Guest Experiences Bodily Injury on Your Property

I would think that any sort of claim is going to be stressful, even if you have STR insurance.

However, with a good STR policy you shouldn’t have the stress of ‘Will I be covered?’

But there’s still the personal stress of whether you were personally negligent/careless and someone hurt as a result of that. If there’s a lawsuit there might be depositions taken, trial testimony to prepare for. Preparation for a trial (and claims usually settle on the eve of trial) can easily take five years or so. So it can be ‘hanging over’ you for awhile.

Even with a good insurance policy there’s perhaps a concern of whether premiums will go up or the policy not renewed.

These are some of the reasons I think it makes sense to consider how safe you can make your property. Here’s one checklist previously posted here.

Sometimes people think ‘I have insurance’ and then cross ‘safety’ off their to-do list. But that would be a mistake – safety is a recurring issue for every Host. [And every additional guest/visitor you allow on to the property increases your potential liability.]

Over 80% of all lawsuits in STRs are for trips and falls. Preventing trip hazards and lighting are very important, as are hand rails, inside and outside.

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