COVERTRADE SERVICES
Airbnb Insurance
Specialised coverage tailored to protect your short-term rental property.
Your Home Insurance Probably Does Not Cover This
Letting to paying guests is a change of use, and most standard household policies either exclude it outright or treat it as a material fact you are required to declare. Plenty of hosts take their first booking without realising, and find out only when a claim is being assessed.
The exposure is wider than most people assume. It is not only that a guest-related claim might be declined. An undeclared change of use can be raised against unrelated claims too, so a burst pipe in February can turn into an argument about a letting last summer that was never mentioned.
Specialist insurers do write short lets, and the market has grown a great deal as hosting has. We arrange it UK wide (a whole property, a single let room, or a portfolio let year-round) and place it with insurers that accept short-term letting rather than leaving you to find the exclusion at claim time.
With CoverTrade Insurance, you can host with confidence, knowing that your property is in good hands. Let us help you safeguard your investment and maximize your earnings as an Airbnb host.
AirCover Is Not A Substitute For Insurance
Hosts often assume AirCover means they are covered. It is worth being precise about what it is, because the gap between the two is where people get caught.
AirCover is a protection programme provided by Airbnb, not an insurance policy you hold. You are not the policyholder, you have no contract with an insurer, and it comes with its own conditions, exclusions and claims process run by the platform.
Three limits matter. It does not replace buildings cover: if the property burns down, that is your insurer's problem, not Airbnb's. It is limited in what it pays and for what. And it applies only to stays booked through Airbnb, so a direct booking, a stay through another platform, or a guest who found you by word of mouth falls outside it entirely.
None of which makes it worthless: as a backstop for guest-caused damage it is genuinely useful. Treat it as a supplement to a proper policy rather than a reason not to have one.
Permissions: Mortgage, Lease And Planning
Separate from insurance, but worth settling first, because insurers will ask, and a policy bought on the basis that you have permissions you do not have is on shaky ground.
Mortgage. Most residential mortgages restrict letting without the lender's consent. Some lenders are relaxed about occasional short letting; others treat it as a breach.
Lease. If the property is a flat, read the lease. Many prohibit short-term letting or business use outright, and freeholder enforcement over short lets has become a great deal more common.
Local rules. Requirements vary around the UK and have been tightening: short-let licensing in Scotland, planning controls in parts of London, and registration schemes appearing elsewhere. Check what applies where your property is rather than what applied when you started.
Get those straight and the insurance is the easy part.
Before Your Next Booking
Five things worth confirming as a host.
- Your insurer knows you let to paying guests
- Guest damage and theft, and the excess on it
- Public liability limit for guest injury
- Loss of income if the property is unlettable
- Mortgage and freeholder consent in writing
- Flexible payment options
- Dedicated account managers
- Out-of-hours contact should you need to make a claim or just have a question
- A quick and easy, pain-free service
- An excellent customer experience
Damage And Theft By Guests
This is the section to read carefully, because it is where short-let policies differ most from each other and from an ordinary home policy. Damage caused by a paying guest is treated separately from accidental damage by you, and theft by someone lawfully on the premises is treated differently again. Some policies require evidence of forced entry, which by definition a guest with a key code will not provide.
Worth checking: whether malicious damage by guests is included or excluded, whether there is a separate excess for guest-related claims, and how the policy treats a party that gets out of hand, which several insurers now address explicitly. If you let to groups rather than families, say so when you apply. It changes the rating, and not declaring it is worse than paying for it.
Loss Of Income And Void Periods
If a fire or an escape of water makes the property unlettable, the repair bill is only part of the loss. The bookings stop too. Loss of rent or loss of income cover replaces that income while the property is out of action, and on a property whose whole purpose is producing income it is not an optional extra.
Set the indemnity period against how long reinstatement would realistically take, not how long you hope it would. And remember the other kind of empty: most policies restrict cover once a property has stood unoccupied beyond 30 or 45 days, which a seasonal let can reach without anyone thinking of it as "unoccupied". Tell us about the quiet months.
One Property Or Several?
The right policy changes as hosting turns into a business. A single property let occasionally usually sits on a short-let household or holiday home policy. Several properties, or one let intensively year-round, is generally better served by a commercial holiday let or property owners policy, which also handles liability limits, loss of income and multiple addresses more comfortably.
The switch is worth making at the right time rather than at renewal by accident, because the wrong product is usually both more expensive and narrower. Premiums can be paid monthly or annually.
What We Need To Quote
The address, construction and rebuild cost of the property, the value of contents and furnishings you have put in for guests, whether you let the whole property or a room, roughly how many weeks a year it is let and whether there is a seasonal gap, the type of guest you take, whether you have mortgage and freeholder consent, and any claims in the last five years.
Protect Your Property
So why wait? Protect your Airbnb property today with CoverTrade's comprehensive insurance coverage. Contact us now to schedule a consultation with one of our expert advisors.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this policy.
- Holiday and second home insuranceFor a property you also use yourself rather than let year-round.
- Landlord insuranceIf you switch from short lets to a standard tenancy.
- Unoccupied property insuranceFor an extended gap between bookings or an out-of-season closure.
Common questions
Does home insurance cover Airbnb?+
Usually not. Letting to paying guests is a change of use, and most household policies either exclude it outright or treat it as a material fact you are required to declare. The risk is not only that a guest-related claim is declined. An undeclared change of use can affect unrelated claims too, so a burst pipe in February may be argued over because of a letting you never mentioned. Tell your insurer before you take a booking, or move to a policy written for short lets.
Is AirCover the same as insurance?+
No, and this is the most important thing to understand as a host. AirCover is a protection programme provided by Airbnb, not an insurance policy you hold, and it comes with its own conditions, exclusions and claims process. It is a useful backstop for guest-caused damage, but it does not replace buildings cover, it is limited in what it pays for, and it only applies to stays booked through Airbnb, so a direct booking or a stay through another platform falls outside it entirely. Treat it as a supplement to a proper policy rather than a substitute for one.
What insurance do I need as an Airbnb host?+
Buildings cover written to allow short-term letting if you own the property. Contents cover on the furnishings, appliances and anything you have put in for guests, and check how theft or damage by a paying guest is treated, since many policies limit it. Public liability from £1m, with £2m or £5m depending on what is required, for injury to a guest. Loss of rent or loss of income if the property becomes unlettable after an insured event. If you let several properties or it is a genuine business, a commercial holiday let policy is generally the better fit.
What insurance companies cover Airbnb?+
Most standard home insurers exclude paying guests altogether, which is why an ordinary policy may not respond to a short-let claim. Specialist insurers do write it, and the market has grown considerably as short letting has. As a broker we place the risk with insurers that accept short-term letting rather than leaving you to discover the exclusion at claim time.
Do I need my mortgage lender's or freeholder's permission?+
Very likely, and it is separate from the insurance question. Most residential mortgages restrict letting without consent, and many leases prohibit short-term letting or business use of a flat outright. Insurers will generally ask whether you have the necessary permissions, and a policy taken out on the basis that you have them when you do not is on shaky ground. Sort the consents first; the insurance is the easier part.
How much is Airbnb insurance?+
The average for holiday let and Airbnb home insurance runs at around £410 a year, with published guides scaling it by size, roughly £290 for a one-bedroom up to around £600 for a four-bedroom. Those are typical figures rather than a quote. Your own price follows the property rather than the letting: rebuild cost, location, construction and condition, the contents you have furnished it with, how many weeks a year it is let, and whether guests are families or party groups.
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