@gcave OK, that explains why my renewal came with the rider already included and I wasn’t required to open a new policy. It must be different depending on where you live.
considering switching to USAA and would purchase the umbrella policy. any more experiences/ feedback? We live in Virginia as well and we DO live on the premises of the STR
Hey VA neighbor, I got a decent rate through Loudon Mutual on an Auto-Owners policy with an STR rider for my attached suite, but it was limited to 180 days/year. Not a problem for me as that is the Arlington County limit on STR anyway.
Of course year 1 was a teaser and it’s gone up, but nowhere near my previous Proper Insurance policy.
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I have 3 little separate guest casitas behind my home in CA and have USAA insurance. The STR guest houses are covered on my normal home policy because they are part of main property. I called about 5 times to speak to different people to main super sure. I think they started incorporating STR into their insurance in CA in 2019 as well. LOVE LOVE USAA.
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Does anyone know if that is the case in every region? In some places, casitas/guest cottages etc. are covered if a genuine guest is staying but not if it’s a paying guest.
If anyone has a link to the whys and wherefores, that would be great.
I just called USAA and they will not give a quote unless you become a USAA member first. To qualify either you must be serving or have served in the military or had a family member that was in the military, but they must have been a USAA member. Their commercials do not state anything about it and the customer service rep agreed they have had numerous complaints about the ads not stating that. So she said she would refer me to Liberty Mutual. I guess USAA gets something out of Liberty for the referrals. I said no thank you. I have a call into a State Farm agent to check out their options. Other than State Farm I’m not sure who else to check out for quotes that will provide homeowners insurance with coverage for short term rentals without a lot of limitations. Any advice would be greatly appreciated as someone just looking into starting an AirBnB.
I think Allstate offers some sort of short term rental insurance, but I’ve never spoken to them or used their insurance. https://www.allstate.com/home-insurance/host-advantage.aspx
There are a couple of companies out there who do a per-night insurance fee (I think Proper is one, Slice used to do it but they seem to be out of business), where you just pay for when you need it I don’t know the details.
Do you rent a room in your house or a full home rental? That will make a difference in the type of insurance you’ll need and which companies you’ll be eligible for.
You have to tread lightly when you’re inquiring about short term rental insurance on your existing policy, because I’ve heard of people being dropped from their insurance just for asking about it. It seems the Airbnb name still has a lot of stigma with insurance companies. But it’s always a good idea to have the appropriate insurance, since Airbnb’s host guarantee is neither a guarantee, nor is it insurance.
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My home is insured with Allstate. I’ve never checked with them about insuring my Airbnb room but it’s good to know they are offering this. If I look into it I will report back to the forum.
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Don’t identify yourself! Remember I asked my State Farm agent if they had a rider for STR, before I even opened my Airbnb, and they told me they would not renew my homeowners, my landlord (for my LTR), and my liability umbrella, just for asking, because it “raised uncertainty.” This was four years ago, maybe they’re not so skittish now.
Idiots – this was an opportunity for them to expand their market. And of course I will never insure anything with State Farm again.
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Thank you @GardenFairy for the info! I will give Allstate a try. I have a call into a State Farm agent as well. I saw on another forum that they might offer a plan. Also, not sure if I have to get business insurance and not just regular homeowners short term for an AirBnB. I believe the Proper Insurance offers business insurance - liability and property damage coverage. I would want both.
Thanks for this info @dpfromva. I just put a call into a State Farm agent and waiting for her to get back to me. I will let you know what I find out. I agree with you about a missed opportunity. Insurance carriers need to realize that AirBnB is not going away and they should offer a plan for hosts.
Just got our renewal in, 26th August our home and apartment insurance due.
Including €10m public liability, total premium €545, an increase of €16 from last year.
Viva España and all that 
JF
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I truly, deeply hate you, JF.
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@dpfromva @GardenFairy
Just wanted to let you all know what info I have found out in the last 3 weeks regarding homeowners and AirBnB. My current homeowners - Travelers - does not cover for AirBnBs. Not only that, I found out that the county I live in has a limit on how many nights you can rent out for short-term rentals - only 60 nights a year. So, we decided it would not be worth it to furnish the unit we have and then have to pay a special county tax on top of that for only 60 nights a year. We will make more money by doing a long-term rental. But, I did find out that State Farm does now cover for AirBnBs with an umbrella policy. I ended up switching to them anyway b/c they gave me a decent rate and bundled it with my car insurance (which is required to do if you want an umbrella). I did the umbrella for extra coverage for the long-term rental. Each county is different as far as imposing limits on short-term rentals. I friend of mine who has an AirBnB in NC and they have no restrictions. Hope this info helps someone on this forum. I wanted to follow-up b/c this forum has been so helpful to me.
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Thanks for this information.
The article above lists seven great options for STR insurance. I found it helpful in determining what was best for my property. Hope it can help someone else as well.
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