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People may be concerned about their property and contents being stolen or damaged when putting their properties up on platforms such as Airbnb and Stayz. They may question whether their standard home insurance would cover them if events like this occurred while paying guests where in their property.

Renting out your property on Airbnb or other similar platforms could be seen as using your private asset for commercial purposes (making money), meaning certain aspects of your home or contents policy may become invalid or become obsolete entirely.

This could leave you,the host, exposed.

What is a platform guarantee and is it enough? It's important to read the terms and conditions of any cover or guarantee to fully understand what's covered, what's not covered and the steps necessary to claim payment.

While many recognised sharing economy platforms provide some form of cover or guarantee for hosts renting their property to guests - for example, Airbnb offer a Host Guarantee as well as Host Protection Insurance and Experience Protection Insurance - that may protect hosts for some loss or damage caused by guests, forms of cover like this don’t necessarily cover you for all instances of property damage incurred during a guest’s stay.

Examples of what may not be covered under covers or guarantees provided for hosts by some recognised sharing economy platforms include:

• Your liability to a guest or other person;
• Damage to guest property;
• Loss of rental income;
• Temporary accommodation;
• Natural perils;
• Identity theft;
• Valuable items and cash;
• Losses exceeding $1 Million;
• Damages from indirect causes; and
• Damages from delays

Why traditional landlord insurance isn’t always the right fit

Landlord insurance typically covers hosts for an entire year and may only insure rental arrangements that are longer than 90 days and require there to be a formal tenancy agreement in place. Most stays on platforms like Airbnb are for less than 90 days and may not have a formal tenancy agreement, meaning traditional landlord insurance policies may not cover short-stay renting.

What is ShareCover and why do I need it?

ShareCover offers 3 short-stay landlord products that provide cover for a range of situations including; theft and attempted theft, accidental and malicious damage, personal liability, identity theft and natural perils.

They are designed to be as flexible and fast moving as your bookings. Policies can cover short-term stays ranging from 1 night to 90 days as well as 6- and 12-month policies.

If hosts aren’t covered, they can face expensive repairs to their property or, even worse, they could face expensive public liability claims if a renter is injured while staying at their property. This could leave them footing the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

ShareCover gives hosts peace of mind that they are protected against the unexpected. It is one of very few products developed specifically for hosts.