Top 12 Vacation Rental Insurance Companies
March 10, 2020
Minimize Risk with Vacation Rental Insurance
It’s a fact of life… unexpected things happen. If you own or manage vacation rental properties you will experience common occurrences like damages, thefts, and cancellations at some point during your ownership tenure. These types of issues are typically not covered under standard homeowners insurance. For this reason, as a property owner or manager, it’s well worth the investment to purchase vacation rental insurance for your properties.
Most importantly, vacation rental insurance protects you from the risks associated with short-term rentals. Make sure your policy includes coverage for the structure and contents as well as the loss of income and liability for other people’s damage. A typical policy averages around $2,000 to $3,000 annually and is more than worth the investment!
Here are twelve of the top insurance carriers (in no particular order) that offer specialized short-term rental insurance to homeowners and vacation property rental managers.
Top 12 Vacation Rental Insurance Companies
- Safelystay – These guys offer it all. Along with homeowners’ insurance for rental periods, Safelystay offers “Check a Home” and “Check a Guest” service. They perform background checks on guests and hosts. They also have over a million vacation nights, reviews, and information on guests and hosts. Finally, Safelystay also offers a “payment protection service” that will hold payment until after the stay to ensure that the host and guest are both satisfied.
- Red Sky – Red Sky has the reputation and history of catering solely to professionally managed vacation rental management companies. They offer unmatched expertise to help meet both the needs of guests and the business goals of vacation rental managers through their comprehensive travel insurance products.
- Generali – They are a full-service travel insurance and assistance provider. Formerly doing business as CSA Travel Protection, their customers receive the same quality travel insurance plans and outstanding customer service they have come to expect over the past 25 years.
- Foremost Insurance – Foremost offers a wide variety of specialty policies. Its vacation rental policies include property protection, liability, and lost income coverage. If you’re looking to customize coverage based on use, location, and coverage needs, Foremost is worth looking into. They offer a number of affordable options.
- Rental Guardian – A bigger name in the game, Rental Guardian offers homeowners and property managers great plans tailored to meet your budget. Plans are charged on a daily rate and automatically included in the rental fee which is convenient for everyone involved. They offer plans for both US and International properties.
- Proper Insurance – Proper specializes in short-term vacation rental insurance. In fact, it’s the industry leader in the space and can give you an online quote in literally five minutes! This is unique as most other vacation rental insurance providers won’t offer quotes online. If you handle more than 10 short-term rentals annually, Proper is the right choice. Policies have no vacancy restrictions and include building, contents, liability and business income.
- CBIZ – CBIZ covers both owners and property managers. This partnership with property managers offers vacation rental owners a complete coverage package. Both the owner’s income and the property manager’s income are covered. This policy can entirely replace your current homeowner’s coverage.
- Nationwide – Nationwide provides business and personal insurance in all 50 states. They offer several discounts, including multi-policy discounts. If you own a vacation rental property you can get full personal lines of coverage including auto, home, and umbrella policies while also getting a commercial vacation rental property policy.
- VRMA Member Insurance – This is exclusively for VRMA members. If any organization knows about vacation rentals, it’s the VRMA! This plan is specifically designed to meet member needs, offering the type of coverage vacation rental owners are looking for.
- Allstate Insurance – This national company offers the most policy discounts on all lines of personal insurance including auto, homeowners, and home-sharing where the owner both uses and rents their home. Allstate is the right choice if you have a secondary home you rent in the offseason. Allstate Host Advantage allows you to add coverage for short term rentals to your existing homeowner’s policy.
- Schofields Insurance – This family-run provider has been exclusively providing vacation rental coverage since 1984. They have an excellent customer service reputation and cover rental homes in the UK, France, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
- Farmers Insurance – This national provider offers business and personal lines of insurance including vacation rental coverage. It has two different types of rental policies: one that can be customized, and one called Seasonal and Vacation Property Insurance which is prepackaged. If you have a property in a disaster-prone area like Florida, Farmers is still offering coverage and is a great choice. Homeowners can also get flood insurance through Farmers by accessing the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to protect coastal properties.
These insurance providers all offer specific coverage for vacation rental property managers and owners. Since there are many different levels of coverage, and the best option is to speak with your insurance professional. They can provide you information on the best provider to meet your needs. Remember, many companies offer coverage on individual properties. If you own or manage multiple units, your insurance salesperson can inform you as to the options available for coverage of multiple properties and any available discounts.
In short, proper insurance coverage can protect you from loss of property, and loss of income. It’s a smart investment that can protect your property from the unexpected!
