Airbnb and Insurance – How to insure?

AirBnB and insurance, few people combine those two things. And that is not without risk! But, what risk? Do I have contents insurance? And do I have home insurance for my own home? And the liability? Which liability? Don’t I also have insurance for that in my insurance package? What does that have to do with Airbnb? Well, your insurer is often less enthusiastic. How to insure, let’s take a look at that.

Airbnb and insurance, often nothing is arranged.

Renting out your home through Airbnb is becoming increasingly popular. Both the host and the guest benefit from this. The landlord earns a little extra and the guest often pays much cheaper than in a hotel. Many people also rent out their home (or part of it), because they just like it. So everyone wins; until something happens. Damage is caused by the actions of your guests. Your insurance may then be insufficient. Because often insurers simply exclude rental(!)

Which insurance policies play a role in temporarily renting out your home?

In principle, renting out via rental sites such as Airbnb or Wimdu affects four insurance policies:

How do those insurers now react to damage if it turns out that it arose while you were renting out.

The main rule is that damage caused during rental is NOT insured.

So if there is a fire, or water damage, or if there is a break-in while you were renting out your house: no coverage. And that, of course, can have disastrous consequences.

But it can get even more annoying….

What if a guest falls down the stairs due to a loose stair runner, or burns himself on a malfunctioning hot water tap. There is a good chance that you will be held liable.
Is the damage caused by a kitchen fire sometimes manageable? you can usually really not pay for a substantial injury claim that a guest claims. And if a guest wants his money back because “everything was so disappointing” at your house or the neighbors caused noise nuisance.

And don’t forget that guests can behave badly in your house. Things are damaged, things are stolen, other people are invited to “heavy” parties, they themselves cause nuisance to the neighbours, and so on.
I don’t want to discourage you, but it is clear that there are some things that you should consider carefully before you rent out.

There are no really suitable insurance policies for Airbnb (yet).

Insurers are certainly not waiting for rental risks. They too know the stories of hotel and guest house owners about the appalling state in which people sometimes left their rooms behind. On the other hand, they also recognize that they have a social function as an insurance company. Nor can they simply abandon their insured, completely uninsured when renting out.

And this is how some initiatives are slowly emerging, although it is still very limited. For example, damage as a result of theft or vandalism by the tenant will always be excluded. I currently only know of four insurers that “do something” with their insurance policies for the Airbnb. In the table below I have listed some coverages. It is the situation now: July 4, 2016 and a lot is happening. That table is very temporary in nature, but I will try to keep up with developments as best as possible.

AirBnB and Insurance

Coverage at AirBnB	ASR	Aegon	Night. Down.	Central Management.
Included as standard	No – expansion is possible.	And	And	No – expansion is possible.
Conditions	Limited – Main damage such as fire, storm, leaks	Not known	Limited – Main damage such as fire, storm, leaks	Not known
Need traces of forced entry on the house?	And	No theft cover(!)	And	And
Own risk	No	No	Euro 250,-	No
Own habitation required?	Not known	Not known	And	And
Maximum Rental Term	17 weeks a year	30 days a year	2 months a year	60 days a year
Supervision requirements	Daily, compulsory by the insured person	No	No	No
Fixed tenant required	And	No	No	No
Written rental agreement required?	No	And	No	And
Requirements for the target group	No	Tourists only	No	Only tourists + rental arranged yourself via booking site

As you can see, I haven’t even included the liability insurance (the AVP), actually the most important one. I just don’t know yet. I know from legal expenses insurers that they are not yet doing anything with the Airbnb phenomenon. You can always sue a guest in court, of course, but not yet with insurance.

So: renting out your house via Airbnb? Check your insurance policies and/or close a new package.

If you are considering offering your house to tourists, keep the following at least for insurance purposes checklist Airbnb at hand:

• inquire always your contents insurer, if you own a home, also your home insurer;
• always inform your liability insurer and any legal assistance insurer;
• if no coverage is possible, or insufficient coverage to your liking? Then close a new package. The table above can serve as a reference. More companies will certainly be added.

Of course I am happy to help you with that. We will then make an inventory of your wishes together, and then we will look for a solution that suits your specific situation.
So feel free to contact us if you are considering renting through Airbnb, but with the right insurance.

Last but not least: ask your municipality what is and what is not allowed at the Airbnb.

Another small update: today, September 1, 2016, the municipality of Amsterdam announced that it will take a stricter approach to illegal rental. Like many other municipalities, Amsterdam sets strict requirements for Airbnb. Agreements were recently made about this with the rental platform.

Another consequence of the increasing popularity of private rental is that there are huge flows of tourists. Crowds of people that many cities can no longer handle.
In the meantime, the municipality of Amsterdam has also held talks with the well-known travel site Booking.com to get the huge influx somewhat under control.

Maximums can be set for the number of people present at the same time, the duration of the rental, and so on. Sometimes houses are rented out all year round and it also happens that “large groups” are present in the buildings. Complaints from the neighborhood about noise pollution, for example, quickly bring you into the picture. Amsterdam today increased the fine for illegal rental to more than Euro 20,000.

So the Airbnb can be a fun and lucrative activity, but set it up professionally. Not only with regard to insurance, but also with the outside world.