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A holiday let needs insurance written for short-term letting: buildings and contents cover that accepts paying guests, public liability, and protection against accidental and malicious damage by guests. A standard home or landlord policy is priced for one household or one tenant, and using it for a holiday let can leave you uninsured at the moment you claim. Platform schemes such as Airbnb's AirCover for Hosts sit alongside a policy. They do not replace it.
This guide is general information, correct as of 30 September 2026. It is not insurance advice. Policies differ in wording and exclusions, so take advice from an insurance broker before you buy or renew.
Why a home or landlord policy leaves gaps
GOV.UK's guidance for self-catering holiday homes in England says owners should have dedicated holiday let insurance, public liability cover, and buildings and contents cover suitable for short-term letting. There are three reasons ordinary cover falls short.
- The occupier is different. A home policy assumes you live there. A landlord policy assumes a tenant on a tenancy agreement. A holiday let has a new party of guests every few days, with keys handed over remotely.
- The use is commercial. Taking bookings is a business activity. Many home policies exclude business use or require it to be declared.
- Disclosure. A policy bought as a business, which holiday let cover usually is, falls under the duty of fair presentation in section 3 of the Insurance Act 2015: you must disclose every material circumstance you know or ought to know. Failing to mention that guests pay to stay is the plainest example, and the insurer's remedies can include refusing the claim.
The core cover
| Cover | What it pays for | Point to check |
|---|---|---|
| Buildings | The structure and fixtures: fire, flood, storm, escape of water, subsidence | The rebuild value, not the market value. For a flat, the freeholder usually insures the building |
| Contents | Furniture, appliances, linen, kitchen kit | Enough to refit the property to its listing standard |
| Accidental and malicious damage by guests | Breakages and deliberate damage caused by paying guests | Some policies exclude guest damage or add it only as an extra |
| Public liability | Claims from guests or others injured or whose property is damaged at the let | The limit of indemnity. Ask your broker which suits the property and any lender or freeholder requirement |
| Loss of rental income | Bookings lost while an insured event makes the property unusable | How long it pays for and how income is evidenced |
| Legal expenses | Legal costs in disputes with guests, contractors or neighbours | What types of dispute are included |
Liability limits are chosen when you buy, and each policy states its own. Pick the limit with your broker rather than taking the lowest option offered.
Loss of rental income deserves attention on this coast. A burst pipe in February can close a flat into Easter, and summer weeks are where most of the year's income sits. Your booking history is the evidence an insurer will ask for, so keep it.
Employers' liability when you engage cleaners
If you employ anyone, GOV.UK says you must hold employers' liability insurance covering at least £5 million, and you can be fined £2,500 for every day you are not properly insured. A cleaner you pay directly may count as your employee, depending on how the work is arranged. Whether a self-employed cleaner is outside the rule turns on the facts, so ask your broker.
If a managing agent employs the cleaners, the agent must carry this cover for its own staff.
Unoccupancy conditions and winter
Most property policies restrict cover once the building has been unoccupied for a set number of consecutive days. After that point, cover for events such as escape of water, theft or malicious damage may be reduced or removed, and conditions may apply: water drained down, heating left at a minimum setting, or inspections at stated intervals.
Before the winter, check three things in the wording:
- How the policy defines "unoccupied", and whether nights between bookings count.
- The number of days allowed and what changes after it.
- What inspections or precautions are required, and whether they must be recorded.
A logged inspection routine between stays is the practical answer. Our guide to managing a holiday let remotely covers winter care and inspections in detail.
What Airbnb and Booking.com do and do not replace
Airbnb AirCover for Hosts. Airbnb's help pages describe AirCover for Hosts as including $3m of Host Damage Protection and $1m of Host liability insurance. For UK hosts the liability insurance is underwritten by Zurich Insurance Company Ltd. The damage element is different in kind. Airbnb's terms state that Host Damage Protection "is not insurance or an offer to insure and does not take the place of insurance obtained or obtainable by you." To use it you must notify Airbnb and try to recover the cost from the guest within 14 days of checkout, and file a payment request within 30 days. Wear and tear, cash and securities, collections and fine art, mould and losses already covered by your own insurance are among the exclusions. Airbnb itself encourages hosts to buy their own insurance.
Booking.com. For properties outside the United States, Booking.com offers owners a choice of a damage deposit, which you collect and manage yourself, or its damage programme. Under the programme you submit a damage payment request within 14 days of checkout and Booking.com asks the guest to pay, up to a maximum you set. Its partner page is plain that it cannot guarantee payment and you receive money only if the guest agrees. General cleaning, ordinary wear and tear, smoking fines and broken house rules are outside it. Separately, Booking.com's Partner Liability Insurance provides primary liability cover of £1,000,000 for stays booked through its platform, and it excludes damage to the partner's own property and contents.
| Covers your building and contents? | Covers bookings from other channels? | Insurance? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Airbnb Host Damage Protection | Some guest damage, on Airbnb's terms | No | No, by Airbnb's own terms |
| Airbnb Host liability insurance | No | No | Yes, liability only |
| Booking.com damage programme | Only what the guest agrees to pay | No | No |
| Booking.com Partner Liability Insurance | No, own property excluded | No | Yes, liability only |
| Holiday let policy | Yes, as the wording states | Yes | Yes |
None of these schemes covers fire, flood, escape of water, storm or theft by someone who is not a guest, or a direct booking. That is why your own policy comes first.
Tell the lender and the freeholder
A residential or standard buy-to-let mortgage does not normally permit holiday letting without the lender's consent, and the lender may set insurance conditions of its own. For a leasehold flat, the lease can prohibit business use or short letting, and the freeholder's buildings policy may need the insurer told about the use. Get both consents in writing before the first booking. The detail is in our holiday let regulations guide.
What a managing agent's insurance covers
An agent's own public liability and professional indemnity insurance protect the agent against claims arising from its work, such as a cleaner's mistake or a negligent act. They do not insure your building, your contents or your liability as owner. Ask any agent for the cover it holds and its limits, and keep your own policy in force.
When Sea Breeze manages a property, guests are screened through the platforms' own tools and AirCover for Hosts applies to Airbnb stays on Airbnb's terms. The owner holds the holiday let policy. Insurance is one of the records in our holiday let compliance checklist, and our holiday let management page sets out what we handle.
Premiums and allowable expenses are covered in holiday let tax after the FHL regime: insurance is a deductible cost of the letting business.
