Protecting/Insuring Property while doing Airbnb

[Jeremy W.]

Most people are asking us: Does our current property insurance protect our home when we do Airbnb/VRBO? From everything I've read, the answer is no. Is this what you guys are finding?

We've come across this question each time we talk with a host (new or old!) and/or property owner. It seems like CBIZ and Prosper are the big names in the game, but when we've sent clients their way they have not always been responsive. So we've been trying to find a better, more personal solution.

We found a gentleman in Chicago whose run an insurance brokerage since 1991, and he seems to be one of the few insurance brokers willing to help protect and insure properties that do Airbnb/vacation rentals. Have you come across other quality STR insurance options? We found littler, custom-package guys here www.helpsafestay.com, but we prefer to work with someone in person.

Cheers!

PS I'm not much help here with insurance questions, but I'm happy to refer you to our insurance brokerage contact if it helps you.

[John Mocker]

Jeremy,

The Standard Insurance Carriers are slowly evolving their underwriting to deal with the AirBnB.   I recently looked into it for someone who was purchasing a two family.  They were going to occupy one side and rent the other exclusively through AirBnB.  The responses were all over the board.  There were some companies willing to write it with qualifications (one had minimum rental times ie. one week, another specified that the whole unit had to be rented to one party, etc.). 

There are specialty markets that will write homes that have AirBnB exposure.  One of them is in all 50 states.  If you need info for a specific state or size property PM me.