Rocky Mountain National Park welcomes nearly 4.5 million tourists every year. So, if you have a property at Estes Park, the Park's base camp, you should consider renting it out to those holiday-goers. That way, you can generate vacation rental income.
However, you must familiarize yourself with vacation rental insurance coverage before allowing visitors into your property. We'll discuss this in more detail below, so read on.
Why You Need Vacation Rental Insurance Coverage
You may wonder if you still need vacation rental insurance if you already have a homeowners' insurance policy. The answer is likely yes, as most homeowners' insurance policies don't include coverage for short-term rentals.
If you don't have short-term rental insurance, you could face out-of-pocket expenses if your vacation property gets damaged. You'll also put yourself at risk of legal liabilities without the correct insurance for your vacation property.
That's why you need vacation rental insurance; it can protect you from the cost of property damage and legal liabilities.
What Does Vacation Rental Insurance Cover?
The most basic vacation rental insurance policies provide property damage and liability coverage. However, more comprehensive policies include loss of income coverage.
Property Damage
Renting out your property to vacationers can be an excellent source of extra income, but it can also make your property more prone to damage. That's why you must always screen potential guests.
Still, even the most respectful guests can cause unintentional damage to your vacation rental in Estes Park.
For example, suppose your vacation rental is pet-friendly. Let's also say your guests are among the 86.9 million U.S. households with pets.
Unfortunately, their pet had a "toilet accident," damaging your carpets. In this case, your insurance policy's property damage coverage should kick in. It should help cover the costs of repairing or replacing your damaged carpet.
Liability Claims
Liability coverage can help protect you from liability claims made against you by guests or neighbors. Such claims may arise from incidents involving injuries on your property. An example is a fall injury caused by defective or slippery flooring.
If that happens, the injured party may seek legal compensation from you. If so, your policy's liability coverage should kick in and help cover some of your legal costs. It'll likely cover the injured person's medical costs, too.
Loss of Income
Events like severe weather and fires can damage your property and render it uninhabitable. In that case, you won't be able to rent it out, and you'll lose income.
The good news is that some short-term rental insurance policies cover loss of income. This coverage will compensate you for your lost income, provided it's due to a covered incident.
Insure Your Vacation Rental Property
Vacation rental insurance coverage protects you from liabilities and your property from damage. That's why you should never go without it if you plan to rent your Estes Park property to vacationers.
Our team of professional property managers at PMI Estes Park can help you get the right insurance coverage for your rentals. We're a locally owned and operated company, but we're also a proud franchise of PMI. PMI is the world's largest property management franchisor with over 20 years of experience.
So, speak with us today! We'll happily assist you in insuring your vacation rental property and maximizing your income.
