STR Guard Insurance Blog

Coverage explanations, state-by-state cost guides, and host resources for short-term rental property owners. Whether you're listing your first Airbnb or scaling a multi-state portfolio, we publish the information hosts need to operate well.

A two-story dark-stained board-and-batten lodge with a covered porch and stone steps, set behind tall marsh grass at the edge of a shallow creek, with pines and a bright cloudy sky behind

Coverage Explained

Airbnb Host Liability vs. AirCover: Where the Platform Layer Ends

The platform layer is not a policy you control. Six structural differences between AirCover’s liability piece and a host’s own coverage — including the…

Nate Jones, CPCU July 23, 2026 13 min read

A curved swimming pool lit from below at dusk, with palm trees, a tile-roofed single-story house with lit windows behind it, block retaining walls, and loungers on the deck

Coverage Explained

AirCover Exclusions: 12 Things Airbnb Will Not Pay For

Airbnb publishes its own exclusion lists for both halves of AirCover. Here are all twelve gaps in one place, and the four that do the real damage.

Nate Jones, CPCU July 23, 2026 13 min read

A vaulted great room with dark exposed timber trusses, a marble-topped kitchen island with grey swivel stools, a loft railing above, and a brown leather sectional on wide-plank floors

Coverage Explained

AirCover for Guests vs. AirCover for Hosts: Which One Is Yours?

Two programs, one brand name, and almost no overlap. A side-by-side of AirCover for Guests and AirCover for Hosts — and the moment a host feels the guest side.

Nate Jones, CPCU July 23, 2026 12 min read

A single-story stucco house with a red barrel-tile roof, arched windows, blue glazed planters by the front door, and clipped hedges, below towering red sandstone cliffs

How to File an AirCover Claim: The 14-Day Clock, and If Airbnb Says No

The AirCover filing process has a clock most hosts discover too late. Here is the sequence, the deadlines, and the honest options once a request is declined.

Nate Jones, CPCU July 23, 2026 12 min read

A hillside home lit from within at dusk, with a wooden deck holding a round sunken hot tub, lounge chairs along a cable railing, and an exterior staircase climbing past a second-floor balcony

Coverage Explained

Is Airbnb AirCover Worth It? An Insurance Agent’s Honest Take

AirCover is free, automatic, and genuinely useful. It is also worth less than most hosts think — and the reasons are in Airbnb’s own published program…

Nate Jones, CPCU July 23, 2026 13 min read

A tall-windowed wood A-frame cabin with a triangular gable window wall on a wooded hillside at pink dusk, with an elevated deck holding a hot tub and Adirondack chairs above a gravel fire-pit ring lined with benches

How Much Does Short-Term Rental Insurance Cost in Arkansas? (2026 Guide)

Arkansas is an inland lake-and-cabin market. Water-access liability and severe-storm property risk set the number, in metros that still have room to grow.

Nate Jones, CPCU July 22, 2026 11 min read

A brown timber cabin with a metal roof in a forest clearing ringed by evergreens and bare early-spring trees, with patches of snow on the ground and a stone fire pit out front

How Much Does Short-Term Rental Insurance Cost in Maine? (2026 Guide)

Maine STR cost turns on a two-season reality: a short, intense summer earning window and a long, hard winter when a coastal cottage sits vacant and freezing.

Nate Jones, CPCU July 22, 2026 11 min read

An aerial view of a large white coastal home with a standing-seam metal roof, wraparound porches, and a rectangular infinity pool with a raised spa, set among palms in a beachfront neighborhood

How Much Does Short-Term Rental Insurance Cost in Massachusetts? (2026 Guide)

What moves a Massachusetts STR premium: coastal wind and flood on the Cape and islands, two non-overlapping peak seasons, urban regulation, and the coverage…

Nate Jones, CPCU July 22, 2026 11 min read

A double-height living room in an upscale oceanfront vacation rental with floor-to-ceiling windows framing the sea, low white sectional sofas with blue accent pillows, a light wood coffee table, a tall bird-of-paradise plant, a pale limestone fireplace wall, and fur-topped ottomans on a light wood floor

How Much Does Short-Term Rental Insurance Cost? (2026 National Guide)

What actually sets your premium: location and catastrophe exposure, property value, guest capacity and amenities, the coverage lines you carry, and how the…

Nate Jones, CPCU July 22, 2026 11 min read

A wood-shingled cabin with a stone chimney and patio set among tall evergreens on a slope above a deep-blue mountain lake, with an elevated deck and a stone outdoor grill overlooking the water

How Much Does Short-Term Rental Insurance Cost in Pennsylvania? (2026 Guide)

Pennsylvania splits into two STR worlds — regulated urban rowhouses and seasonal Pocono cabins — and winter freeze losses shape both. Here is what actually…

Nate Jones, CPCU July 22, 2026 11 min read

An aerial view of a dark-sided modern home with stacked multi-level wood decks and an oval above-ground pool, set among bare hardwood trees beside a creek

How Much Does Short-Term Rental Insurance Cost in Virginia? (2026 Guide)

Virginia is two rental markets pulling in opposite directions: the coast rated on the storm, the Blue Ridge rated on amenities and access. What actually moves…

Nate Jones, CPCU July 22, 2026 11 min read

A timber-and-stone cabin with a steep gabled roof, stone patio walls, and a deck overlooking a lake among tall evergreens

Short-Term Rental Insurance in Aspen: What Hosts Actually Need in 2026

Aspen sorts short-term rentals into permit classes before it sorts them into anything else — and that classification follows you into the underwriting file.

Nate Jones, CPCU July 21, 2026 10 min read

A tall living room with floor-to-ceiling windows facing green woods, a stone wall and fireplace, a white sofa, and a red patterned rug

Short-Term Rental Insurance in Austin: What Licensed STR Operators Need in 2026

Austin licenses short-term rentals by type, and the type you hold changes which policy form an underwriter reaches for first.

Nate Jones, CPCU July 21, 2026 10 min read

A two-story dark-stained wood home with a covered porch standing beside a shallow creek lined with tall green grass and evergreen trees

Short-Term Rental Insurance in Jackson Hole: What Teton County Hosts Need in 2026

In Jackson Hole, the line between the Town of Jackson and unincorporated Teton County decides whether short-term renting is permitted at all.

Nate Jones, CPCU July 21, 2026 10 min read

A wood-sided cabin with a tall triangular window wall on a wooded hillside at dusk, with an elevated deck holding a hot tub and Adirondack chairs above a stone fire pit ringed by benches

Short-Term Rental Insurance in Knoxville: What Hosts Actually Need in 2026

Knoxville issues two kinds of short-term rental permits, and which one you hold tells an underwriter most of what it wants to know about your property.

Nate Jones, CPCU July 21, 2026 10 min read

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