Choose an owner policy that fits Airbnb use
The right path depends on facts you already know: how often the home is rented, whether you also live in it, whether it takes regular paying guests, and how long it sits empty between stays. Proper's short-term-rental guide frames the comparison the same way, around whether a policy matches guest use, owner use, and vacant periods.[4]
Texas Department of Insurance guidance says most home policies will not pay for damages or injuries that occur during short-term rentals, and tells owners who rent short term to ask whether they need more coverage. That guide describes Texas home policies and the examples in it, so treat it as a reason to read your own form rather than proof that every home policy excludes every short-term-rental loss.[1]
| Example path | What the source describes | What the example does not settle |
|---|---|---|
| Add-on to a home policy for limited rental use | American Family describes a home-insurance add-on for a home rented 62 days or less each year, with examples covering damage to the home and contents, certain theft after the deductible, and damage caused by temporary occupants. | One carrier's add-on, subject to the issued policy, its limits and exclusions, and state availability. The 62-day use limit is American Family's stated limit, not an industry rule, and the page does not establish income or liability terms. |
| Home-sharing endorsement added to a filed homeowners form | A 2020 First Floridian Florida filing says its home-sharing endorsement provides property and liability coverage when the residence is rented or held for rental to a short-term lodging occupant. | One carrier's 2020 Florida filing. It does not establish current availability, a Florida-wide rule, another carrier's form, income coverage, or coverage outside the filed terms. |
| Specialized policy written to replace the home policy | Proper describes its commercial homeowners product as a replacement policy for short-term-rental use, combining building, contents, business revenue, commercial general liability, guest-caused damage, theft, vandalism, amenity liability, and vacancy features. | Proper's description of its own product. The page says not every property is a fit, and it does not prove another policy carries the same coverages, limits, valuation, availability, or price. |
Two carrier product pages and one Florida filing. Each describes only its own terms.[2][9][3]
Ask each carrier to name the form and endorsement it would actually issue, then read the occupancy and rental language against your booking calendar. Proper's guide says not every property is a fit for its product, so a restriction on one path tells you nothing about what a different form says.[4][3]
Related: Short-term rental insurance guide, Landlord insurance guide
Protect the property and the income it produces
Two quotes can both list building and contents and still pay differently. American Family states that its coverage examples are subject to the issued policy, its limits and exclusions, state availability, and the carrier's stated use limit, so the covered cause of loss, the form, the endorsements, the valuation, and the deductible decide the outcome rather than the coverage name on a summary page.[2]
- Valuation and deductible: American Family's examples include certain theft coverage after the deductible, so ask how each form values a loss, which deductible applies, and whether a separate deductible applies to theft.[2]
- Host-owned contents: Proper describes building and contents together inside one short-term-rental policy, so confirm whether furnishings, appliances, linens, and the items you buy specifically for guests sit inside that contents limit.[3]
- Income basis: Proper's product description includes business-revenue coverage. Ask any carrier for the basis of recovery, any waiting period, the limit, and how long the restoration period is covered before you compare that number to another quote.[3]
- Occupancy trigger: the First Floridian filing describes its home-sharing endorsement as applying when the residence is rented or held for rental to a short-term lodging occupant. That is a narrower trigger than rental in general, so read the exact use the form names.[9]
- Where guest damage sits: American Family's examples include damage caused by temporary occupants, which puts some guest damage inside the property discussion. Ask whether your form handles it there or under separate guest-damage terms.[2]
Coverage questions in this guide
A shared record keeps related coverage questions in one place.
- Building and contents
Proper describes building and contents coverage combined in one short-term-rental policy. American Family's home add-on gives examples of covered damage to the home and its contents for a home rented 62 days or less each year, subject to the issued policy, its limits and exclusions, and state availability.[3][2]
Review: Confirm the limit and the valuation basis for the building and for the furnishings and appliances you supply for guests.
- Business revenue after a covered loss
Proper's product description includes business-revenue coverage alongside building and contents. American Family's add-on page describes property examples and does not establish coverage for lost rental income.[3][2]
Review: Ask for the income basis of recovery, any waiting period, the limit, and how long the restoration period is covered.
- Liability for guest injury
Proper describes commercial general liability inside its short-term-rental policy. Airbnb's Host liability program summary says it covers a host's legal liability for bodily injury or property damage arising during an Airbnb stay, subject to that policy, with terms and limits that vary by jurisdiction.[3][6]
Review: Compare who qualifies as an insured, the occurrence and aggregate limits, defense costs, and medical payments on the policy you would own.
- Guest-caused damage, theft, and vandalism
Proper's product describes guest-caused damage, theft, and vandalism features. Airbnb says its Host damage protection can reimburse certain guest-caused damage after the guest does not pay, is not an insurance policy, and does not include all damage.[3][5]
Review: Ask where guest damage and theft sit in the form you are offered, and treat Airbnb's program as a separate claim path with its own terms.
Compare liability and guest-damage protection separately
Several different claim questions hide behind the phrase guest coverage: an injured guest, damage to a guest's property, damage to your building and furnishings, theft, and deliberate damage. Airbnb's Host liability program summary answers a legal-liability question for bodily injury or property damage arising during an Airbnb stay, subject to that policy, and says it does not insure damage or loss to the host's own property. Airbnb's Host damage protection answers a narrower reimbursement question. Proper's product page describes commercial general liability, guest-caused damage, theft, and vandalism inside one specialized policy.[6][5][3]
| The claim question | One carrier product example | What Airbnb's programs say |
|---|---|---|
| A guest is injured at the property | Proper describes commercial general liability inside its short-term-rental policy. | Airbnb's Host liability program summary says it covers a host's legal liability for bodily injury arising during an Airbnb stay, subject to the policy. |
| A guest damages the building or your furnishings | Proper describes guest-caused damage, theft, and vandalism features in its product. | Airbnb says Host damage protection can reimburse certain guest-caused damage after the guest does not pay, is not an insurance policy, and does not include all damage. |
| Damage or loss to the host's own property | Proper describes building and contents coverage in the same policy. | Airbnb's Host liability program does not insure damage or loss to the host's own property. |
Proper Insurance product page and Airbnb's Host damage protection and Host liability program summaries.[3][5][6]
- Named insureds and covered premises: Proper describes commercial general liability written into a short-term-rental policy, so ask which people, entities, and addresses the liability section names and which activities it covers.[3]
- Limits and defense: Airbnb's summary says it does not contain the full policy terms and that terms and limits vary by jurisdiction, which is why the occurrence limit, aggregate limit, defense-cost treatment, and medical-payments figure have to come from your own policy documents.[6]
- Listing count: Airbnb says that for a host with six or more active listings, the Host liability program may require contribution from other insurance or apply as excess coverage depending on that other policy. Tell your carrier how many listings you run.[6]
- Guest-damage sequence: Airbnb's damage protection responds after the guest does not pay and carries its own terms and exclusions, so ask your carrier separately how the same loss would be handled under your form and deductible.[5]
- Property and liability on one endorsement: the 2020 First Floridian filing says its home-sharing endorsement provides property and liability coverage for a residence rented or held for rental to a short-term lodging occupant, which shows one filed way of pairing the two for the same use.[9]
Treat Airbnb protection as a separate layer
Airbnb's two host protections are different instruments. Host damage protection can reimburse certain guest-caused damage after the guest does not pay. Airbnb states plainly that it is not an insurance policy, that it has terms and exclusions, and that it does not include all damage.[5]
The Host liability program is described as covering a host's legal liability for bodily injury or property damage arising during an Airbnb stay, subject to the policy. The summary does not contain the full policy terms and says terms and limits vary by jurisdiction, and it applies to an actual stay arranged through the platform.[6]
Review the gaps before comparing price
Texas Department of Insurance guidance identifies flood, earth movement, wear and tear, and specified vacancy periods as common home-policy gaps that owners should review. Those categories are worth checking on any form you are offered for a guest-occupied home, because they change what a low premium is actually buying.[1]
- Flood
FloodSmart says most homeowners and renters insurance does not cover flood damage, and describes building coverage and contents coverage as separate choices under the National Flood Insurance Program. The Texas guide also lists flood among common home-policy gaps.[7][1]
Review: Ask in writing whether the short-term-rental or landlord form you are offered includes any flood coverage, and price building and contents flood limits as two separate decisions.
- Vacant stretches: the Texas guide flags vacancy among common home-policy gaps and discusses renewal for a house vacant 60 days or more. That period comes from that Texas guide, not from a national rule, so read the vacancy language on your own form.[1]
- Vacancy in a specialized form: Proper describes vacancy features in its short-term-rental product, so ask each carrier how the gaps between bookings are treated rather than assuming a guest-occupied home is never considered vacant.[3]
- Amenities: Proper's guide names amenities such as pools, hot tubs, bicycles, and small watercraft among the facts to compare, and its product description includes amenity liability. List every amenity you make available to guests before a carrier reviews the risk.[4][3]
- Earth movement and wear and tear: the Texas guide lists both among common home-policy gaps, and heavy guest turnover makes the wear-and-tear line worth understanding before a claim.[1]
- How a form splits uses: the 2020 First Floridian filing says its unit-owners rental-to-others endorsement may not be written with its home-sharing endorsement, which shows that a single carrier can separate rental use from home-sharing use. Ask which use your endorsement names.[9]
- Stated use limits: American Family describes its add-on for a home rented 62 days or less each year. If your calendar runs past the use limit stated on a form, ask that carrier which product fits the actual pattern instead.[2]
Give each carrier the same short-term-rental facts
Quotes only compare cleanly when every market sees the same property, the same calendar, and the same loss history. Write the facts down once, then reuse that packet.
- Property and building details: Progressive's commercial property quote checklist asks for the location, building age, square footage, construction type, safety features, and other occupants of the building.[8]
- Ownership and management: Progressive's checklist also asks about operations and owner experience, which for a host means who manages the listing, the turnovers, and the guest communication.[8]
- Mortgage information and loss history: Progressive asks for mortgage details and five years of claim dates and paid amounts. Pull those dates and amounts before you start rather than estimating them on a call.[8]
- How the calendar splits: Proper's guide frames the comparison around whether a policy matches guest, owner, and vacant use, so record roughly how many nights fall into each pattern.[4]
- Values and revenue: Proper's comparison facts include building and contents protection and the business-revenue basis, so bring a building value, a contents value, and the annual revenue you would need to replace after a loss.[4]
- Guest amenities: pools, hot tubs, bicycles, and small watercraft are named in Proper's comparison facts. List each one, along with fencing, alarms, and any use rules you enforce.[4]
- Platforms and listing count: Airbnb's Host liability program summary treats a host with six or more active listings differently, so record how many listings you run and which platforms carry them.[6]
- Your current policy, the limits and deductibles you want quoted, and any coverage a lender, HOA, or lease document has told you to carry.
Property Covered is a property insurance marketplace operated by Switchboard Risk Technologies Inc., a licensed insurance producer, with access to more than 400 carriers and market options. Licensed support is available by phone at (888) 693-8980 and can take one consistent set of short-term-rental facts and compare available carrier terms. Carriers make the final eligibility, pricing, binding, policy, and claims decisions.
Related: How Property Covered works
A quote request is free, carries no purchase obligation, and records your property details for licensed follow-up. You can also use the phone line when you are ready to have someone work the submission with you.
Related: Start a quote request
Sources
- 1.Texas Department of Insurance, Home insurance guide
- 2.American Family Insurance, Short-term rental insurance product page
- 3.Proper Insurance, Short-Term Rental Insurance for Hosts product page
- 4.Proper Insurance, Short-Term Rental Insurance for Hosts, coverage comparison sections
- 5.Airbnb, AirCover for hosts help page, Host damage protection section
- 6.Airbnb, Host Liability Insurance Program Summary, last updated June 30, 2026
- 7.Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Flood Insurance Program, What you need to know about buying flood insurance (FloodSmart)
- 8.Progressive Commercial, Getting a Business Insurance Quote
- 9.First Floridian Auto and Home Insurance Company, Homeowners Multi-Peril filing 20-020988, filed with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation on September 2, 2020
Common questions
Texas Department of Insurance guidance says most home policies will not pay for damages or injuries that occur during short-term rentals, and tells owners to ask whether they need more coverage. Some carriers sell a specific fix instead: American Family describes a home-insurance add-on for a home rented 62 days or less each year, and a 2020 First Floridian Florida filing describes a home-sharing endorsement that provides property and liability coverage when the residence is rented or held for rental to a short-term lodging occupant. Both are single-carrier examples, so ask your own carrier which form and endorsement it would issue for your use. [1][2][9]
Airbnb says its Host damage protection is not an insurance policy, has terms and exclusions, does not include all damage, and recommends that hosts purchase separate insurance for property damage the program does not protect. Its Host liability program covers a host's legal liability for bodily injury or property damage arising during an Airbnb stay, subject to that policy, but does not insure damage or loss to the host's own property. Those two boundaries are why hosts still buy an owner policy. [5][6]
Limited use can point toward a home-policy add-on. American Family describes its add-on for a home rented 62 days or less each year, with examples covering damage to the home and contents, certain theft after the deductible, and damage caused by temporary occupants, all subject to the issued policy, its limits and exclusions, and state availability. That use limit is American Family's own, so confirm the stated limit and availability on whatever form your carrier offers, and keep in mind the Texas guidance that most home policies will not pay for short-term-rental damages or injuries. [2][1]
FloodSmart says most homeowners and renters insurance does not cover flood damage, and describes building coverage and contents coverage as separate choices under the National Flood Insurance Program. The Texas guide likewise lists flood among common home-policy gaps. Those sources do not settle whether a specific short-term-rental, landlord, commercial, or private flood policy includes flood coverage, so ask the carrier directly about the form you are being offered. [7][1]
Airbnb's Host liability program summary says that for a host with six or more active listings, the program may require contribution from other insurance or apply as excess coverage depending on that other policy. The summary also says it does not contain the full policy terms and that terms and limits vary by jurisdiction, so tell your own carrier how many listings you operate and ask how the two would interact. [6]
Continue your research