Airbnb insurance written for guest stays.
Coverage for homes, condos and guest units rented by the night or week, with property, liability and lost booking income set up for paying guests.
By Sam Alishahi · CA Insurance License #4348151 · Reviewed November 2026 · How this page is researched
Your homeowners policy may not cover guests
Many homeowners and landlord policies limit or exclude coverage when a home is rented to short-term guests. A claim during a booking is exactly when that exclusion shows up.
Hosting platforms offer their own protection programs, but they have conditions and limits and don't replace a policy in your name. I set up coverage written for how you actually host.
- DwellingThe home or unit you rent to guests, including damage caused during a stay.
- LiabilityInjuries to guests and others on the property.
- Loss of incomeBooking income lost while a covered loss is repaired.
- ContentsFurniture, linens and supplies you provide for guests.
What underwriters will ask
Having these ready means I can go to market on the first call. The quote form asks for the same things, and anything you don’t know yet can wait.
- The property: address, type and year built.
- How you host: whole home, unit or room, and nights booked per year.
- Platforms: Airbnb, VRBO or direct bookings.
- Ownership: personally, trust or LLC.
- Current policy: declarations page, if you have one.
- Claims: any in the last five years.
What Airbnb's host protection says it is
Hosts ask me whether AirCover makes their own policy unnecessary. Airbnb answers that itself: its AirCover for Hosts help page says the program is "not a substitute for personal insurance" and tells hosts to talk to their insurer about how, or if, their policy overlaps with it.
Here is what Airbnb's own pages say:
- Host liability insurance: Airbnb lists $1 million in coverage for when a host is found legally responsible for a guest getting hurt or a guest's belongings being damaged or stolen. Airbnb says people who help you host, like co-hosts and cleaners, are included.
- Listed exclusions: damage or injury from something done intentionally, and damage a guest causes to your own place or belongings. Airbnb adds that "other exclusions apply."
- Host damage protection: listed at up to $3 million to help reimburse you when guests do not pay for damage to your home and belongings. Airbnb states that it "isn't related to" the liability insurance.
- Who is left out of the liability insurance: hosts offering stays in Japan, hosts offering stays through Airbnb Travel, LLC, and hosts of Experiences or Services.
Two practical points follow. Airbnb ties the liability insurance to stays booked on Airbnb, so bookings on other sites or taken direct need their own answer. And because Airbnb sends you back to your insurer on overlap, I read your declarations page next to the platform's terms before suggesting anything. For a California walk-through, see do I need insurance to rent my house on Airbnb.
How a homeowners policy reads a paying guest
The NAIC's 2016 paper on home-sharing explains why a standard policy can go quiet once a guest pays. It says homeowners and dwelling policies are generally not designed for short-term rental accidents, except "occasional" exposures, and that "occasional" is generally not defined.
The business exclusion
Many policies carry a business exclusion that generally removes liability coverage for business activities. The NAIC quotes one sample definition with an exception for activities that earned the insured $2,000 or less in the year before the policy period; under that wording, rental income above $2,000 a year makes hosting a business. The NAIC adds that the income limit varies by policy, from $2,000 to $15,000. Read your own form, not a sample.
Home-sharing exclusions and add-backs
ISO, which writes standard forms many insurers use, developed a home-sharing exclusion for theft, vandalism, liability and personal injury tied to hosting. The NAIC says that exclusion is not meant to reach property losses unrelated to home-sharing, such as fire, windstorm or hail. ISO also developed optional home-sharing coverage designed to restore what was excluded, extend to other structures, enhance theft coverage and cover lost rental income. Ask which of these, if any, your carrier uses.
When the policy is the wrong one
The NAIC warns that an insurer that sees hosting as more than occasional may drop coverage, and it names landlord policies and endorsements to homeowners or dwelling policies as places to look. The Maryland Insurance Administration also describes a home-share business multi-peril policy sold in the surplus lines market by non-admitted insurers. Compare the forms in homeowners vs. landlord insurance.
Short-term rental insurance, answered
Does homeowners insurance cover Airbnb guests?
Often not fully. Many homeowners policies exclude or limit business use such as renting to paying guests. Check your policy, or send it to me and I'll tell you what it says.
Isn't the platform's host protection enough?
Platform programs have their own conditions, exclusions and limits and are not a policy in your name. A short-term rental policy covers you directly.
Can I insure a short-term rental owned by an LLC?
Yes. The LLC can be the named insured, which keeps the policy consistent with how the property is owned.
Does it cover lost bookings?
Loss of income coverage can pay booking income you lose while a covered loss is repaired, depending on the policy.
Can I list a rent-stabilized apartment on Airbnb in Los Angeles?
No. The City of Los Angeles Home-Sharing Administrative Guidelines say a short-term rental cannot be subject to the Rent Stabilization Ordinance (LAMC Chapter 15) or to affordable-housing covenants or income restrictions. You can check a property's RSO status in ZIMAS under the Housing tab, and the City may require a Letter of Determination from the Los Angeles Housing Department.
Can I host in Los Angeles if I rent my home?
Only with the property owner's approval on the City's Property Owner Authorization to Conduct Home-Sharing form, and the unit must be your primary residence. Under the City's guidelines, an owner can also revoke that approval or proactively prohibit tenants from registering.
Do you offer short-term rental insurance outside California?
Yes. Clients across the country send the same quote form. Sam Alishahi is licensed in all 50 states and Washington, DC and places policies there directly. The shopping across carriers works the same way. Rules, minimums and markets differ by state — see insurance requirements by state or high-value home insurance by state.
Official sources
- Airbnb Help Center: Host liability insurance
- Airbnb Help Center: Getting protected through AirCover for Hosts
- Airbnb: AirCover for Hosts
- City of Los Angeles Department of City Planning: Home-Sharing Administrative Guidelines (2026, second edition)
- NAIC: Insurance Implications of Home-Sharing: Regulator Insights and Consumer Awareness (2016)
- Maryland Insurance Administration: Home-Sharing
Tell me how you host. I'll shop it.
The address and how many nights you book a year are enough to start.
Alishahi Insurance · Saman Alishahi, independent insurance broker, California License #4348151. General information, not a quote or a promise of coverage; coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.
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