If the guest burns down house, will the Host Insurance cover it?

[B14]

I've contacted numerous insurance (in canada) and non of them provide coverage if the guest burns down the house. Does the airbnb insurance cover it?  

[Gordon0]

Very doubtful. I'd suggest trying a little harder to get home insurance to cover your needs. 

[B14]

So the insurers I spoke to will cover if it's an accident but not if the guest burns it down deliberately.  Although chance of a guest burning down the house is slim but what if that happpend?  There are few nutters out there.  May be I'm overthinking this.

[David126]

There are Insurance Companies  operating in the Canadian Market that cover Short Term Rentals, has been discussed a few times in this forum, do a search.

[B14]

Thanks, I did.  Spoke to Squareone in Canada as recommended by others on the board.  They do not cover it if the guest burns down the house.

[David126]

Odd, never come across Arson not being covered.

[Jennifer178]

If you are worried about someone intentionally buring your house to the ground, hosting might be too stressful for you. I have an active imagination and that never occured to me. Stupidity, yes. Thievery, yes. Pain in the backside, yes. But willful destruction and possible murder, no.  If you do decide to list your place; post your picture, get verified beyond email and put info about yourself, and vet your guests or you just might attract that which you fear.  I am not trying to minimize your concern but it is a bit far fetched no matter how many nutters are out there. 

[Olga135]

I have known of tennants of ordinary rentals that have fallen behind on their rents and when they were finally evicted under a court order intentionally smashed up the home and caused over $20,000 damage.  As the owner did not have Landlord Insurance the damage was not covered by his normal household insurance.  As we are going away for 6 months I will be cancelling my home and contents insurance and taking out Landlord Insurance.

Presumably the Hosting Insurance would be good to cover small accidental claims without the expense of paying the first Excess amount

[Mali5]

I think you are just ignoring a high probability and not active imagination. Not considering this possibility is in my opinion stupid. Today, I received two airbnb guests and I went want to see what they made the place, I found 2 electric heaters ON and put inside clothes (t-shirt, pans, bags). Fire hazards and stopping possible causes is mandatory and not wild imagination. I put them out as I don't want irresponsible peoples without a brain in my house. Hope this helps   

[Jennifer178]

Me again. If I was an insurer and someone came to me and asked about coverage for arson, I would be suspicious about that persons intent or the type of people they expected to have around.  A car insurer is not going to give someone insurance if they ask about coverage for a crash at 200mph.  It is not good business. Really, do not give into unrealistic fears. Criminal activity, major destruction of property, the hate of your neighbors are more realistic but highly unlikely and very rare.

[B14]

I'm probably overthing this.  I know the probability is low but I'm terrified some nutter burning down my house.  I've read stories of some guests doing incredible amount of damage to the properties.  I hope those types of damages are covered by the guest guarantee insurance from Airbnb.  

[Rachael26]

(respect - it would be nice to have a completed profile when asking and replying to questions.....)

@B

Even if you could find answers in these forum threads about house insurance - it is such an important thing and your home is the biggest and most important asset you own - that you should not rely on any info from this community help forum (which is only other hosts from Airbnb, not official employees or spokespeople).

Call your own insurance company and ask. Do your research on this site and online. The answers are there and insurance companies are catching up with the temp online rental market, in the US and Canada.

Best Wishes and Good Luck.

[Curt-And-Gail0]

We began hosting in late January (we had previously been guests in the U.S. and Europe for 2-3 years) and decided tat we did not want to have a guest in our home (we live in it) for a single minute without insurance coverage. The downside of a catastrophe that would not be covered by our homeowners policy was too terrifiying to risk. Our longtime insurer would not extend coverage if we started with AIRBNB, they said. Proper Insurance sounded good but won't write policies if you live in the home, only if you are renting out another space. So that triggered a 2-3 week networking search that fortunately ended when I connected with an agent named Miranda Guiterrez in Tampa, Fla. (we live about an hour south of there). She connected us with an insurer who is charging us about $70 per month more than we had paid before we started with AIRBNB, so we are good with that. I believe she can only write policies in Florida, but she is a good source for your search at 813-963-6490. Good luck. I don't trust the AIRBNB 'policy' in case of a major problem.

[B14]

It's great you found an insurer who covers that.  I'll be living in the house too.  It seems bit crazy to assume such a risk no matter how far fetched it is.  I'll keep looking.  

Canadians on this forum - It seems only Squareone offers insurance for Airbnb hosts.  Have you found anyothers?  

[George1812]

I would trust Aibnb over the FL policy.  You have no idea who they are or even if they pay.  But for Airbnb if they don't pay they will lose alot of listings.