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Comment by djb_hackernews | Hacker News Reader

I would imagine this would be a situation that homeowners insurance is for. But I bet homeowners insurance won't cover damage caused by running your home as a hotel.

If not, then Airbnb should have some sort of insurance for these situations. Can't have all of the upside and none of the downside.

Not to mention if this happens a few more times, Airbnb's business model will be legislated away.

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As above, airbnb already exists in a kind of legal gray area. There are very few places where it's actually legal according to municipal/zoning rules to rent out rooms this way. Not to mention the significant legal intricacies incumbent in offering insurance to consumers like that.

Agreed. And the laws should either be changed or enforced. I don't fault Airbnb for that.

However I don't agree that because there are legal intricacies a company valued at over 1 billion dollars shouldn't protect its financial future.

In the UK one needs specific landlord insurance for this situation.

I expect that unless you rented out your space a lot in a given policy year, it may render it unprofitable to do so.

Most mortgages in the UK have the condition that you need to inform the lender if you are letting the property and there may also be requirements for electrical and fire safety.

I hate to think of the potential liabilities if someone got injured in your home and you didn't have the right insurance.

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