If you are considering renting out your home, your guest room or even
your couch your first step should be to contact your insurance
professional. Peer-to-peer home sharing opportunities such as Airbnb can
be a great way to bring in extra money and are increasingly popular;
however, they can also leave you financially vulnerable. If your renter
starts a fire and damages your property or is hurt while renting your
home, will you be protected?
Before embarking on a peer-to-peer financial arrangement, call your
insurance professional and get their advice. In general, if you are only
planning to rent your home out for a single occasion, many insurance
companies will extend your coverage to the renter. The one caveat is
that the insurer must be notified ahead of time.
It is not unusual for someone to rent out their home (or part of it) for
a major event when there may not be enough hotel space available in the
area. Many insurance companies take this situation into account when
creating a homeowners or renters policy; other insurance companies may
require the purchase of an endorsement to the policy to provide broader
coverage for the renters in your home.
If you plan to rent out all or part of your home on a regular basis,
many companies will consider this a business use. Standard homeowners
and renters insurance policies are designed for personal risks, not
commercial risks. In this case you will need to purchase a business
policy—specifically either a hotel or a bed and breakfast policy. Some
companies now offer a home-sharing liability insurance policy that can
be purchased on a month-to-month basis, but there may be exclusions and
limitations, so read the policy carefully.
If you are using a peer-to-peer network to rent a space from someone
else, check your own homeowners or renters insurance policy. In most
cases, if your personal possessions are stolen or damaged off-premises,
you can simply file a claim with your own insurer. And if you
accidentally injure someone, you will also be financially protected.
0 comments:
Post a Comment