The short answer
Short-term rental insurance is cover arranged for a home, suite or condo that paying guests book by the night. A regular home policy is written for the people who live there, so frequent nightly rentals can fall outside it. Hosts usually need the rental disclosed and either an endorsement or a separate policy for the building, furnishings, lost bookings and liability to guests. A licensed broker compares which insurers accept your arrangement.
- Homeowners listing a basement suite or spare room on a booking platform
- Owners renting out the whole house while they travel or work away
- Investors who bought a condo or house to run as a nightly rental
- Hosts whose municipality now asks for a short-term rental licence
- Anyone whose insurer asked about rental use at renewal
4 licensed brokers in the network handle this. In Alberta, Canada, a request for short-term rental insurance can be offered to up to three of them, chosen because they are licensed for this line and place. They are test brokers while we are in demo.
See the brokers → Outside Alberta, Canada you can prepare and save a request today; sending opens place by place. Brokers answer with their own quotes. Broker.insure does not quote, advise or take commission.
01 / What it covers
The parts worth understanding
The building while guests stay
The structure and fixed fittings, insured for the cost of rebuilding, with the rental use written into the policy. Without that disclosure, damage that happens during a booking may be questioned.
Host-supplied furnishings
Beds, linens, kitchenware, televisions and the small items guests use. Some policies treat furnishings in a rented space differently from your own household belongings, so list what stays in the unit.
Liability to guests
Your legal responsibility if a guest slips on icy steps, falls on a stair or is hurt by something in the unit. Ask what limit applies and whether it extends to amenities such as a hot tub or fire pit.
Guest damage and theft
Accidental breakage, deliberate damage and items taken by a guest are handled differently from one policy to the next. Some exclude theft by a person you invited in, so read that clause in particular.
Lost booking income
Some policies pay for reservations you have to cancel while a covered loss is repaired. The period and the way income is measured vary, so bring your booking history.
Platform host protection
Booking platforms run their own damage and liability programs for hosts. They carry their own terms, claim steps and exclusions and are not a policy written in your name, so compare them rather than lean on them alone.
02 / Get ready
Bring this, and expect these questions
Gather
- How the space is rented: a room, a suite with its own entrance, or the whole home
- Nights booked over the past year, or a realistic estimate if you are just starting
- Whether you live on the property while guests are there
- Your municipal business licence or registration number, if your city requires one
- Condo bylaws or corporation rules on short stays, if the home is a condo unit
- A list of furnishings and equipment you supply for guests
- Amenities guests can use, such as a hot tub, pool, fire pit, bicycles or a kayak
- Safety features: smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, an extinguisher, lighting on exterior steps, keyless entry
- Your house rules, check-in process and who cleans and inspects between stays
- Your current home policy and the platform terms describing its host protection
A broker will ask
- How many nights a year is the space rented, and how long does a typical guest stay?
- Do you live in the home, and are you there while guests are?
- Is it a separate suite with its own entrance and kitchen, or shared space?
- Do guests book through one platform, several, or directly with you?
- Does your city require a licence for short stays, and do you hold one?
- If it is a condo, do the bylaws allow nightly rentals?
- What amenities can guests use, and are any of them outdoors or on the water?
- Has a guest ever caused damage, been injured or made a complaint?
Not sure of an answer? Leave it. "Not known yet" is a fine answer, and a broker will help you fill it in.
03 / Build your request
Answer a few questions. Get your own list.
Pick what fits. Your answers shape the list beside them, and they are saved to your request as plain facts a broker can read. "Not sure yet" is always a fine answer.
04 / Three situations
See which one sounds like yours
A couple renting their basement suite by the night
A Calgary couple finished a basement suite with a separate entrance and listed it on a booking platform about two weekends a month. They live upstairs, and their home policy was written before the suite existed.
First steps. Before the next booking, tell the insurer or a broker how often the suite is rented and that you live upstairs. Bring the city licence, the listing and photos of the suite, and ask whether a home-sharing endorsement fits or whether the volume calls for a different policy.
A nurse renting her whole condo while on contract elsewhere
A travel nurse accepted a six-month contract in another province and plans to list her one-bedroom condo for nightly stays while she is gone. The building's bylaws mention rentals, but she has not read them closely.
First steps. Read the bylaws and ask the property manager in writing whether stays shorter than a month are allowed, since that decides everything else. Then give the broker the dates you are away, who will clean and check the unit, and the corporation's insurance summary.
An investor running a lakeside cabin as a full-time rental
An investor bought a four-season cabin near a lake purely to rent by the night, with a hot tub, a fire pit and two paddleboards for guests. Nobody lives there, and a cleaner turns it over between stays.
First steps. Describe the cabin to the broker as the business it is: the number of bookings, the amenities, the cleaner's role and how keys are handled. Ask which insurers write dedicated short-term rental policies, and what they expect for the hot tub, the waterfront and the fire pit.
05 / Words you will hear
The jargon, in plain words
- Home-sharing endorsement
- An addition to a home policy that allows occasional paid stays in the home. It usually comes with limits on how often you rent and on what the rented part covers.
- Host protection program
- A damage or liability scheme run by a booking platform for its hosts. It has its own rules and claim process and is not a policy issued to you.
- Commercial use
- Using property to earn income as a business. Frequent nightly rentals can push a home into this category, which changes which policies fit it.
- Principal residence
- The home you actually live in for most of the year. Some municipal licensing rules and some policies treat rentals there differently from rentals of an investment property.
- Guest liability
- Your legal responsibility to people staying in the rental who are injured because of a condition you were responsible for, such as a loose railing.
06 / Common mistakes
What trips people up
- Listing the home on a booking platform without telling the insurer that guests are paying to stay.
- Treating a platform's host protection as if it were your own insurance policy.
- Renting a condo unit by the night when the corporation's bylaws prohibit it.
- Describing rentals as occasional when the calendar shows bookings most weekends.
- Adding a hot tub, sauna or watercraft for guests and not mentioning them to the broker.
- Operating without a licence where the municipality requires one, and leaving the broker unaware of it.
Ready when you are
Turn this into one clear request.
Save it, add what you know, and choose when to send it. A licensed broker who handles short-term rental insurance takes it from there.
07 / Questions people ask
Straight answers
Does home insurance cover short-term rentals?
Often not on its own. A standard home policy is priced for the household that lives there, and many exclude or limit losses that happen while the home is rented to paying guests. Some insurers offer an endorsement for occasional home sharing; others want a separate policy once rentals are frequent or the whole home is rented. Ask the broker to confirm in writing how your policy treats nightly bookings.
Is the booking platform's host protection enough?
It may help, but it is not the same as a policy in your name. Platform programs come with their own terms, claim deadlines, exclusions and limits, and they can change. Some apply only to stays booked through that platform. Read the current terms, keep a copy, and ask the broker how a policy of your own would respond alongside or in place of the platform's program.
Do I need a licence to run a short-term rental in Alberta?
It depends on the municipality. Some Alberta cities and towns require hosts to hold a business licence or register each short-term rental, and the rules can differ for a principal residence and an investment property. Check your municipality's current requirements directly. A broker may ask whether you hold a licence, so have the number ready if one applies.
What happens if a guest damages my home?
That depends on the cover you have and how the damage happened. Accidental damage, deliberate damage and theft by a guest can be treated very differently, and some policies exclude losses caused by people you allowed inside. Photograph the space before and after each stay, keep your messages with the guest, and report damage promptly to both the platform and your insurer.
Can I rent out my condo by the night?
Only if the condominium corporation's bylaws allow it, and many restrict or prohibit stays shorter than a set period. Breaking a bylaw can lead to fines or other action by the board. If short stays are allowed, the broker will want the corporation's insurance summary, the bylaw wording and details of how guests get in and out of the building.
Does a short-term rental policy cover my lost bookings?
Some policies include cover for rental income lost while a covered loss is repaired, and some do not. Where it exists, the time it pays for and the way income is calculated vary. Bring a record of past bookings and future reservations so the broker can explain how a particular policy would measure what you lost.
General information, not insurance advice. Broker.insure is a directory and request service: it is not an insurer and does not quote, bind or advise. Policy terms, availability and what is required where you live depend on your situation and on licensed professionals. Updated 2026-10-31.