Holiday let insurance in the UK: the cover you need, and the exclusions that void a claim

Elena Sitki · operations at GreenSLO and public relations for ReceptionGO
Published 3 November 2026 · 5 min read

General information, not legal or tax advice. Check your own case with your local council, HMRC or the relevant revenue authority, or an accountant.

A normal home policy does not cover paying guests, and a claim can be refused if you never told the insurer. A holiday-let policy needs buildings, contents, public liability and, if you depend on the income, loss of bookings. Read the exclusions for theft without forced entry, key safes and empty months. In Scotland, public liability is also a licence condition.

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The policy that covered the house when you lived in it does not cover the house once strangers pay to sleep there. Insurers treat that as a different risk: more people, less supervision, a key that is not in your pocket. The claim that fails is usually not a dramatic fire. It is a theft with no broken lock, or a pipe that burst in a month when nobody was booked, under a clause the host never read.

The four covers that matter

Cover	What it is for	The question to ask
Buildings	The structure, a fire, a flood	Does it include holiday use, and what happens after 30 or 60 empty days?
Contents	Your furniture and equipment, not the guest’s laptop	Is accidental damage by a guest included, or only named perils?
Public liability	Injury to a guest or a neighbour	What limit, and does the Scottish licence or the freeholder require more?
Loss of income	Bookings you cannot honour after insured damage	Does it pay the gross booking or the net after commission, and for how long?

Guest damage and liability are not the same thing. A burned worktop is your contents. A guest who falls through a deck is liability. A deposit, and Airbnb’s AirCover, sit in a third box and do not replace either policy. How those work is in the deposit guide.

Exclusions that catch holiday lets

Theft without forced entry. If the code was shared, there may be nothing to show a break-in. This is the key-safe problem.
Unoccupancy. Cover can shrink after a stated number of empty days unless you drain the system or inspect. Winter gaps need a plan, not hope.
Wear and tear, and gradual leaks. A tired seal is maintenance. A sudden escape of water might be a claim. Insurers draw that line tightly.
Hot tubs, trampolines, open fires, wood burners. Often excluded, or covered only with conditions you have not met. If it is in the listing, it has to be in the policy.
Events and parties. A hen weekend you allowed, against your own rules, can be outside the policy and outside your cancellation terms at the same time.

Scotland writes public liability into the licence conditions, alongside the gas and electrical paperwork. The licence guide is the list. England’s register, when it opens, is expected to ask you to confirm safety rules you already have. Insurance is not a substitute for the fire risk assessment.

Before the first guest

Tell the current insurer you will take paying guests, in writing.
If they will not cover it, buy a holiday-let policy before the listing goes live, not after the first enquiry.
Match the liability limit to the strictest demand you have: council, freeholder, agency contract.
Read the key-safe and unoccupancy clauses with the way you actually hand over the house.
Keep the schedule with the gas certificate and the EICR. A licence inspection and a claim ask for the same folder.

From our own practiceThe handover is the part insurers circle. A code that every cleaner and every past guest still knows is the fact a loss adjuster writes down. A code that exists only for this booking, and dies at checkout, is a different fact. The lock is a security decision and an insurance decision at the same time.

Frequently asked questions

Will my home insurance cover Airbnb?

Assume it will not. Most home policies exclude business use and paying guests, and some are void from the moment that use starts if you did not disclose it. Tell the insurer before the first booking, and get the answer in writing. A holiday-let policy or a specialist endorsement is the usual result.

How much public liability do I need?

Scottish short-term let licences require public liability insurance; councils set the minimum they will accept, often in the millions. OTAs and freeholders sometimes state a figure too. £2 million is a common floor and is not automatically enough for a serious injury. Match the highest figure anyone who regulates you has written down.

Does a key safe invalidate theft cover?

Some policies exclude theft where there is no forced entry, and some name key safes. A shared code, unchanged for a season, is a difficult claim. A police-preferred safe (LPS 1175 or Sold Secure), fixed into masonry, is the minimum many insurers accept. A lock with a code that exists only for that booking is an easier conversation. The practical setup is in the self check-in guide.

Are guests’ belongings covered?

Usually not by your policy. Your contents cover is your furniture. Say so in the house rules, and do not promise “fully insured” in the listing unless the policy says you can.

What if the house is empty all winter?

Unoccupancy clauses often restrict cover, or require the water to be off and the house inspected, after a set number of days. A holiday let is empty between bookings by design. Read that number before a burst pipe in February.

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Sources

Rules last checked on 22 October 2026.