, some of these properties have attracted noise, hassle and headache for both neighbours and property owners, causing some councils to review short stay permit requirements.
What insurance do you need for your Airbnb or Stayz type of holiday rental?
Airbnb offers Host Protection Insurance to provide liability cover of up to $1m USD per occurrence in the event of a third party claim of bodily injury or property damage related to an Airbnb stay. However, this programme doesn’t include intentional acts, accusations of slander or defamation of character, property issues (like mould, bed bugs, asbestos or pollution), loss of earnings or auto accidents. Also noted is that jewellery, collectables and artwork can have limited protections.
Stayz does not have a similar offer, instead noting that: ‘The owner must have in place home, contents and public liability insurance as appropriate for their property and their rental business.’
Atlantic Insurance Client Manager Jonathan Lim says “My advice would be not to rely on any of these types of companies for your insurance cover. Most of the claims we see in this space are around malicious damage by tenants, theft or loss of rent if the property is unliveable while its being repaired, and these types of incidents are likely to be excluded.”
“People often will place their home or landlord policy direct with an insurer, and they need to be really aware that many of these policies will specifically exclude short term stays,” adds Atlantic Insurance Director Luke Prior. “And if you’re not telling your insurer that you are using your property specifically for this purpose, then it gives them grounds to deny any claims based on your non-disclosure.”
Good short term or holiday rental insurance solutions are available if you know where to look, according to Lim: “We’ve got the ability to go out to our insurer partners who specialise in this area on your behalf and get a competitive policy that covers your property specifically for short stay rentals.
Get advice or a free quote for your short term rental property
Even if you do have some cover in place, you might have some gaps. The best way to make sure that you don’t have a hidden exposure to risk is to speak to an expert – a good insurance broker can talk through your specific situation and provide you with some advice and options that will give you peace of mind.
Atlantic Insurance specialises in short stay insurance – give us a call on (03) 9836 3733 for some assistance or a quote.
