Vacation Rental / Short-Term Rental Insurance in Washington State

Most Airbnb and VRBO hosts don't realize their homeowners policy stops working the moment a paying guest walks in. Homeowners policies have a business-use exclusion. If a guest gets hurt and you file a claim, the carrier can deny it. You're then personally on the hook.

Airbnb's Host Protection Insurance isn't enough either. It has real gaps: certain property types are excluded, damage amounts are capped, and the claims process is slow. It also doesn't cover things outside the rental — like a neighbor hit by a falling tree limb on your property. Platform insurance protects the platform first, you second.

Washington's rules make it more complicated. Seattle requires an STR operator license and caps how many units you can run. San Juan County, Leavenworth, and Chelan each have their own permits, occupancy limits, and safety rules. Operating without the right permits doesn't just mean fines — it can void your insurance entirely if a carrier finds out you were operating illegally when something went wrong.

Guests also get hurt more than tenants. They don't know the uneven step on the deck or the low doorframe in the basement. The features that drive bookings — hot tubs, fire pits, waterfront access, kayaks, bikes — also drive liability claims. And guest-caused damage is constant: broken furniture, kitchen fires, plumbing mishaps. A dedicated short-term rental policy is built for all of this. A homeowners or landlord policy isn't.