Warning over Festivals home-sharing insurance risks

Homeowners in Edinburgh hoping to cash in on Festivals season by renting out their property have been urged to check they have suitable insurance in place.

Guardhog warned that homeowners may not be covered when using home-sharing platforms. Picture: Steven Scott Taylor

According to a survey by insurance fintech start-up Guardhog, 90 per cent of people do not know if they have comprehensive cover to protect themselves and their homes if they use home-sharing services such as Airbnb or HomeAway.

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Humphrey Bowles, co-founder of Guardhog, said: “Home-sharing platforms have put in place many checks and balances to help the growing number of people participating on their platform to share safely. The one thing they all have in common, though, is that they all acknowledge the importance of insurance and strongly recommend hosts have their own insurance in place.

“Many traditional insurance policies, however, simply don’t work for the sharing economy, as they don’t cover commercial activities – hosts making money from their homes.”

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Guardhog is aiming to fill that gap in cover with an “on demand” policy that can be bought to provide insurance only when homeowners need it, for example during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

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