Proper Insurance and Allstate HostAdvantage® are two major providers for short-term rental insurance in the U.S. In this blog post, we will explore how the two companies stack up.

We will look at: 

• An overview of each company 
• How they operate as Short-Term Rental Insurance 
• The Liability Protection Offered
• The Property Damage Coverage Offered 
• The Loss of Business Income Coverage Offered
• How to Pick Between the Two 

By the end of this article, you will have the confidence to choose the best short-term rental insurance option for your property. 

And once that is done, you’ll have even more time to research how to automate your short-term rental using a program like Host Tools.

Host Tools provides an automated, unified calendar for short-term rental hosts, allowing you to seamlessly list on all major channels. Start your free trial today! 

Why You Need Short-Term Rental Insurance

As a short-term rental host, you’re going to need short-term rental insurance. Not only will your conventional homeowner’s policy NOT cover any damage or liability related to your short-term rental business, but even the options the major short-term rental platforms provide are not enough. 

While sites like Homeway and Airbnb offer some protection, these vacation home rental insurance options are typically limited to physical damage directly caused by your guests. Unfortunately, it’s often difficult for hosts to receive compensation from these platforms. 

Additionally, a leaky faucet, ceiling collapse, or flood that freakishly happens during your guest’s stay will not be covered. Any personal liability is limited to a certain amount. This is why it’s so important for hosts to purchase insurance designed specifically for short-term rentals. 

Proper vs. Allstate HostAdvantage® Short-Term Rental Insurance: An Overview

Allstate is one of the largest insurance providers in the United States that has been around since 1931. They offer a wide range of insurance policies nationwide from home and auto all the way to vacation rental insurance. Additionally, they are highly rated and considered financially strong by S&P, AM Best, and Moody’s, the same companies used to vet companies on the NASDAQ. 

Due to their size, they allow high levels of customization to their policies and a full range of discounts to customers. However, because this is a new venture for Allstate they are currently limited to select states: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, and Utah.

Allstate HostAdvantage Overview

• Available only in AZ, CO, IL, MI, TN, UT
• Founded in 1931 
• Strong Reputation 

While Proper Insurance is newer to the insurance scene in name, being founded only in 2018, the company is backed by one of the largest insurance carriers in the world, Lloyds of London. As a reference, Lloyds of London has been around and has been providing insurance long before the United States existed. Proper Insurance is thus backed by what is considered one of the strongest insurance companies in the world, and one of the best.  

Proper Insurance Overview

• Available in ALL states
• Backed by company founded in 17th Century 
• Strong Reputation 

How They Work

Due to their very distinct backgrounds, the insurance for vacation rentals offered by Proper Insurance and Allstate HostAdvantage work very differently.

Because Allstate is a newer company, relatively speaking, HostAdvantage is not offered as a stand-alone home-sharing rental insurance policy, but rather as an extension of existing Allstate homeowners or condo policy. 

Allstate’s HostAdvantage

• Add-on to current policy 
• Low add-on price

Conversely, being backed by one of the largest insurance providers in the world, Proper Insurance offers standalone insurance for vacation rentals that are supposed to act as the only insurance policy you will ever need. It covers what a homeowner’s policy would cover and is additionally tailored specifically for the home-sharing business. 

Being a fully comprehensive product, premiums for Proper Insurance are comparable to full insurance policies, which will range in price depending on your specific property, but are more expensive than Allstate. 

Proper Insurance

• Stand-alone policy 
• Higher Premiums 

Personal Liability

When it comes to shopping for vacation home rental insurance coverage, one of the most important things that you are looking for is protection from lawsuits, and, how much protection will they offer.

Under the Proper Insurance/Lloyds of London homeshare insurance rental policy liability protection offers a whopping $2,000,000 maximum per occurrence. This is commercial-grade personal liability protection that is standard in major retail establishments. 

Allstate HostAdvantage on the other hand does not offer a boilerplate maximum limit. Since it again operates as a rider to an existing policy, whatever personal liability limit you have on your current Allstate policy will be extended to any personal liability that arises due to your short-term rental activities. 

Property Damage

When shopping for short-term rental insurance, one of the most important factors you need to shop for is protection against property damage. 

Overall, it is important to shop for policies that offer coverage not only for damage caused to your property by a guest, but also damage caused by a third party, during your guest’s stay. 

For example, if your guests complain about a backed-up toilet and you send out a plumber who floods the bathroom, will your policy cover it?  

In this regard, both Proper Insurance and Allstate HostAdvantage® offer your short-term rental property protection. Understanding how unique each vacation rental property is in terms of location, furnishings, and amenities, Allstate allows you to personally customize the property damage limit that works best for your policy. 

On the other hand, while Proper Insurance offers no limit on the damage that is caused by guests, there is a cap of $1,000,000 in coverage that is placed. Also, in the event something were to happen to your property, say it was completely blown away in a hurricane or burned to the ground, Proper offers full replacement cost for the damage. Meaning they will replace the property at whatever the cost is. 

Income Coverage

Lastly, for any short-term rental policy you are shopping for, the more active and dependent you are on the vacation property for income, the more important it is to be covered from potential losses of income. 

Income coverage or loss of rents are important features of vacation rental insurance to consider. In the event of a natural disaster, government-mandated shutdowns, or a previous guest’s damage, you’ll want to know if you can recoup any of your lost business income. 

Allstate HostAdvantage does not specifically advertise whether or not it covers business income losses. However, because it is an extension of standard homeowner’s insurance, it is safe to say that they probably do not cover loss of rents. 

Allstate HostAdvantage

• Income Coverage Dependent on Base Policy 
• Unlikely an Option Due to Traditional Insurance Standards 

Proper homeshare rental insurance, however, does offer coverage for lost income. In fact, they offer up to $250,000 of your actual business income that is lost. Many commercial insurance policies limit these losses to a specific time period. Proper, however, does not place a cap on losses that can be recovered. 

Proper Insurance

• Income Coverage Up to $250,000
• No time limit 

In this regard, Proper Insurance definitely stands out against its competitor. 

How to Pick Between the Two

Ultimately, the best way to pick which homeshare insurance provider is best for you will depend on your situation, your property’s location, and your typical turnover.  If you are a busier host, with multiple locations, and looking to expand, Proper Insurance might provide the better coverage. 

Proper Insurance

• Offers Liquor Liability Protection  
• Event & Wedding Protection 

On the contrary, if you are a host operating on a smaller scale, perhaps renting out a spare bedroom, or guest house, Allstate HostAdvantage may provide a better option. 

Allstate HostAdvantage

• Extension of Existing Policy  
• Cost Affordable 
• Friendly for Owner Operators  

Final Thoughts

To sum it up, Proper and Allstate are both great choices for hosts looking to purchase short-term rental insurance.  

Which one you choose, will ultimately depend on your unique situation and your unique short-term rental. To help make your buying process even smoother, we’ve even included the following table to summarize the main differences between the two. 

	Proper	Allstate
	Offered as a stand-alone policy that is designed to completely replace your current coverage.	Offered as an endorsement designed to be added to an insurance policy you already have with Allstate.
State Coverage	All 50 U.S. States	Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, and Utah
Underwriter	Underwritten by Lloyd’s of London, AM Best’s Rated A	Allstate is its own underwriter.
Commercial General Liability	$1,000,000 Standard Optional $2,000,000 offered	None
Personal Liability	Included above	Extends liability coverage to the policy limits for the rental
Guest Damage	No limit	Personal property up to $10,000 per rental period, subject to the policy terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions.
Theft or Vandalism	No limit	Yes, limits will vary on your policy
Liquor Liability Coverag	Yes	No
Pet Liability Coverage	Yes	Yes
Amenities Liability Coverage	Yes, they offer coverage which can be extended to amenities you offer guests like pool and hot tub access, bikes, gym equipment, jet skis and more	Depends on your policy
Business Loss	Actual loss up to $250,000 with no time limit, and additionally offer a bed bug enhancements that triggers lost business income	None
Endorsements by Short-Term Rental Platform Loss	Airbnb, VRBO	None
Pricing	Pricing is customized based on the property and its needs.	Some sites have mentioned this service costing as little as $50 per year, and it comes with added benefits like a discount off the use of a cleaning service for your rental

All in all, Proper Insurance offers the most comprehensive stand-alone vacation rental home insurance in the market today. Allstate HostAdvantage provides the easiest and most affordable entry into vacation home rental insurance, offering an extension of an already existing homeowner’s insurance policy. 

Proper Insurance offers the most comprehensive stand-alone vacation rental home insurance in the market today for the busiest short-term rental operator. Allstate HostAdvantage provides the easiest and most affordable entry into vacation home rental insurance, offering an extension of an already existing homeowner’s insurance policy. 

Host Tools provides an automated, unified calendar for short-term rental hosts, allowing you to seamlessly list on all major channels. Start your free trial today!