Short-Term Rental Insurance for Myrtle Beach Property Owners

What Is Short-Term Rental Insurance?

Short-term rental insurance provides specialized coverage for properties rented through platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, Booking.com, and other vacation rental sites. Unlike standard homeowners or landlord policies, short-term rental insurance recognizes the unique hybrid nature of vacation rentals—part residence, part hospitality business—and covers exposures that traditional policies exclude or severely limit.

When you rent your Myrtle Beach property to vacationers, you're operating a commercial enterprise with constant guest turnover, increased liability exposure, and property risks that homeowners insurance was never designed to cover. Short-term rental insurance bridges that gap, providing property protection, liability coverage, and income replacement specifically structured for how vacation rentals actually operate.

Why Myrtle Beach Property Owners Need Short-Term Rental Insurance

The Grand Strand is one of the most active vacation rental markets on the East Coast. Millions of visitors book beach houses, condos, and cottages throughout Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, and the surrounding communities each year. This demand creates excellent income opportunities for property owners—but also significant insurance exposure that standard policies don't address.

• Homeowners insurance excludes short-term rental activity — Most homeowners policies contain exclusions for business activity and rental to paying guests. If your insurance company discovers you're operating a vacation rental, they may deny claims, cancel your policy, or both. This isn't a technicality—it's a fundamental coverage gap.


• Landlord policies don't fit either — Traditional landlord insurance assumes long-term tenants who treat the property as their home. Short-term rentals involve constant turnover, transient guests with no stake in property care, and hospitality-level liability exposure that landlord policies exclude.


• Guest injuries create serious liability — Vacationers use your property differently than residents. They're unfamiliar with the layout, may be distracted or intoxicated, and often use amenities like pools, hot tubs, and beach equipment that increase injury risk. A single serious injury can generate a lawsuit exceeding your coverage limits.


• Platform coverage has major gaps — Airbnb's Host Protection Insurance and similar platform programs provide limited, secondary coverage with significant exclusions. These programs aren't substitutes for dedicated short-term rental insurance—they're supplementary at best.


• Property damage from guests is common — Vacation guests aren't always careful with property that isn't theirs. Accidental damage, parties that get out of hand, and occasional intentional destruction happen regularly in the vacation rental industry. Short-term rental insurance covers guest-caused damage that homeowners policies exclude.

What Does Short-Term Rental Insurance Cover?

Comprehensive short-term rental insurance addresses both the property and liability exposures vacation rental owners face. Here's what coverage typically includes for Myrtle Beach vacation rental properties:

Building and Property Coverage

Short-term rental insurance protects your building structure against covered perils including fire, wind, theft, vandalism, and water damage. Coverage extends to permanent fixtures, built-in appliances, and property improvements. For South Carolina coastal properties, ensuring adequate wind and hurricane coverage is essential—standard policies may exclude or sublimit these perils.

Contents and Furnishings

Vacation rentals require furnishings, linens, kitchen equipment, electronics, and décor that guests use and occasionally damage. Contents coverage protects these items against covered losses, including theft and accidental damage. Given the wear vacation rentals experience, maintaining adequate contents limits is important.

Liability Protection

Liability coverage protects you when guests or visitors suffer injuries at your property and hold you responsible. This includes slip and fall accidents, drowning or pool injuries, burns, cuts, and other bodily harm occurring on your premises. Liability coverage pays for legal defense, settlements, and judgments. Myrtle Beach vacation rentals with pools, hot tubs, or beach access need substantial liability limits.

Loss of Rental Income

When covered property damage makes your rental uninhabitable, loss of income coverage replaces the rental revenue you would have earned during repairs. For Myrtle Beach properties commanding premium rates during summer months, this coverage protects against significant financial loss when damage occurs at the worst possible time.

Guest Medical Payments

Medical payments coverage pays for minor guest injuries regardless of fault, helping prevent small incidents from becoming lawsuits. If a guest cuts themselves in the kitchen or trips on the stairs, medical payments coverage handles their immediate medical expenses without requiring them to prove your negligence.

Theft and Vandalism by Guests

Unlike homeowners policies, short-term rental insurance can cover theft and intentional damage caused by guests themselves. When renters steal electronics, damage walls, or destroy furnishings, this coverage responds—filling a gap that would leave standard policyholders paying out of pocket.

Amenity Coverage

Pools, hot tubs, fire pits, grills, bicycles, kayaks, and beach equipment all create additional exposure. Short-term rental insurance extends coverage to these amenities, protecting both the property itself and the liability exposure each amenity creates. Properties in Surfside Beach, Murrells Inlet, and Pawleys Island often include amenities that require specific coverage attention.

Why Platform Coverage Isn't Enough

Many vacation rental owners assume Airbnb's Host Protection Insurance or VRBO's liability coverage adequately protects them. This assumption can prove expensive. Understanding what platform coverage actually provides—and what it excludes—helps Myrtle Beach property owners recognize why dedicated short-term rental insurance remains essential.

Platform coverage is secondary, not primary. These programs typically only pay after your own insurance responds. If you don't have proper short-term rental coverage, the platform program may decline your claim entirely or leave gaps.

Exclusions are extensive. Platform programs commonly exclude assault and battery, communicable disease claims, discrimination allegations, certain property types, and claims arising from rule violations. Read the fine print—many common scenarios aren't covered.

Claims handling favors the platform. When you rely on platform coverage, you're depending on a company whose interests don't always align with yours. Dedicated short-term rental insurance puts you in control of your claims process.

Property damage coverage is limited. Platform damage protection programs cap payouts well below what significant damage actually costs. A fire, flood, or major vandalism incident can easily exceed platform limits.

How Much Does Short-Term Rental Insurance Cost in South Carolina?

Short-term rental insurance premiums depend on your property's value, location, rental frequency, amenities, and coverage limits. Most Myrtle Beach vacation rental owners find dedicated coverage costs significantly less than the gap in protection it fills.

Factors affecting your short-term rental insurance premium include:

• Property value and construction — Higher-value properties and certain construction types cost more to insure. Replacement cost coverage ensures adequate protection but increases premiums compared to actual cash value.


• Location and coastal exposure — Oceanfront properties in Myrtle Beach typically pay more than inland properties in Conway or Georgetown due to hurricane and flood exposure.


• Rental frequency and occupancy — Properties rented year-round face more exposure than those rented only during peak season, affecting premium calculations.


• Amenities — Pools, hot tubs, and watercraft increase both property and liability premiums due to elevated risk.


• Coverage limits selected — Higher property and liability limits cost more but provide essential protection for valuable properties and high-traffic rentals.


• Claims history — Prior claims impact pricing. Properties with clean histories typically receive better rates.

Because short-term rental insurance is a specialty product, coverage terms and pricing vary substantially between carriers. Working with an independent agency that understands vacation rental operations helps ensure you're comparing equivalent coverage, not just premium numbers.

Why Work with Moore & Associates for Short-Term Rental Insurance?

Moore & Associates has served Myrtle Beach and the South Carolina coast since 1979. As an independent insurance agency, we work with multiple carriers offering short-term rental coverage—from standard insurers with vacation rental endorsements to specialty markets focusing exclusively on this segment. This access allows us to match your property with coverage actually designed for how you operate.

Vacation rental insurance isn't one-size-fits-all. A beachfront condo in Atlantic Beach has different exposures than a large beach house in Litchfield or a golf course villa in Murrells Inlet. Our local agents understand Grand Strand vacation rental operations and can structure coverage addressing your specific property, amenities, and rental patterns.

Get a Short-Term Rental Insurance Quote in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Our short-term rental insurance agents serve Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and surrounding areas including North Myrtle Beach, Atlantic Beach, Conway, Surfside Beach, Murrells Inlet, Litchfield, Pawleys Island, and Georgetown. Contact Moore & Associates today for a free quote.