The Right Insurance For Short-lets & Airbnb Hosts

Specialist Insurance for Short-let Vs Traditional Insurance Products Vs Airbnb Host Insurance

* Depending on your home insurance policy, you may or may not be covered in these areas.

Does that mean your existing Home Insurance Policy is completely useless/inadequate?

Not necessarily. But maybe.

Most insurers won’t cover short-term lets/Airbnb unless it’s disclosed beforehand. So if you’ve had the conversion with your insurer and they’re happy to provide coverage, then you should be fine. Although, what you’re covered for will vary by provider and policy, so that’s something you may want to check.

However, it’s also important to note that many insurers don’t offer any cover for short-term lets/Airbnb hosts. So that means your insurer may cancel your policy if they find out that you are using your property as an Airbnb/holiday let without their approval first. Or even worse, they may point-blank decline any claims.

If your insurer does not provide proper cover for short-lets, that could mean you won’t be covered for any of the following:

• Deliberate damage caused by a guest.
• Theft by a guest with no forced entry (e.g. if you let the guest into your home).
• Accidental damage caused by a guest.
• Legal liability (e.g. if a guest is injured and holds you responsible).

Is the standard Airbnb insurance good enough?

If you’re an Airbnb host, you will benefit from two types of protection provided to hosts for free of charge:

• Airbnb Host Guarantee – covers damage to the hosts’s property
• Host Protection Insurance Programme – covers liability claims where the guest or another third party (e.g. a neighbour) brings a claim against the host.

While free is free – so we can’t really complain, and we won’t – it is important to understand the limitations of the protection provided by Airbnb. For example:

• Personal injury claims are not covered;
• The Guarantee is not an insurance contract, which means means that unlike an insurance contract, you cannot complain to a regulator (e.g. Financial Ombudsman) if something goes wrong;
• Loss of earnings is not covered, which means if you lose income as a result of your property being damaged due to a guest related claim. You would typically need legal cover elsewhere to claim for something like this.

There’s a good article on pikl.com that goes into more detail, and does a much better job at explaining the intricacies of why you may want to consider opting for more than just the standard Airbnb freebies.

Insurance provider for Short-lets & Airbnb Hosts

Have you tried searching for Airbnb insurance for hosts/landlords? I have. Slim pickings comes to mind. I was surprised by the lack of options. I have no idea why that’s the case! Maybe it’s because very few want to actually underwrite short-lets.

In any case, out of the small handful, a company called Pikl seemed to be the most promising. They provide, I quote “Extensive cover for people that host their on platforms like Airbnb”

Details below…

Specialist insurance for Short-term lets/Airbnb hosts

Service	Rating	Features
Pikl	Rating 4.8 TrustPilot Reviews	Features Two products available: All in one insurance – This product covers the policyholder’s building and contents for the property whilst also covering guest-related incidents whilst guests stay in the property on a short-term basis, providing complete peace of mind under one policy. Top up insurance – This works alongside a traditional home insurance policy and covers the policyholder for any guest-related incidents whilst guests are staying on a short-term basis. The product is flexible and can provide cover on a daily, monthly, 90 days or annual period (£99.99) which can be purchased directly from their website. Available coverage: Malicious and accidental damage Theft Liability cover (e.g. guest injuries or third party damage) Legal cover (e.g. evicting a guest after their agreed period of stay) Alternative accommodation Fire and escape of water damage Loss of keys and replacement locks	Get Quote

If anyone decides to give Pikl a spin, please drop a comment – I’d be interested in your feedback.

What about other Short-let/Airbnb insurance providers?

Here are a couple of other options I came across that you may want to explore…

• homeprotect.co.uk – their policy seems okay, but they’ve had a few naff reviews on their TrustPilot profile. Their score is still reasonable (at the time of writing this blog post), 4.2/5, but lower than Pikl’s.
• Admiral – their Host Insurance seems to be an “add-on” for existing Admiral Home Insurance policies, so it seems to be pretty limited. But then again, if you’re an Admiral policy holder, or happy to take out an Admiral Home Insurance policy and buy the add-on, all good. They could be a good option.

Is Short-let/Airbnb insurance the same as Holiday Home Insurance?

Kinda’

But kinda’ not.

“Holiday home insurance” is normally for a second property, while short-term/Airbnb hosting insurance can be used to cover your primary residence. For example, if you’re renting out a spare bedroom on a short-term basis.

However, it is likely that “Holiday home insurance” will be adequate if you’re running an Airbnb operation outside of your primary residence.