I am completely unable to find ANY INSURANCE COMPANY to insure a home share with "shared entrances and exits."
Except for Slice. Prosper said no, Allstate said no, everyone said no. How can it be possible that so many Airbnbs are running in homes and apartments that clearly share entrances??
Sorry donât know about US insurance, perhaps a US host can help.
Have you searched on the forum I know US insurance has been discussed a number of times here.
Maybe because they donât disclose it to the insurance company. Just hoping that nothing ever happens. Most people are under insured vacation insurance can run $400 a month which for most people is a dealbreaker and they just decide to ride bareback and go without it .
This is something every new Airbnb host should know. It is not a problem if you live in a separate house and are renting a vacation residence, but since Airbnb started as a âhome-sharingâ siteâŚit says YOU MUST HAVE VALID INSURANCE before their million dollar host guarantee kicks in. But if NO HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE will COVER YOU because you are running an Airbnb, how could you ever access their million dollar insurance??? This was taken from
https://www.digitaltrends.com/web/terms-conditions-airbnb/
Insurance
The issue of liability became a big, tricky point of contention for Airbnb after a host reported having her home ransacked, and much of her belongings stolen, by a guest in the summer of 2011. In response to the resulting uproar, Airbnb announced its â$1,000,000 Host Guarantee,â which promises to give hosts a $1,000,000 insurance policy on âevery booking, every time.â Sounds good, right?
Well, not so fast. A quick look at Airbnbâs terms show that all hosts are required to have their own insurance in place to cover any losses or damages. It is only after a hostâs own insurance is exhausted that Airbnbâs promised million bucks starts to kick in. ***So donât be fooled â you must have valid insurance if you rent your space on Airbnb.strong text_
Damage
Now, in the case of small-scale damage, there are ways for hosts to recoup losses from guests directly, with Airbnbâs help. The site says that, when supplied with sufficient evidence from hosts (i.e. pictures), Airbnb reserves the right to charge a guestâs credit card for the amount of the damage. Furthermore, Airbnb will help guests and hosts negotiate the costs of damage, free of charge.
In other words: If a guest breaks a plate, take a picture, tell Airbnb about it, and theyâll help you get reimbursed. If, on the other hand, a guest drunkenly drives through your living room with their Honda Civic, youâre going to have to get your homeownerâs insurance company involved.
Bookings, payments, and fees
As mentioned above, hosts have complete control over who they allow to book their space. Hosts are required to confirm or deny a booking request from a guest within 24 hours. Furthermore, hosts are responsible for setting their per-night rates, cleaning fees, and security deposits (if they choose to require either of the later).
Once a booking is confirmed, the guest pays whatever the total fee is, which may include taxes and cleaning fees. Airbnb then charges hosts 3 percent of the per-night rate for every booking, and collects between 6 and 12 percent of the total fare from the guest. (It is this pricing structure that allows Airbnb to let hosts list their spaces without paying a monthly or annual fee.)
Oh, and if youâre a host, know that Airbnb will require you to file tax documents, so donât think you can escape paying Uncle Sam his due share of what you make from renting your space on Airbnb.
Cancellations
Hosts have the ability to set their own cancellation policies, so make sure to know what that is if you think you may have to cancel a booking after itâs been confirmed. If, as a guest, you cancel a booking before itâs been confirmed, youâll be charged nothing â though a hold will be put on your credit card by Airbnb in the mean time.
If a guest does decide to cancel, Airbnb will refund the agreed upon amount to your credit card.
Both CBIZ and Proper Insurance and the 15 other insurance companies I have contacted about getting homesharing insurance ALL SAY THIS. So how are ANY listings on Airbnb? Are they ALL RUN by people who do not have any assets to be sued or just all clueless people???
Unfortunately, at this time Lloydâs does not cover true room-sharing vacation rental properties, only entire rentals. Room sharing meaning; shared entrance, kitchen, bathroom, living room, daily interaction with guest(s), etc.
We are currently working with Lloydâs to offer this coverage on our policy soon. You will be notified when available.
Thanks,
Nicholas Massey
Account Executive
Proper Insurance Services, LLC
Furthermore, if there ARE any legally insured homesharing owners (who share entrances, exits, entrances, kitchens or bathrooms) âŚhow are they getting insurance for liability in case anyone sues them or homeowners insurance in general? I would love to know, because if itâs at all possible, then I canât see why I canât get it, too. And if Iâm not, I have to wonder - am I being discriminated against for some reason? The typical strikes against me - - Asian- American, female, and over 50âŚ?
This is an old article. I believe now Airbnbâs is the primary coverage, not secondary. This is a relatively new development.
We seem to be talking about the US, each State is different, not a US as such issue.
I am sure well before AirBnB came along people were âhostingâ every State seems to have plenty of B&Bâs, and associations for them and I do not believe they are all uninsured.
Just need to find which Brokers specialises in B@Bâs and approach them, most home insurers insurer homes, some may included limited short term rental businesses.
CBIZ conversation on Insurance
Hi Carol,
You are absolutely correct Airbnb is a home sharing site but we still cannot insure homes that rent to more than one party at the same time and have any shared space. We specifically insure properties that are used to be rented to one party and there is no shared space. You have more of an innkeeper set up. If you would like you can reach out to our Innkeeperâs program to get a quote at 1-800-488-1135.
If you have any more questions please let me know.
Best regards,
Curtis McCormick | Associate Account Manager
CBIZ Vacation Rental Program
Subject: Re: CBIZ Insurance Carol Shih
I donât understand how so many listings can be on Airbnb that clearly ARE sharing then. Airbnb began as a HOME-SHARING site!
On Thu, Aug 24, 2017 at 1:49 PM, McCormick, Curtis wrote:
Hi Carol,
The main reason for the non-renewal is that there is shared space in general and not just entrance and exits. Our policy is specifically for properties that are rented out to one party who has the home or property all to themselves. If there is any type of shared space such as entrance/exit, shared bathrooms and shared kitchen.
If you can confirm that the home would be rented out to just one party and there would absolutely no shared space at all and there would only be one party there at a time then we would be able to reconsider renewing this policy.
If you have any other questions please let me know.
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Carol, read the Air policy again. Itâs changed since that article was written. You at least have some coverage with Air itself that is primary. Of course they have to say that itâs not meant to replace homeowners insurance.
I believe there are some companies that are introducing new insurance products in the fall for the US. They have posted about their offerings here.
This is NOT POSSIBLE in a shared home unless the home has a unit with un-shared entrances, as in a duplex or multifamily home.
Bend and Breakfasts have been around for a very long time, they have a shared entrance, can not imagine that there is not a market
Curious to know if you have any information on issues with home equity insurance, like the kind I have that goes along with my mortgageâŚNow that my insurance company knows I am running an airbnb, they told me they DO NOT approve, and are asking all sorts of questions - I am not sure how many of these questions I am required to answer, but I was hoping to get some info here to help me respondâŚDo you have any thoughts on this subject? Thanks in advance for your response.
@cate This thread is quite old so itâs been closed. Maybe you can start a new topic after youâve been here a few days or find a recent related topic to post on.