Guides
Home-sharing endorsements for occasional hosts
Renting to paying guests can strip protection you assumed you had. How home-sharing endorsements work, what they buy back and where Airbnb's program fits.
If you rent your home or a room to paying guests through a booking platform, your standard homeowners policy may not cover what you expect, even if you host only a few weekends a year. A home-sharing endorsement is an add-on that brings guest-related liability, theft and damage back into the policy, and it is the right tool for an occasional host. Regular hosts usually need a landlord or short-term rental policy instead. Either way, ask your insurer before the first booking, not after the first claim.
This guide uses the ISO homeowners forms as a model. ISO's wording changed in 2016 and again in 2022, and insurers write their own versions, so your policy and endorsements control.
What an unendorsed policy does with a paying guest
A homeowners policy insures a residence. When guests pay to stay, insurers see a business. The ISO HO-3 (HO 00 03 05 11) defines "business" as a trade, profession or occupation, or "any other activity engaged in for money or other compensation," with an exception for activities that bring in no more than $2,000 over the 12 months before the policy period began. The liability section excludes injury and damage arising out of a business, with a carve-back for renting an insured location on an occasional basis if it is used only as a residence. Other provisions limit property coverage: Coverage C excludes property of roomers and boarders who are not related to you, and the form puts caps on business property.
That language leaves a gray area, because "occasional" is not defined. The NAIC's 2016 paper on home-sharing observes that the word is generally undefined, that most policies provide liability coverage if a visitor falls, but that there may be no coverage if a paying guest falls on a property regularly offered as a short-term rental, and that an insurer that decides the activity is more than occasional may drop coverage (NAIC, 2016). The NAIC's consumer guidance adds that an insurer can deny a claim tied to hosting even when the policy has no explicit rental exclusion (NAIC, March 2020).
ISO tried to remove the ambiguity. In 2016 it filed six home-sharing endorsements, for the HO-2, HO-3, HO-4, HO-5, HO-6 and HO-8 forms, that classify hosting as business and exclude certain losses. Under them, according to the NAIC, theft, vandalism, liability and personal injury losses tied to home-sharing would be excluded, while damage from fire, windstorm or hail unrelated to hosting is not. A Rough Notes column describing the HO-3 version (HO 06 53 02 17) adds that it also excludes guests' property under Coverage C, medical payments to a home-sharing occupant and fair rental value from hosting (Rough Notes, Jan. 2018). In the March 2022 revision, ISO folded the wording of those six endorsements into the base forms and withdrew them, according to Insurance Journal. The practical result is the same for you: on a current ISO-based policy, home-sharing is likely treated as a business activity. Your insurer's form may read differently, so ask.
What the endorsement adds back
Alongside the exclusions, ISO developed broadened home-sharing endorsements, which remain available (HO 06 62, 06 63, 06 64, 06 65, 06 66 and 06 68, one per policy form). The NAIC says the optional coverage can restore coverage that was excluded, extend it to other structures, enhance theft coverage and add loss of rental income, and may include property and liability coverage while you travel as a guest. Rough Notes describes the HO-3 version (HO 06 63 02 17) as carving back losses under Coverages B, C and D, carving back the personal liability and medical payments exclusions, clarifying landlord's furnishings coverage (a $2,500 limit) and providing $1,000 per occurrence, or a higher declared limit, for damage to others' property.
Insurers are free to use their own forms. American Family, for example, describes a "temporary rental to others" add-on on its website covering home rentals and house guests for stays totaling 62 days or less each year, including damage to the home and contents by temporary occupants, and says coverage may not be available in every state (American Family). The page does not mention liability for that add-on, so ask. Other insurers set different caps on nights or days, require the home to be your primary residence or decline to cover hosting at all. The only way to know is to ask for the form.
Your options at a glance
| Option | Best for | Gaps to check |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing (hope it is "occasional") | No one | A claim tied to hosting can be denied, and the insurer may nonrenew |
| Home-sharing endorsement on your homeowners policy | Occasional hosts who live in the home | Day or night caps, primary-residence rules, whole-home vs room, liability limit, theft by guests |
| Short-term rental or landlord policy | Frequent hosts, second homes, a separate unit | Built for rental use, so check how it treats your own contents and liability; compare landlord insurance: what a rental property policy covers and Insuring an Airbnb or other short-term rental |
| Platform host program only | A supplement, not a substitute | Exclusions and limits set by the platform, not by a state-regulated policy |
What the platform program does and does not do
Airbnb's AirCover for Hosts, as described on the company's site, includes $1 million in host liability insurance for cases where a guest is hurt or their belongings are damaged or stolen, and host damage protection of up to $3 million for damage guests cause and do not pay for, with specialized coverage for art and valuables, autos and boats, pet damage, income loss from cancellations and deep cleaning (Airbnb). The page says exclusions apply, and it does not say how the program interacts with your own homeowners policy. Other platforms offer different protection or none. The NAIC notes that some platforms provide insurance for hosts while others only suggest hosts buy more coverage, and it advises hosts to understand what any platform policy includes and excludes. Treat the program as a supplement to your own coverage, not a replacement for it.
A claim, three ways (hypothetical)
Say you rent a spare room 30 nights a year for $3,600 in total, and a guest falls on your stairs and sues for $18,000. The scenario is invented, and the outcomes depend on your exact forms.
| Event | Unendorsed policy | With a home-sharing endorsement | Platform program |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guest injured on the stairs | Likely excluded as arising from a business | Personal liability and medical payments respond, up to limits | Host liability insurance may respond, subject to its terms |
| Guest steals your laptop | Possibly excluded | Depends on the theft terms in the endorsement | Generally limited to what the program lists |
| Guest ruins the carpet | Arguably not covered | Covered if the endorsement restores guest damage | Host damage protection may apply, with a claims process |
| Unrelated kitchen fire | Covered as usual | Covered as usual | Not its purpose |
| Lost rental income | Not covered | Only if the endorsement includes it | Possibly, for cancellations after damage |
The takeaway from the table is that your homeowners policy and the platform program overlap in the middle and leave different gaps at the edges. That is why the NAIC tells hosts to talk to their agent and consider endorsements, a landlord policy or on-demand coverage.
Before the first booking
- Call your insurer or agent and describe the plan: whole home or a room, how many nights a year, which platform, whether you live there.
- Ask for the form. Request the home-sharing or short-term rental endorsement's number and wording, and read the definitions. The ISO series uses "home-sharing host activities" and "home-sharing network platform"; an insurer's own form may not.
- Get the limits and caps in writing: liability, medical payments, theft, loss of rental income, and any limit on nights or days.
- Check the other contracts. Your mortgage, your HOA or condo rules and your city or county may restrict or license short-term rentals, and violating them can make a claim harder.
- Review your liability limit. An umbrella policy raises the ceiling above your homeowners limit, but it may exclude business activity too, so ask. See Personal liability coverage (Coverage E) explained.
- Keep records. Booking confirmations, guest lists, house rules and photos before and after each stay support a claim.
If you rent a detached unit, Insuring an ADU or backyard cottage covers that structure. If you rent a single room long term, see renting out a room: what your homeowners policy covers.
Key takeaways
- A standard homeowners policy is not designed for paying guests. "Occasional" is rarely defined, and a hosting-related claim can be denied or lead to nonrenewal.
- ISO's home-sharing endorsements treat hosting as a business, and the 2022 forms put that wording in the base policy. Broadened endorsements buy coverage back, and insurers also write their own.
- Platform programs such as AirCover for Hosts supplement your policy, and the exclusions are theirs, not your state regulator's.
- Ask for the endorsement's wording, caps on nights, theft and liability limits, and whether you must live in the home.
- Frequent hosting calls for a landlord or short-term rental policy, not a patchwork.