Airbnb insurance in Brussels: what your policy really covers

This is the point Brussels owners most often overlook: your home insurance was taken out for a property you live in, or let on a yearly lease. Hosting travellers for a few nights changes the risk — and many policies do not follow automatically.

Step one: tell your insurer

An insurance contract rests on the description of the risk you declared when you signed up. Letting your property short-term changes that risk: a succession of occupants, rapid turnover, an absent owner. Failing to report it exposes you to a refusal to pay out in the event of a claim — the worst possible scenario, since you discover it exactly when you need the cover.

The step itself is simple and free: write to your insurer or broker describing your activity (frequency, number of guests, main residence or dedicated property) and ask for written confirmation of cover. Keep that record.

What a standard home policy does — and does not — cover

Answers vary widely from one company to another. Three situations come up repeatedly:

• Cover is maintained, sometimes simply by adding a mention to the policy.
• Cover is reduced: higher excesses, lower ceilings on theft or contents.
• Temporary furnished letting is excluded, leaving the claim entirely at your expense.

Only reading your general terms — or getting a written answer from your insurer — tells you which case applies. A policy signed ten years ago stands a good chance of saying nothing about this at all.

AirCover is not home insurance

Airbnb includes host protection with every booking made through the platform. It is a useful safety net, but its nature matters: it is a platform protection programme, with its own ceilings, exclusions and claims procedures. It replaces neither your home policy nor your own liability cover.

Another limit: it only applies to stays booked on Airbnb. If you also list on Booking, Vrbo or take direct bookings, those stays fall under a different framework. Check the terms currently in force on Airbnb's site — they change regularly.

Three blind spots to check

• Liability towards your guests. A guest injured by a defect in the property (a loose step, faulty wiring) can turn against you. This is also one of the points behind the safety certificate introduced by the new rules applicable from 2027, which will cover electricity, gas, heating and a fire extinguisher.
• Co-ownership. The building's policy covers the common areas, not your flat or the way you use it. One does not replace the other.
• Contents and valuables. The ceilings set for an owner-occupied home are rarely calibrated for a fully equipped property left in the hands of third parties.

Your checklist before the next booking

• Write to your insurer and obtain written confirmation of cover.
• Re-read the exclusions relating to furnished letting and sub-letting.
• Check your liability limit and the ceilings on contents.
• Inform the managing agent if you are in a co-ownership building, and keep that record.
• Document the condition of the property (dated photos): your best evidence in a dispute.

Sabimmo secures your operation

Guest screening, photographic inventory, preventive maintenance, claims follow-up: we reduce the risk before it becomes an insurance file, across the 19 Brussels communes — from Saint-Gilles to Woluwe-Saint-Lambert. See our packages or request your free estimate →