The 8 Best Short Term Rental Insurance of 2021

Best Overall: Proper Insurance

Get a Quote

It’s hard to beat Proper Insurance as the best overall short term rental insurance company. Proper offers the most comprehensive and specific coverage for vacation rentals at affordable rates in all 50 states.

Proper Insurance, a Virginia-based property and casualty insurance company, offers an all-inclusive Lloyd’s of London insurance policy focused on short term vacation rental properties’ unique risks. The insurance policy protects both the owner’s and property manager's exposure. It was created in response to the growing popularity of short term rentals through services like Airbnb and the lack of policies explicitly designed for this sort of use. Proper’s comprehensive policy designed specifically for the short term rental market is why we named it our best overall.

With an A (Excellent) financial strength rating from AM Best, they sell their policies directly through the company website or over the phone in all 50 states.

Proper Insurance has a dependable reputation. Reviews across Google, Facebook, Yelp, and the Better Business Bureau average 4.4 out of five stars.

Proper does offer online quoting through its website. Its specialized team can assess the host's specific needs and give a quote in five minutes. Proper Insurance offers service during regular business hours through independent agents, and a 24/7 claims phone number to make a claim.

Proper asks specific questions related to vacation rentals or hosting through Vrbo, Airbnb, or HomeAway, indicating that their product is designed to cover peer-to-peer and vacation rentals.

The average cost of their short term rental policies ranges from $1,500 to $3,500. Your premium will vary based on how much income you want to replace if you were to lose annual rents and how much personal property you want insured.

A few notable protections that Proper writes into their policies include sinkhole collapse coverage, no time limit on loss of rental income, and ordinance coverage of $10,000 to $50,000.

Best for Home Sharing: Allstate

Get a Quote

If you plan to share your home with short term renters, check out our favorite, Allstate. We like Allstate’s Host Advantage as an affordable way to add coverage for short-term rentals to existing homeowner policies and its powerhouse mobile app.

If you’re already a fan of getting things done online or on your mobile device, like with your Airbnb or Vrbo account, you’ll love Allstate’s mobile and online experience. With Host Advantage, you can easily and affordably add short term rental coverage to your existing Allstate policy, making it our top choice for home sharing insurance.

Founded in 1931, Allstate Insurance currently backs more than 113 million proprietary policies worldwide. While having some serious online muscle, Allstate also uses local agents that work directly with customers for a more personal insurance experience. The carrier has been awarded an A+ rating with AM Best and an AA- from S&P Global.

Allstate landlord policies include coverage for dwellings, other structures on the property, vandalism, burglary, fair rental income, building codes, and liability. Hosts can also get premises medical protection that can help cover medical bills if someone is injured on their property. For even more protection against financial loss, you can add flood insurance and umbrella coverage.

You can apply for a quote online or speak to a live agent if you prefer. They have 24/7 phone support, with coverage in all 50 states.

A short term rental endorsement is around $50 for limited coverage up to $10,000 for personal belongings. It can be as low as $4 per month if you add it to your Allstate auto policy. Policy costs will vary depending on the location, size, age of the home, and how much guest medical or family liability coverage you want.

Best for Vacation Homes: CBIZ

Get a Quote

With CBIZ, homeowners can use a single policy as a standard home insurance policy, and a rental insurance policy for guests, without having to separate them. Check into CBIZ for the best insurance plan for vacation home rentals.

By creating a full-coverage policy that covers vacation homes while replacing your need for a landlord or dwelling policy, we believe CBIZ has the best short term rental insurance for vacation homes. Their underwriters are Tudor Insurance, an AM Best A-rated company.

CBIZ is the first broker to develop specific policy coverage to meet the needs of vacation rental properties and the amenities offered by these businesses. They have insured vacation rental properties since 2002.

As the largest insurer of vacation rental properties in the U.S., CBIZ provides insurance coverage specifically created for short term vacation and rental property owners and the exposures involved.

Their coverage includes replacement costs for your buildings and contents, damage caused by a guest, loss of use, and extra expense coverage when owner-occupied. Loss of rental income following an insured property loss is accounted for, too. CBIZ also has extensive liability coverage that covers pools, docks, lakes, hot tubs, bicycles, exercise equipment, small watercraft, and pets—amenities that other carriers shy away from.

With CBIZ, you can apply online or talk to a live agent, and customer service representative to help with any insurance concerns by phone.

There are no standard occupancy restrictions, and it is available in all 50 states. For commercial and personal liability up to $2 million, the estimated rate would be roughly $1,600 annually.

Best for Coverage Options: Nationwide

Get a Quote

For the broadest range of insurance product options for your short term rental, check Nationwide. You can even choose coverage beyond the home to include stolen items from your watercraft or vehicle that you may have at your rental property, making it the best for coverage options.

With an AM Best Rating of A+, Nationwide insurance offers various types of short term insurance such as homeowners policies, condo/association insurance policies, personal liability, and umbrella insurance, earning our highest grade for coverage options.

Founded in 1926, Nationwide, formerly known as Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, has grown from a small mutual auto insurer owned by policyholders to one of the largest insurance and financial services companies in the world.

Get an online quote or work with licensed agents by phone in all 50 states for quotes and account service.

Because Nationwide offers so many policy options, the costs can vary more widely than with other firms, starting under $1,000 and climbing above the usual ceiling of $3,000 per year. Their short term rental insurance cost will depend on the deductible you choose, the replacement value of the home, the location, amenities, and amount of coverage selected.

Nationwide will recommend you select additional coverage for flood or earthquake risk, depending on your rental property’s location.

Best for Landlords: Farmers

Get a Quote

For landlords’ short term rental insurance needs, you won’t find a better choice than Farmers. Its prepackaged landlord insurance policy includes liability insurance and comprehensive property coverage, with optional coverage additions for lost rents, personal property, personal injury, and other structures like sheds, garages, and pools.

Farmers’ landlord insurance understands the risks to the short term guests, to the home itself, and to your business, making it our favorite insurance carrier for landlords. You can tailor your custom package to handle storm damage, a burst pipe, a guest’s injury, and the rents you lose while recovering from any of these setbacks.

Farmers Insurance started in 1928 when California partners John C. Tyler and Thomas E. Leavey thought that farmers might be a lower insurance risk than some other clients. Based in Los Angeles, the Farmers Insurance Group now comprises about 46 separate companies, 21,000 employees, and about 48,000 exclusive and independent agents. Farmers writes insurance policies for homes, vehicles, and businesses in all 50 states. It has an A rating for financial stability from AM Best.

Farmers sells its insurance through a network of agents. Homeowners can find one through its website or by calling the company. Quotes are available online after providing some basic information, and homeowners can forward a copy of their quote to a local agent for the in-person experience. Prices are in the typical range of its competitors, between $1,000 and $3,000.

Policyholders can download the Farmers mobile app to access ID cards, pay bills, view policy documents, set up payment reminders, or report a claim.

While Farmers does provide bundling discounts, it doesn’t require you to insure your primary residence with them in order to get vacation or rental property insurance like some insurers do.

Best for Occasional Lessors: Progressive

Get a Quote

Progressive does something really innovative for occasional lessors. It offers short term rental coverage that you can turn on and off as needed. For example, you may own just your primary residence and you rent it out through Airbnb whenever you have a planned vacation or business trip. With Progressive, you don’t need to carry that policy during the months you don’t rent your home. If you rent your home only occasionally, you’ll want to talk to our top choice for occasional lessors, Progressive.

Progressive began in 1937 when it launched as Progressive Mutual Insurance Company to provide affordable auto insurance. Today it has evolved into our top selection for short term rental insurance for occasional lessors because of its dynamic ability to only charge you for the days you actually rent out your home.

Progressive has an A+ (Superior) rating from AM Best, the credit agency focused on the insurance industry.

Progressive calls its short term rental insurance Progressive Homeshare insurance by Slice. It protects your home, personal property and valuables, and your rental business. If you rent your property on a more frequent basis, Progressive has landlord insurance options as well.

Quotes are available online, but you can also speak to an agent. Progressive offers a robust customer claims center to help homeowners through the claims process.

Progressive writes insurance policies in all 50 states. Their Homeshare insurance often costs less than $8 per night and varies by location, coverage amounts, and any potential bundling discounts.

Progressive’s Homeshare insurance covers belongings, liability, and medical payments, plus interesting policy inclusions like excess use of utilities, liquor liability, and identity theft.

Best for Customer Service: American Modern

Get a Quote

American Modern is a large insurer with remarkably few complaints. According to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), the company had zero consumer complaints in 2017 and 2018 and only one in 2019. For convenience, you can make a payment, file a claim, and change your policy all online. But if you prefer speaking to a live person, you can do that, too. American Modern is your best choice if you want hassle-free customer service.

For a top-notch customer service experience designed for your convenience, American Modern is your best option. From designing a policy that fits your situation best to making payments or filing claims during the policy’s life, no one has a more convenient online and telephone service system in place.

Founded in 1938, American Modern issues policies in all 50 states from its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, with an AM Best financial strength rating of A+ (Superior). With only one complaint registered by the NAIC from 2017 to 2019, the company provides short term rental insurance and occasional rental policies. Their short term rental policy can be modified to allow rental terms shorter than three months. This option would be best-suited for Airbnb-style rentals. If you rent your property out seasonally as a vacation home, you’d choose their occasional rental option to cover infrequent rentals with no defined term.

The only strike against American Modern regarding customer service and convenience is that they do not have an online quote function. Instead, with just a few clicks of your mouse, you can find a list of agents for your area. From there, you can view and compare their profiles before you choose one to call or email.

The average cost of their policies is $2,000 per year, but this can vary based on your state, coverage, and deductible choices for liability, loss, damage, and medical risk.

Unlike other insurers, American Modern does not require you to have a primary home policy with them in order to provide you short term rental coverage.

Furnishings and additional structures like garages and swimming pools are not included in standard coverage but may be added in some cases if you speak to your agent about your needs while designing your policy.

Best Affordable Option: American Family

Get a Quote

Short term rental insurance prices average $2,000, but if you rent your home for less than 62 days per year, American Family has the most affordable option for you, because it lets you add a temporary rental to other coverage and a landlord’s endorsement to keep your costs down.

Insurance coverage costs can add up when you select layers of options to reduce your risk, but with American Family, their creativity will give you the most affordable option for the right situation. If you rent your home for fewer than 62 days per year, you can keep your costs down and pay for what you use by simply adding temporary rental coverage and a landlord’s endorsement to your existing policy.

This program is best for homeowners that already have a homeowner’s insurance policy on a vacation home that they rent out for roughly eight weeks per year, as a seasonal rental, for example. It can also work well for you if you rent out your home on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, but the frequency adds up to less than two months of actual rental dates.

American Family’s online quoting tool is easy to use. The form asks thoughtful questions to understand your total picture and determine your insurance needs accurately. You can also find a local agent on the website if you prefer talking to someone.

The company only writes homeowners insurance policies in 19 states. You can keep your short term rental insurance costs lower with American Family if you have a homeowner’s insurance policy with them. Consequently, you’ll only need to add the additional short term coverage and landlord endorsement, thereby paying for two months of short term rental insurance, or less, keeping your pricing in the $15 to $30 range over the 62 days of use. Other ways to keep your costs down are by taking advantage of the many discounts they offer for bundling, loyalty, safety features, and smart home devices.

American Family has some inclusions that other firms do not typically cover, such as siding damage, equipment breakdown protection for your more expensive appliances and smart home devices, and identity theft coverage.