This article is presented by Proper Insurance.
Airbnb has become more than a place to earn a bit of cash from strangers crashing in your spare room. In the last 17 years, it’s expanded to include more offerings, from entire homes to Experiences in select cities. It continues to grow, with over 8 million listings worldwide.
The company recently announced a new endeavor for growth: Airbnb Services. This is meant to enhance guest stays, as they can receive on-site services like private chefs, spa treatments, hair stylists, and personal trainers.
While this is great news for guests, it introduces new liability and property risks that standard coverage may not address.
What Airbnb Services Actually Mean
Airbnb Services rolled out in May 2025 and includes on-site offerings in 10 different categories. These include private chefs, massage therapists, hair stylists, nail technicians, personal trainers, and photographers—services that happen inside your property, even though you didn’t hire or vet the providers.
Airbnb properties are automatically opted in to offering Services, but hosts can decide not to allow them by contacting Airbnb directly. For hosts hoping to attract more guests and increase income, allowing Services can enhance the guest experience and potentially improve a property’s visibility on the platform—creating a clear incentive to remain opted in.
More concerning for hosts is that Airbnb Services introduces additional layers of activity at the property, including third-party involvement, increasing an owner’s risk exposure and liability.
According to Proper Insurance, a specialist in short-term rental coverage, third-party, on-site services add layers of liability that many traditional policies were never built to address.
Hosting a short-term rental already carries heightened risk compared to simply owning and personally using a property. With the introduction of Airbnb Services, another variable is added. Liability is no longer limited to the property owner and a guest’s actions or incidents, but may also involve service providers the host did not personally vet.
On-site activities and third-party vendors increase overall liability exposure and can further blur insurance grey areas. If an incident occurs involving a guest and a service provider, the property owner would likely be drawn into the claim or legal process—highlighting the importance of understanding how your insurance policy addresses short-term rental risks and third-party vendors.
The Real Risk of Airbnb Services
While Airbnb says Service providers need to have their own liability insurance coverage, having services on your property drastically increases your own risk as the host. There are several risks from Airbnb Services, including:
Liability
If a guest or Service provider is hurt while on your property, you, as the property owner, could be named in the liability claim, even if the incident arose from the Services itself.
Damage
Having Service providers utilizing your property could increase the risk of accidental damage. Services could increase the risk of damage, from a private chef spilling wine on your custom rug to floor damage on your wood floors from sports trainers during a workout session. These scenarios are already being discussed in host forums.
Privacy and conduct
Misbehavior or alleged misconduct on a property by a Services provider could impact more than the guests’ experience. Because you aren’t personally vetting the Service providers, if there is an issue, it could discredit your listing, cause a guest to leave a negative review, or even pursue legal action.
Income disruption
Increased risks due to damage could mean repair downtime, which could impact your hosting schedule. Without the right coverage, this could lead to uncovered repairs and lost rental revenue. Proper Insurance includes revenue protection to help cover lost income during covered damage claims.
Why Standard Policies Aren’t Enough
If you’re a host, your traditional homeowners or landlord policy won’t cover these exposures because they were never designed for an active income-generating business like an Airbnb.
AirCover is not an insurance policy with your name on it; it’s a platform protection tool with vague exclusions and no guarantee of payout. Assault, invasion of privacy, and property damage caused by Service providers are all excluded. In fact, for hosts with six or more listings, Airbnb’s liability insurance is secondary to other insurance policies.
Proper Insurance completely replaces your homeowners or dwelling/landlord policy with protections designed specifically for short-term rental hosts, with no exclusions for third-party services like Airbnb Service providers.
Offering more to your guests shouldn’t mean risking everything you’ve built. Learn how Proper Insurance protects hosts with their unique commercial homeowners policy, offering robust coverage for your property, liability, and business revenue. Get a quote today.
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