Why Vacation Rental Insurance for Hosts Is Absolutely Worth It

If you run a short-term rental business, you need a way to protect it. And while you probably already have traditional home insurance, you should consider coverage options that are designed specifically with the risks of running a short-term rental in mind—which is where vacation rental insurance comes in.

But it can be a hard job understanding exactly what vacation rental insurance should and shouldn’t include, and in what ways it can benefit your business.

That’s why here, we clear up your doubts about short-term rental insurance, so you can make informed decisions about what’s best for your business, your property, and your guests.

Most important benefits of vacation rental insurance

Let’s take a look at why we think every short-term rental property manager and owner should have vacation rental insurance.

Financial protection

The most obvious benefit of vacation rental insurance is financial protection—without it, you could be left covering the cost of damage caused by guests. This includes damage to the contents of your property, like appliances and electronic devices, and damage to the structure of the property itself, like floors and windows.

So with the right insurance policy, you’re covered if a guest shatters your television screen or puts a hole in the wall. But with vacation rental insurance, you also get coverage against bodily harm if, for example, a guest gets injured at your property.

Did a guest trip and fall, smashing through the screen door and fracturing their arm? In this case, the costs of repairs for the door as well as your guest’s medical expenses can be covered so you don’t have to pay a thing out of your own pocket.

Higher booking rates

Vacation rental insurance can even have a positive impact on your booking rates. A common alternative to insurance is security deposits, but many guests are uncomfortable with handing over hundreds of dollars on top of their reservation fee.

Plus, security deposit disputes can get messy, and the conflict that ensues can result in unhappy guests, negative reviews, and poor ratings.

But thanks to its simplicity and convenience, the best short-term rental insurance won’t have a negative impact on bookings—on the contrary, providing your guests with short-term rental insurance can have a positive impact on your occupancy rates because your guests know they’re protected during their stay.

Fewer headaches

Vacation rental insurance also eliminates the inconveniences attached to security deposits. With a specialized insurance policy, there’s no more arguing with guests over whether they get their security deposit back. And forget about going to court for years to settle a claim.

Having vacation rental insurance instead of a security deposit also eliminates the need for having to sort your claim with a booking site like Airbnb or Vrbo, which won’t always rule in your favor.

A partner like Safely offers a quick, painless claims process, and you know you can receive your payout within a few days, regardless of how unreasonable your guests may be.

Just so you know… Even if you charge a security deposit, damage to your property may exceed that amount, meaning you would be left to pay for the remainder yourself. But when you have short-term rental insurance with Safely, you can get up to $1,000,000 in coverage for the structure of your home.

Peace of mind

When you let a stranger in your home, you naturally feel anxious about the possibility of them causing some kind of a problem that’s completely out of your hands. At Safely, we’ve had homeowners and property managers tell us that the worry of a guest having an accident during their stay used to keep them awake at night. After all, what if they don’t have health insurance, what if there was a big lawsuit?

So, knowing that our liability and property damage insurance coverage can protect you when things go wrong—from small incidents like a dent in the wall to serious issues like smoke damage and bodily harm—is an enormous source of comfort.

The prospect of intentional or accidental damage to your short-term rental home doesn’t have to tarnish the experience of being a vacation rental property manager or owner. When you find the right insurance provider, you can rest easy knowing your personal property, the structure of your home, you, the property owner, and your guests are covered.

Is it worth the investment?

With vacation rentals being vulnerable to the risk of negligent renters, unfortunate accidents, or even out-of-hand parties, it’s important to have protection you can trust. Here’s the good news: That protection can be thorough, fast, and simple, without being expensive.

First off, you may not even end up paying for your vacation rental insurance fees. That’s because you can incorporate them into your nightly rate, meaning guests actually cover the price of your policy themselves.

For example, if you have a solution like Safely, you only pay for the nights that your property is booked, meaning that nothing comes out of your pocket when you’re not getting reservations.

Compare this low investment cost to the thousands of dollars you save in the event of serious damage to your property or its contents, and there’s no question that Safely’s vacation rental insurance is a valuable asset for your property management business. In addition, it can even be a compelling selling point for guests and property owners.

Get higher booking rates, less hassle, and greater peace of mind with Safely. And don’t forget the financial coverage Safely policies offer—up to $1,000,000 for damage to the structure of your home and up to $10,000 for damage to its contents.

Can’t I just use homeowners insurance?

Homeowners insurance is designed for owner-occupied properties, meaning it doesn’t normally include coverage for commercial activities (like renting out a vacation home).

And even if your homeowners insurance can cover some of the potential damages that guests cause, you’ll have a solution that’s specific to the nature of running a short-term rental. So with vacation rental insurance, you only pay when you have a guest, and you know you’re getting the right coverage you need for your business activities.

With Safely, for example, claims get paid in an average of less than four days. And with Safely’s guest screening tool, you can take proactive steps to prevent bad stays before they happen, which is much more than what a general homeowners insurance policy can offer you.

Short-term rental insurance for cases big and small

Some of the extreme cases of guest behavior that we come across at Safely have resulted in thousands and thousands of dollars of damage, including drunken falls and enormous parties, as well as ruined televisions, ovens, and fridge freezers.

But not all of the claims we receive are for the nightmare scenarios that keep you awake at night. We also pay out for cases as small as a single broken wine glass, a mascara-stained bedsheet, or a broken lamp.

Vacation rental insurance: A smart investment for your property and your guests

Protect yourself from vacation rental damage with a specialist insurance policy so you can enjoy peace of mind and happier guests. The best vacation rental insurance policy is one that:

• Offers a seamless claims process
• Pays out in a timely manner
• Doesn’t have any hidden exclusions in the fine print
• Comes with a comprehensive guest screening tool

At Safely, we work hard to make sure you have the coverage you need, exactly when you need it—with our vacation rental insurance and automated guest screening, you can rest assured that your property and guests are protected.

Frequently asked questions about vacation rental insurance

What type of insurance do I need for a vacation rental property?

If you have a vacation rental property, you probably can’t rely on your homeowners insurance policy to cover damage caused by guests. That’s why you need a specialist vacation rental insurance policy, which can cover things like damage to the contents of your property, structural damage to your home, and bodily harm incurred by guests.

How do I protect my vacation rental property?

Two of the best ways to protect a vacation rental property are guest screening and short-term rental insurance. With guest screening, you can minimize the risk of risky renters by identifying potentially problematic guests and denying their booking.

And if things do go wrong, short-term rental insurance has you covered for damage to your property, its contents, and even bodily harm incurred by guests during their stay.