Can I use a landlord policy for my Airbnb property?

Not on its own. A standard landlord policy is built for long-term tenants, not short-term Airbnb guests, so it usually will not fully cover a vacation rental. Running an Airbnb is treated as a business use, and most landlord and homeowners policies either limit or exclude that activity.

The difference matters because short-term renting brings more frequent guest turnover, higher liability exposure, and more chances for theft or damage. A landlord policy assumes a stable tenant on a lease, not a steady stream of strangers staying a few nights at a time.

To be properly protected, you generally need a short-term rental endorsement added to your policy or a dedicated short-term rental policy. This covers the structure, your liability to guests, and often lost income, in a way a plain landlord policy does not.

For example, imagine a guest at your Blue Ridge cabin slips on the deck and is injured, then files a claim for $50,000. If your landlord policy excludes short-term rental use, that claim could be denied, leaving you to pay out of pocket. Proper short-term rental coverage would respond instead.

Do not assume Airbnb’s built-in protection is enough either, since it has important limits and exclusions. To set up coverage that actually fits a short-term rental, start a free coverage review at /coverage-review/.