The Stampede in Calgary is such a huge celebration that people from all over the world come to visit the “Heart of The New West��? just to take part in all the crazy festivities or indulge in the bizarre food the event has to offer. Year by year the Stampede’s traction grows. As its popularity increases the Stampede home-sharing economy acquires more business. After all Stampede tourists visiting Calgary will need a place to stay during the festivities and home-sharing is a popular way to go. However many Calgarians don’t consider the impact on their home insurance or Stampede home-sharing insurance to ensure their property is protected.
What is home-sharing?
Still a relatively new concept home-sharing is when people rent out portions of their home – or their entire home – in return for a fee paid through a home-sharing system. There are an increasing number of home-sharing networks nowadays including: Airbnb VRBO Homeaway and Flipkey.
During Stampede many Calgarians take advantage to make some extra money and escape the city. Home-sharing is a great option as it’s short-term and through a reputable company.
How is my home insurance affected by Stampede home-sharing?
What if something happened to your home because a guest caused some damage? Or what if someone who was renting out a portion of your home were to injure themselves? You have home insurance so you’re covered right?
Actually no. Because you’re now renting your home out in exchange for money many home insurance policies will not cover you for damage or injury caused by or inflicted on any short term rentals. This means that when you use home-sharing and a guest is injured or causes damage those costs come out of your pocket. Some home insurance companies do offer coverage but you need to inform them and purchase an add-on coverage.
“EJ��? experienced the worst of situations when sherented out her home with Airbnb. While rare situations like these do happen and when they do we want to be prepared. That comes with having the right insurance.
Stampede Home-Sharing Insurance
Say you were renting out a room in your property for a visitor that was coming to Calgary to attend the Stampede. You’d want to know you were insured against anything that might happen as a result but how would you go about it? You know that your personal home insurance policy won’t be enough to cover everything so what do you do?
It depends on your home insurance company. Some will happily offer coverage with a special endorsement (add-on coverage) specifically designed for Airbnb and other home-sharing networks. For example Aviva came out with home-sharing insurance in 2017. It covers:
- Up to $1500 worth of a guest’s damaged or lost property
- Any losses or damages done to the building or personal belongings
- Fair rental value to compensate for the loss of rental income
- Possible liability arising due to short-term rental
- Any criminal acts or failure to act by a renter
Since then other companies have also come out with specialized home-sharing insurance. Talk to your brokerabout your options.
The home-sharing service through which you rent your home may also offer some form of insurance coverage. Airbnb for instance offersHost Protection Insurance. However it’s worth keeping in mind that this coverage only offers up to $1 000 000 million in liability should a guest be injured in your home while renting and other liability cases will not be covered.
Though the home-sharing network protection can help you it is often limited. With Airbnb for example you won’t be covered if a guest steals something from your home hurts your pet or causes damage to a shared area. As your home insurance likely wouldn’t cover these scenarios either since you were renting (unless you have that special add-on coverage) you’d have to pay out of pocket.
Additionally if there are any liability claims that are not associated with injury you’ll have to pay for those too. No matter what caused the damaged there will be no compensation for any loss of income that you sustain while you are in the process of rebuilding or repairing your property.
That’s what makes stampede home-sharing insurance so critical. Your property and liability are covered so you can rent your home with peace of mind.
If you think you’ll be hosting with a home-sharing service this Stampede or any other time of the year you want to make sure that you and your property are well protected. Whatever you choose – whether that’s the insurance your home-sharing service offers or additional coverage – make sure youlet your insurance broker know. They will be able to help you navigate your insurance and figure out whether your coverage is adequate or not.
