90 per cent of people may not be adequately insured when short-letting

In a survey conducted by short-let insurance firm GUARDHOG, just 10% of people understood that they must organise additional insurance when putting their property on a short-let site. The survey looked at Airbnb, who do offer a basic cover, Host Guarantee, but most short-let sites don’t offer any cover.

24% of those surveyed thought Airbnb’s Host Guarantee was a comprehensive insurance option for their home, with a huge 66% admitting they weren’t sure either way. This means 90% of current and potential Hosts on sites like Airbnb may be subsequently unaware of the level of insurance they have and need.

With the rise in London rental properties on Airbnb up 20% YoY (AirDNA data, Aug 2018) the short-let rental site is more popular than ever. A fantastic way to utilise unused property in the city for visitors, there are also risks for the many new hosts in understanding and finding the correct insurance.

Fiona Patterson, Marketing Director at Portico says,

“Short-letting is a huge growing market, especially in London, however it’s an activity not typically covered by standard residential or landlord policies and therefore does expose hosts to new risks. This is why hosts need specific home-sharing insurance to cover them.

This is why we have teamed up with GUARDHOG to offer our specialist Airbnb Insurance product ‘Portico Host Cover’ as a free membership benefit in packages of our Airbnb Management Service. We’ve seen a huge take-up of our Comprehensive Package because it gives Hosts reassurance of adequate cover when short-letting their home, something they can’t always count on with their current insurer.”

Humphrey Bowles, from GUARDHOG told us,

“It’s an exciting time to get involved in this dynamic, new peer-to-peer economy. For landlords with investment properties, combining Airbnb with long-term letting can maximise a properties yield. When it comes to insurance landlords need to be careful as traditional buy-to-let policies require an AST and don’t cover, for example, malicious damage by guests/tenants. It’s important they take the necessary steps to put the right home-sharing cover in place for their properties and associated liabilities – such as if their guests damage neighbouring properties or have an accident.”

For more information on Portico Host visit www.portico.com/host or call 020 7099 4000.