What is Airbnb? and how does it work?

If you haven’t heard of Airbnb, where have you been? Airbnb is a market place for people to list, discover and book unique accommodations all around the world. They have dealt with 100 million guests in the last 9 years and are becoming one of the most competitive and fastest-growing markets in the travel industry.

The idea is for travellers to be able to book their holidays in the same way as any other holiday booking site, the difference being that the hosts and accommodation are ordinary people and homes. The benefit of this is that travellers can save money, as typically an Airbnb property is cheaper than a traditional hotel, and hosts can earn a bit of extra money by letting out their entire home.

If you’re thinking about becoming an Airbnb host, then you’ll probably be wondering how this will affect your home insurance. With Intasure, if you have either a main home, holiday home or even second home policy with us then we will cover you for letting out the entire house using Airbnb.*

What does my Intasure policy cover me for?

• Renting homes to Airbnb guests – Our main home policy covers short term lets up to 6 months. It’s worth checking this with your local planning regulations, as letting restrictions are applied to some properties by the government.
• Loss of rent following a claim – For example, if an Airbnb guest were to book your house for the weekend but your house floods and they are unable to stay there, we will cover your loss of rent.
• You don’t have to contact us every time you want to rent out your entire house, just if you are letting out part of your property.
• A basic level of cover for accidental damage with the option to upgrade

*Terms & conditions apply. For limitations and exclusions, please read the policy documents for full details.

Although it’s all very exciting the thought of becoming a host, take some time to do some research into keeping yourself and your home safe. Airbnb have published some helpful safety tips to help support you along the way – airbnb.co.uk/trust

Intasure can help you get the cover you need as an Airbnb owner. Give our friendly Airbnb host insurance team a call on 0345 111 0680 to find out more.

*The opinions and views expressed in the above articles are those of the author only and are for guidance purposes only. The authors disclaim any liability for reliance upon those opinions and would encourage readers to rely upon more than one source before making a decision based on the information.