Short Term Rental Insurance
If you are looking to rent out your home or secondary residence as a short term rental property, there are some insurance realities that can differ compared to if you where participating in the long term rental market.As your plans may include renting out your unit for a few days, a week or several months, perhaps through Airbnb or via Vrbo, these types of rentals will definitely require some additional insurance considerations. Fortunately, there are some existing rental insurance policies that can enable you to protect your short-term rental.Since you will be renting out your property to various renters, as well as for varying lengths of time, there are a few key areas of insurance coverage you will want to explore further.
Landlord Contents Coverage
The bottom line is that during short term rental periods of time, you will want to ensure that your belongings are protected. Whether accidental or other, the reality is that during the timeframe your place in being rented out, damages or even thefts can occur.
To help offset any financial losses, you will also want to look into adding in owner’s contents insurance. Should any of your personal items need to be replaced as a result of: theft or vandalism, as well as fire damage, etc., peril coverage can be provided to aid with these types or repair or replacement costs.
Rental Income (Fair Value) Coverage
Loss of rental income is also a definite area of consideration as a part of your short term rental policy. In the event you lose out on income during the potential rental period, however a rental agreement has fallen through, then including this type of coverage can also help to secure your income.
Liability Coverage
Especially with multiple groups will be coming and going during shorter term rentals, Liability insurance is one aspect of coverage you will also want to consider. Should an individual be injured on/as a result of your property, this can lead to very high medical and legal expenses for you, as the landlord. Since third party property and bodily injury claims can be very damaging to your personal income, having insurance to help cover these costs will be an extremely important part of your short-term rental package.
In the end, short term rental insurance is not always as easy to come by, since these unique set of circumstances may pose some additional risk. With that being said, there is a growing market for these types of rental arrangements, and as result, select insurance companies are keeping these options available for short term rental property owners across Canada.