Proper insurance just doubled my rates

we have proper commercial insurance on our airbnb. we sleep upstairs and rent out the downstairs apartment to guests. we’ve had proper insurance with a $2m limit covering our entire home, including the apartment airbnb.

it’s time to renew and they’re doubling our rate, to $3k/yr. something about how hard a year they had, and how they’re eliminating coverage on older houses (over 100yr).

and i tried state farm, who said they cover vacation rentals, but they don’t. now i’m waiting for a quote from cbiz. i can’t find anybody else to cover us at all, continental usa.

does anybody know where i can get insurance?

1 Like

what state are you in?

i’m in georgia, and just heard from cbiz, who say that since i’m in a triplex, 2/3 of the house has to be short-term rental. i am renovating the 2nd unit, but i can’t even pretend to have it listed yet.

should i go ahead and list it early, but block all the dates?

1 Like

State Farm covered our in-law unit in IL. Erie Insurance also covers situations like yours but not available in GA.

State Farm covers ours, too. We’re in NC.

This company advertises on the site occasionally, but I don’t know anything about them:

Proper upped my rate also, but not by that much. Also you don’t get much a break from them for raising your deductible, which is annoying.
I wonder what kind of claim volume/type they’re experiencing? They are fairly new I believe, maybe they underpriced to get start up business.
Might be time to check that Bed & Breakfast insurer in my area to get comps.

the latest news. i can get a quote for lloyd’s of london insurance from both proper insurance and tapco insurance, for $2600-3000 per year depending on the agent. i can get state farm to cover me with a homeowner’s policy plus a bunch of extensions, for about the same price. and i can’t find anybody else. so it’s going to be a real issue as long-term rents in my area catch up to my airbnb bookings.

1 Like

My insurer may have just put me out of business! Proper has raised my rate 57% – total is now 30% of my gross. After a hefty but swallow-able (gulp!) increase last year. Makes it financially iffy to continue, not much profit for the bother and extra work.
The insurance does include a liability umbrella so there’s that. It’s a shame, I was planning to add a second, vacation property to the Airbnb suite attached to my primary residence. I’ve sent them an inquiry regarding any breaks for multiple property coverage, and I’ll shop their quote around to the very limited pool of other providers.
I just had a lovely couple do a last minute booking for their night out on the town New Year’s Eve. Surprised to realize how much I’ll miss being a hospitality provider if this no longer makes sense financially. Thinking of switching to LTR or just taking a break from the entire business.

1 Like

I’m “self-insured” meaning I have no insurance for the rental room, only homeowners that would probably cancel me if they found out I did Airbnb. I often think of how my ending will come and insurance related issues might be how.

2 Likes

I am in Canada. My insurance is with April, which in turn is underwriten by Lloyd’s.

I believe that they also underwrite the Host Guarantee.

My rate is $2600CAD tax in. it’s a tad heftier because I had a broken pipe claim in the last 2 years. Also guests are not permitted to cook, though they can use a microwave. And no one under 19.

Insurance covering Airbnb is not common here. My house is 118 years old and is a semi detached, meaning that I must be insured to cover THEIR home too.

Try AAU - Lloyd’s of London covers it, it works for shared or non-shared space. Only caveat is minimum 2 night rental. I can send you the agent’s info if you’re interested…

We’re in the UK and had specialist home insurance to cover our situation; our house with an attached annexe (in-law suite) that we rent on STR. Their renewal quote went up by 22%. We had to shop around and I was able to get cover at the same price elsewhere but with limitations (such as accidental damage). In the end I went to a broker who got a tailored policy for our needs - it works out at 10% more expensive than last year but we’re happy with the cover. I suspect we were under insured for STR last year.

Thanks for all tips! It’s a tough problem and more insurers should step up. I’ve reviewed the numbers and I could make a little less net revenue with a lot less hassle renting out half my 2 car gargage – garages are scarce around here. Cars never demand more towels…

2 Likes

The garage at my STR has two little sports cars in it, owned by different people and I still get to store stuff in there. It pays my property taxes and then some. :smile:

RR

I can only rent to one – MY little sports car takes up half! (1960 TR3A, love that unreliable little vehicle!)

2 Likes

This just happened to us, but in our case Lloyd’s increased our policy from $3,000 pa, to $4,800. The agent also checked with Proper, they want $6,800.
Our policy runs out the first week of November, not good timing when it is hurricane season.
Our previous Homeowners agent said the company we were with in 2018 would totally drop us if we rented.

Can you get a dwelling policy and then just pay for 365-days of Slice?

1 Like

I am fortunate to have a very low priced Innkeeper’s policy, only available in my state. Other options for home sharing hosts are the aforementioned Slice which is offered thru Progressive in the USA, and there are other companies in the US offering this besides Proper

https://www.allstate.com/home-insurance/host-advantage.aspx

https://homesharinginsurance.com/

These are just a couple

Similar to LoneStar,I found a better deal than (nationwide) Proper with a Bed & Breakfast policy with similar coverage from a mutual insurer in my state. I googled “bed and breakfast insurance” to find them.

1 Like