Insuring Your Short Term Rental Property with Foremost Insurance

Renting out your property on a short term basis can be a great way to earn extra income. However, there are risks involved when opening up your home to others. That’s why having the right insurance coverage is crucial.

Foremost Insurance offers specialized short term rental insurance policies that provide protection for owners of vacation rental properties. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about insuring your short term rental with Foremost.

What is Short Term Rental Insurance?

Short term rental insurance provides coverage for homes that are rented out on a temporary basis. This includes vacation rentals leased for a few days or weeks at a time.

A standard homeowner’s insurance policy usually won’t cover a property that’s used for short term rentals. The risk is considered too high since there will be a constant turnover of tenants.

That’s why a specialized short term rental insurance policy is needed. It covers risks that are unique to temporary rentals, like:

• Property damage caused by tenants
• Liability claims due to tenant injuries
• Loss of rental income
• Theft of personal property

In other words, short term rental insurance gives owners comprehensive protection against the potential issues that can arise when renting out their property to others.

Why Choose Foremost for Short Term Rental Insurance?

Foremost Insurance has over 50 years of experience specializing in property insurance for unique homes and situations. Their short term rental insurance policies are designed to meet the specific needs of vacation rental owners.

Here are some key advantages of getting short term rental insurance from Foremost:

Broad Eligibility

Foremost provides short term rental insurance for all kinds of properties including single family homes, condos, cabins and more. Homes of any age are accepted and there are no restrictions on tenants.

Flexible Coverage

You can customize your short term rental policy by adding optional coverages like:

• Loss of rental income
• Liability protection
• Scheduled personal property
• Equipment breakdown

Foremost offers both named peril and open peril policies so you can choose the right level of protection.

Convenient Packages

Rather than building a policy from scratch, you can select from Foremost’s Landlord or Landlord Platinum packages. This provides a simple pre-assembled bundle of coverages.

High Policy Limits

Foremost accommodates a wide range of home values, with dwelling coverage limits up to $1 million. Higher liability limits are also available.

Broad Availability

Foremost short term rental insurance is available in most states, which is not always the case with this type of specialized coverage.

With Foremost’s long history insuring unique properties, they can provide the right protection for your short term rental home.

Short Term Rental Insurance Coverages

A Foremost short term rental insurance policy includes several standard coverages plus you can add optional protections as needed.

Dwelling Coverage

This covers damage to the physical structure of your rental home due to covered causes of loss like fire, windstorms, theft and more. You can insure your home on an open peril or named peril basis.

• Open peril means you’re covered for all risks except those specifically excluded in the policy. This is the broadest protection.

• Named peril covers only specific causes of loss listed in the policy. This is more limited but may cost less.

Foremost offers both options so you can choose the right approach for your rental property.

The dwelling coverage limit should be sufficient to completely rebuild your home in the event of a total loss.

Other Structures

This provides coverage for structures on your rental property that are detached from the home, like garages, tool sheds, and gazebos. It protects these structures against the same covered causes of loss as the dwelling coverage.

Personal Property

Your short term rental policy will include a baseline amount of coverage for the home’s furnishings, appliances, and your personal belongings kept at the rental property.

Higher limits are available if needed. You can also purchase scheduled personal property coverage for especially valuable items like jewelry, art, or collectibles.

Loss of Rents

If your rental property becomes uninhabitable due to a covered event like a fire or storm, this will reimburse you for the rental income you lose while the home is being repaired.

Loss of rents coverage is essential for vacation rental owners who rely on continual bookings for income.

Liability

This covers injuries to a third party that occur at your rental property. For example, if a tenant slips and falls on a wet floor in your home and sues you for their medical bills, liability insurance would provide protection.

Higher liability limits are available to properly protect your assets.

Medical Payments

If someone is injured at your rental home, this covers their medical bills regardless of fault. So even if an injury isn’t your responsibility, your policy will still pay for immediate medical expenses up to the limit you select.

This can prevent small incidents from turning into lawsuits.

Optional Short Term Rental Coverages

Foremost offers a range of optional add-ons that vacation rental owners can use to customize their policies:

• Service line coverage – Covers repairs for underground lines like water, sewer, electricity, heating, and cable.

• Equipment breakdown – Pays to repair or replace systems like HVAC units, electrical panels, and appliances that suffer mechanical failure.

• Landlord personal injury – Provides protection if you’re sued for alleged discrimination, invasion of privacy, wrongful eviction, or false arrest of a tenant.

• Scheduled personal property – Allows you to specifically list and insure high-value items like jewelry, silverware, antiques, musical instruments, collectibles and more.

• Water backup – Covers damage caused by water backing up through sewers or drains.

• Ordinance or law – Pays the increased repair costs if you must rebuild to meet new building codes after a major loss.

Discuss your risks and exposures with your Foremost agent to determine which optional coverages may be prudent for your vacation rental property.

Discounts on Foremost Short Term Rental Insurance

Foremost offers several discounts that can help lower your premium:

• Multi-policy discount – If you insure your primary home or auto with Foremost, you can save up to 15%.

• Claims-free discount – Get a discount for being claims-free for the past 3-5 years.

• Protective devices – Save up to 15% for having smoke detectors, fire alarms, sprinklers, or a security system.

• Newer home discount – Homes less than 15 years old may qualify for 5-10% off.

Ask your agent about discounts you may be eligible for.

How Much Does Short Term Rental Insurance Cost?

The cost of short term rental insurance depends on factors like:

• Your property’s location
• Age and condition of the home
• Reconstruction cost
• Coverage limits and deductibles
• Claims history
• Safety features
• Discounts

With Foremost, short term rental insurance starts around $500 per year on average. However, premiums can range anywhere from $300 for a simple policy up to $2,500 or more for higher limits or coastal properties.

Work with your agent to customize a policy with the right coverages and limits for your budget and risk tolerance.

How to File a Short Term Rental Insurance Claim

If you suffer a loss at your vacation rental property, here’s the process to file an insurance claim with Foremost:

1. Report the loss immediately – Alert Foremost as soon as possible after