Safely Vacation Rental Insurance: A Review

What Safely is

Safely sells a per-stay insurance policy, "The Safely Protection Policy," placed through its excess and surplus lines affiliated agency, On Demand Insurance Agency, LLC. This is real short-term rental insurance rather than a damage waiver or a protection program, but it works differently from a commercial policy like Proper's: coverage attaches per booking, not as an annual policy that replaces your homeowner or landlord coverage. Safely characterizes the product as intended "to replace the damage waiver, providing extensive coverage."

Placement through an excess and surplus lines agency means Safely's coverage is written outside the standard admitted market, which is common for specialized risks like short-term stays. It's regulated insurance, but surplus-lines policies aren't backed by state guaranty funds the way many admitted policies are, so it's worth checking that distinction if it matters to you.

Hostaway's own product, Hostaway Insurance, is powered by Safely and built on this same program, so we hold a commercial relationship with the provider. We review it on the same terms as every other page in this cluster, caveats included.

What it covers

On Safely's own site, a policy carries:

• Liability insurance up to $1,000,000 for homeowner and property manager liability tied to guest injury.
• Home structure and bodily injury coverage up to $1,000,000.
• Contents coverage up to $10,000 for your belongings.
• Guest screening available as an upgrade on most policies, so you can vet who's booking.

Because coverage attaches per stay, it's positioned to sit in place of the guest damage waiver many hosts bolt onto a booking, and to reduce reliance on a security deposit. That model appeals to hosts who would rather not hold a deposit or chase a guest for damage after checkout, since the coverage responds on a per-booking basis instead. Safely also advertises fast claims handling, promising most payments as fast as three business days.

Stated limits and costs

• Liability: up to $1,000,000.
• Home structure and bodily injury: up to $1,000,000.
• Contents: up to $10,000.
• Deductibles for Safely's own-brand policies: not published on Safely's site.
• Per-stay price on Safely's own site: not publicly stated.

Safely runs a guest-paid fee model, so the per-booking cost is generally added to the guest's total rather than absorbed by the host.

The Hostaway-branded version publishes different figures, worth understanding before you compare. Hostaway Insurance powered by Safely costs $10-12 per night depending on the coverage level, and covers up to $3,000 in contents with a $0 deductible and up to $12,500 in dwelling coverage with a $500 deductible. It's available for United States properties excluding New York state, with coverage offered through On Demand Insurance Agency, LLC, and Hostaway states that 90% of claims are paid within 24 hours.

Those contents and dwelling limits ($3,000 and $12,500) sit below the $10,000 contents and $1,000,000 structure figures on Safely's own site, so the two look like different coverage tiers of the same program. Match the tier to your risk rather than assuming the higher numbers apply to whichever version you enroll in.

How you buy it

Safely is added as a guest-paid fee on your listings, and coverage is placed through On Demand Insurance Agency, LLC. It's sold only where that agency is licensed; Safely's licenses page lists jurisdictions from Alabama through Wyoming plus Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C. The Hostaway-powered version enrolls all properties on the account, with no minimum listing requirement and no option to enroll only specific properties, so an account-wide rollout is the model there rather than a property-by-property choice.

Who it fits

Safely fits hosts and property managers who want real insurance that attaches per booking and passes the cost to the guest, in place of a traditional damage waiver. It suits portfolios that turn over frequently, where an annual commercial policy feels heavier than the risk warrants, and hosts who want to move away from holding a security deposit. The optional guest screening upgrade suits managers who want identity checks built into the same workflow.

Owners who want a single policy to fully replace homeowner or landlord coverage should look at a commercial product instead, since per-stay coverage isn't written to carry the building year-round.

Caveats and gaps

• Availability is limited to states where On Demand Insurance Agency is licensed, so confirm your jurisdiction is covered.
• Safely doesn't publish deductibles or per-stay prices on its own site, so you can't see full costs without a quote.
• The own-brand limits differ from the Hostaway product tiers, and the numbers are easy to conflate; read the declarations page to confirm which limits and deductibles apply to you.
• Per-stay coverage isn't a substitute for a policy on the building itself. It doesn't replace a homeowner or landlord policy, and pairing it with one may leave the fewest gaps.
• Surplus-lines placement carries different consumer protections from an admitted policy, which is worth raising with an agent.

Even though Hostaway's product is built on Safely, none of that changes the review: confirm the terms, limits, and licensed states with Safely or Hostaway and a licensed agent before you rely on the coverage.