Safely Review: Per‑Booking STR Insurance & Guest Screening (2026)
Overview
Safely is a U.S. short‑term rental protection product that bundles guest screening with primary per‑booking insurance, typically added as a per‑night fee to each reservation. Policies cover on‑site property damage, contents, liability, and guest injury, with coverage up to around $1,000,000 per stay and about $10,000 in contents/theft coverage, including intentional and accidental damage.
- You only pay when you have bookings, and it integrates with PMSs like OwnerRez, Lodgify, and Guesty to auto‑issue policies and run screening, making it a strong fit for managers who want to standardize protection across a portfolio without large annual policies.
At a glance
- Per‑booking, pay‑as‑you‑go coverage: each reservation can get its own Safely policy, so you don’t pay when the property is vacant, unlike traditional annual STR policies that often run $1,500–$3,500 per year.
- Primary commercial coverage that fills gaps left by homeowners and platform protections: up to about $1,000,000 in structural damage or bodily injury per stay, plus around $10,000 in contents damage or theft coverage, including intentional and accidental damage, and bed bugs in some programs.
- Integrated guest screening bundled with every policy, helping filter out high‑risk bookings and giving owners added confidence beyond just insurance.
- Property managers and teams
- Hosts who want a clean UI
- Automation-first workflows
- No public “list pricing”: there isn’t a standard published starting price; hosts must request a quote and pricing depends on nights booked, property profile, and selected coverage levels.
- U.S.‑centric product: best for U.S.‑based properties and managers; availability and terms may be limited or different in other regions.
Pros & Cons
Highlights and considerations for Safely.
- Per‑booking, pay‑as‑you‑go coverage: each reservation can get its own Safely policy, so you don’t pay when the property is vacant, unlike traditional annual STR policies that often run $1,500–$3,500 per year.
- Primary commercial coverage that fills gaps left by homeowners and platform protections: up to about $1,000,000 in structural damage or bodily injury per stay, plus around $10,000 in contents damage or theft coverage, including intentional and accidental damage, and bed bugs in some programs.
- Integrated guest screening bundled with every policy, helping filter out high‑risk bookings and giving owners added confidence beyond just insurance.
- Deep PMS integrations (OwnerRez, Lodgify, Guesty and others) automatically pull reservations and issue Safely policies per booking, add trust‑and‑safety fees, and streamline claims, reducing manual work.
- Has reportedly covered $50 billion+ in homeowner liability since launch, signalling meaningful industry traction and scale as an insurtech provider.
- No public “list pricing”: there isn’t a standard published starting price; hosts must request a quote and pricing depends on nights booked, property profile, and selected coverage levels.
- U.S.‑centric product: best for U.S.‑based properties and managers; availability and terms may be limited or different in other regions.
- Because it is per‑booking, very high‑occupancy portfolios may find total annual cost comparable to or higher than some flat annual policies, depending on rate structure and utilization.
- Requires adjusting rental agreements and adding a Safely fee (or building it into nightly rates), which adds a small layer of setup and guest‑facing explanation.
- As with any insurance, claims outcomes and responsiveness can vary, and hosts must still follow documentation best practices (photos, incident reports, timelines).
Scores
Strong in setup and value for money; weaker in documentation for STR insurance.
Hands-on Review Notes
Pricing
| Plan | Monthly | Base includes |
|---|---|---|
| Per‑Booking Protection (Core Product) | No flat monthly; cost is a per‑booking (per‑night) fee determined by quote and nights booked, so you only pay when you have guests. Typical STR insurance costs in the market run roughly $4–$10 per night when annualized, though Safely quotes are property‑specific. | Primary commercial short‑term rental coverage per stay for property damage, liability, bodily injury and bed bugs for the homeowner, PM, and guests, plus guest screening for each reservation. |
Integrations
Common integrations supported by Safely.
Booking platforms
PMS connections
Claims tools
Other integrations
- OwnerRez integration issues a Safely policy automatically for each booking, includes guest screening, adds a Safely trust & safety fee, and transmits reservation and property data for coverage and claims.
- Lodgify integration pulls reservations into Safely and applies coverage that includes primary commercial protection ($1,500–$1,000,000) for damage, bodily injury and bed bugs, plus $10,000 of contents damage or theft and some travel insurance benefits.
- Guesty Marketplace integration automatically syncs reservations from Guesty into Safely, improving operational efficiency by fully integrating guest screening and insurance into the PMS workflow.
Trial Guide: What to Test
During your trial or demo, focus on documentation and confirm daily workflows.
- Get a quote and compare coverage limits against your current policy
- Check what’s excluded (e.g. hot tubs, pets, specific perils)
- Review the claims submission process and required documentation
- Verify per-booking vs. annual pricing and calculate total annual cost
Alternatives
If you need stronger documentation, consider these alternatives to Safely.
FAQ
Answers to common questions about setup, pricing, and deployment.
Community experiences
Real-world notes from hosts who have used Safely.
Share your experience
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Sources
Documentation and references used in this review.
More STR Insurance reviews
- Slice
Slice pioneered on‑demand homeshare insurance for Airbnb/VRBO hosts, selling commercial policies only for the nights a property is rented, with $2,000,000 liability and full replacement cost on the home and contents, typically $4–$7 per night and zero deductible. In 2024, however, Slice stopped offering new short‑term rental policies, pivoting to powering white‑label on‑demand products (e.g., Duuo in Canada) via its Slice Labs platform. Existing homeshare customers may still be serviced, but new STR hosts generally cannot buy Slice‑branded coverage today and should look at alternatives like Safely, InsuraGuest, Duuo or Proper.
- Proper Insurance
Proper Insurance is a specialty carrier for US vacation rentals that completely replaces your homeowner or landlord policy with a commercial STR policy custom‑penned with Lloyd’s of London and Concert Specialty. It combines homeowners, landlord and business insurance in one contract, covering the building, contents, business income, and commercial liability whether the property is rented, vacant or owner‑occupied. Coverage includes theft and damage by guests, bed bugs (with lost income), liquor/pet/pool/hot‑tub liability, ordinance or law, and actual loss sustained business income with no time limit. Premiums are quote‑based but typically fall in the ~$1,000–$3,000/year range for most single‑family STRs, depending on value, location and risk factors.
- GUARDHOG
GUARDHOG provides insurance and damage protection specifically for short-term rental hosts. It covers property damage, liability, and guest-related risks that standard homeowner policies typically exclude.
- InsuraGuest
InsuraGuest is subscription-based guest insurance for STRs covering accidental medical ($10k-$25k), property damage ($10k-$25k/$100 deduct), theft ($2.5k/$500 deduct), death ($5k). $60-$90/month per property (or $3/night via PMS); 72hr claims. Integrates PMS (Guesty, Hostaway, iGMS, Lightmaker); no-fault primary. Protects vs lawsuits/deposits; claims fast but some accuracy concerns.