Proper Insurance Review 2026: Is It Worth It for Airbnb & VRBO Hosts?

By Ryan Drew | Superhost and Vacation Rental Expert | Last Updated August 14, 2026

Short on time? Proper offers one of the broadest short-term-rental-specific insurance packages I’ve reviewed, but it is not necessarily the cheapest option. If you operate a full-time Airbnb or vacation rental, getting a Proper quote gives you a useful benchmark for comparing true STR coverage against cheaper homeowners, landlord, or home-sharing options.

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If you own an Airbnb or VRBO property, you’ve probably Googled “do I really need STR insurance” at least once — and then found yourself drowning in options. Proper Insurance keeps coming up, and for good reason. But it’s also one of the most expensive policies on the market, so before you commit, you deserve an honest look at what you’re actually paying for.

I’ve dug into Proper Insurance’s coverage, real customer reviews, complaints, pricing, and how it stacks up against the competition. Here’s everything you need to know before you get a quote.

What Is Proper Insurance?

Proper Insurance is a specialty insurance provider built exclusively for short-term vacation rental properties — homes listed on platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, and similar sites. Founded to address the massive coverage gap that homeowners and landlord policies leave for STR hosts, Proper has grown into the largest STR-specific insurer in the United States, with over 200,000 policies written across all 50 states.

Their policies are underwritten by Lloyd’s of London and Concert Specialty Insurance — two of the most respected names in specialty and surplus lines insurance globally. The company is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana, and operates as Proper Insurance Services, LLC.

What sets Proper apart from every other option in this space is simple: they built a commercial-grade insurance product specifically for the hospitality risks of short-term rentals, rather than trying to adapt a homeowners or landlord policy to fit.

Proper Insurance at a Glance

Proper Insurance Ratings — What Real Customers Say

Before we get into coverage specifics, let’s look at what actual policyholders say — because the real test of any insurance company is what happens when you file a claim.

Trustpilot Rating

Proper Insurance has generally strong customer feedback on major review platforms, but live review scores change over time. Rather than hard-coding a stale number into the article, I recommend checking the current Trustpilot score when you update this page and date-stamping it. The more useful takeaway is the pattern in the reviews: many customers praise knowledgeable STR-focused agents and responsive service, while negative reviews tend to focus on price, renewals, underwriting requirements, or individual claim disputes.

BBB Rating & Accreditation

Proper Insurance is BBB Accredited and currently carries an A+ BBB rating. BBB data is especially useful here because it gives you a second lens beyond star ratings: complaint history and how the business responds. Because complaint counts can change, check the live BBB profile when evaluating the company rather than relying on an old screenshot.

WalletHub & Third-Party Ratings

WalletHub currently shows Proper Insurance at 4.5 out of 5 across 554 reviews/ratings (its displayed rating was last updated in November 2025). As with any third-party review site, individual experiences vary, but the volume gives prospective buyers another useful data point alongside BBB and Trustpilot.

A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating

Proper Insurance’s underwriting carriers hold an A- (Excellent) rating from A.M. Best, the gold standard for insurance financial strength. This means if you ever file a major claim, the money is actually there to pay it. For STR hosts with properties worth $400K–$1M+, this matters a great deal.

What Does Proper Insurance Cover?

This is where Proper Insurance genuinely pulls away from the competition. Their commercial package policy covers a breadth of risks that standard homeowners and landlord policies either exclude outright or bury in limitations.

Building & Contents Coverage

Proper’s policy covers your physical structure (dwelling) and its contents at replacement cost value — meaning new-for-old coverage at the time of loss. There’s no depreciation deduction applied to your claim payout, which is a major advantage over standard HO policies.

Commercial General Liability ($1M–$2M)

This is the backbone of the policy. Proper includes $1,000,000 in Commercial General Liability (CGL) coverage as standard, with an optional add-on bringing it to $2,000,000. CGL covers you if a guest (or anyone on your property) is injured or suffers a loss and decides to sue. It’s commercial-grade liability — far more robust than the personal liability found in a homeowners policy.

Business Income / Lost Revenue Coverage

If a covered claim makes your property temporarily uninhabitable and you can’t rent it out, Proper covers your actual lost rental income with no time limit and up to the limits you select. Most standard policies either cap this at 12 months or exclude it entirely for STR use. This is one of Proper’s most significant differentiators.

Guest-Caused Theft, Vandalism & Damage

Guest damage is explicitly covered under Proper’s policy — including intentional damage, theft, and vandalism. This is excluded under virtually every standard homeowners policy, which treats your rental guests as a business activity and denies the claim accordingly.

Bed Bug & Flea Coverage

Proper is one of the only STR insurers to include bed bug and flea coverage — a uniquely STR-specific risk that can cost thousands of dollars to remediate and weeks of lost bookings.

Liquor Liability

Guests drink on vacation. If alcohol-related incidents occur at your property — whether it’s a guest who gets hurt or an incident involving alcohol left on-premises — Proper’s liquor liability coverage has you covered. This is excluded from standard policies entirely.

Amenity Liability (Pools, Hot Tubs, Bikes, Kayaks, Golf Carts)

Most policies have significant carve-outs for amenities, especially those that take guests off-premises. Proper’s amenities liability coverage covers guest incidents involving pools, hot tubs, bikes, kayaks, golf carts, and similar amenities — both on and off-premises.

Pet & Animal Liability (No Breed Restrictions)

If your property allows pets — or even if it doesn’t — Proper covers animal liability with no breed restrictions. Standard policies often exclude certain breeds or limit animal liability to the owner’s own pets.

Squatter Coverage

Yes, squatters are a real STR risk. Proper includes coverage for squatter-related situations — an endorsement you will not find with most competitors.

Personal Liability (When You Also Live at the Property)

If your STR doubles as your primary or secondary residence, Proper’s policy extends personal liability coverage to cover you during the periods you’re occupying the home as well — not just when guests are present.

What Does Proper Insurance NOT Cover?

No policy is perfect, and Proper Insurance is upfront about its exclusions. Here’s what you need to know.

Flood Insurance

Proper does not include flood coverage. If your property is in a flood-prone area — coastal markets, river communities, certain Southeast and Gulf states — you’ll need a separate flood policy through the NFIP or a private flood insurer. This is a standard industry exclusion, not unique to Proper, but it’s worth flagging clearly.

Earthquake Coverage

Earthquake damage is also excluded from Proper’s policy. If your STR is in California, the Pacific Northwest, or another seismically active region, factor in the additional cost of standalone earthquake coverage.

Limitations on Shared Liability Pool

One structural concern worth noting: Proper’s policy draws commercial liability and commercial property claims from the same aggregate limits. In a worst-case scenario where you’re simultaneously dealing with a major property loss and a liability lawsuit, those limits are shared. Proper does offer the $2M liability add-on to mitigate this, but it’s worth understanding before you set your limits.

How Does Proper Insurance Work?

Replaces Your Homeowners Policy — Here’s Why That Matters

Proper’s policy is designed as a complete replacement for your existing homeowners (HO) or landlord (DP) policy — not a supplement. This is important: it eliminates the risk of a coverage gap where your HO insurer denies a claim because of the “business activity exclusion” while Proper also denies because the HO policy was still technically active.

Lloyd’s of London Underwriting

Being underwritten by Lloyd’s of London isn’t just a prestige signal — it means your policy is backed by one of the world’s largest and most financially stable specialty insurance markets. Lloyd’s has been paying claims since 1688. For a specialty STR product with unusual coverage endorsements (squatters, bed bugs, liquor liability), having Lloyd’s behind it provides meaningful security.

In-House Claims Administration

This is a big deal that doesn’t get enough attention. Proper handles their own claims from start to finish — no third-party administrators (TPAs). Most insurance companies outsource claims to TPAs, which creates delays, miscommunications, and a “not our problem” mentality. Because Proper administers their own claims, they have both the incentive and the authority to find coverage for clients — and their Trustpilot reviews consistently reflect this.

Named Insureds: Individual, LLC, or Sole Proprietor

Your policy can be written in your personal name, a business name, or an LLC — which matters for asset protection if you’re running your STR as a business entity.

Coverage for Property Managers

Property managers can be added to a homeowner’s Proper Insurance policy as additionally insured. If you’re a co-host or property manager, this is critical — you carry liability exposure for every property you manage, and most managers overlook this entirely.

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My Experience Getting a Proper Insurance Quote

This is the part of my Proper Insurance review that competitors cannot reproduce from Proper’s website: I actually obtained a Proper quote while shopping insurance for a short-term rental. My historical quote was $1,600 per year with a $1,000 deductible. I also obtained a CBIZ quote at the time for $1,686 per year with a $1,000 deductible.

I would not use either number as a 2026 price estimate. Insurance pricing depends heavily on the property, location, replacement cost, revenue, amenities, deductible, claims history and current underwriting. What the comparison showed me was that the premium difference itself was small enough that the decision needed to be made on coverage, exclusions and how the policy handled actual STR use, not on an $86 annual difference.

That remains the way I would shop Proper today: get the actual quote, then compare the building and contents limits, guest-caused damage, commercial liability, business-income protection, amenities, deductibles and exclusions against the competing policy. For the full line-by-line historical comparison, see my Best Airbnb & Short-Term Rental Insurance guide.

How Much Does Proper Insurance Cost?

Let’s address the elephant in the room: Proper Insurance is not cheap. By their own admission, they are often the most expensive STR policy on the market — sometimes twice the cost of competing options.

What Affects Your Premium

Your quote will vary based on:

• Property location (state, proximity to water, wildfire risk, etc.)
• Property value and rebuild cost
• Contents value
• Rental income / occupancy rate
• Number of properties
• Liability limits selected ($1M vs. $2M)
• Selected endorsements and deductible levels

Is Proper Insurance Expensive? An Honest Take

Proper does not have one meaningful national price that I would use to budget a property. Premiums can vary dramatically based on location, replacement cost, rental revenue, amenities, deductible, selected limits, catastrophe exposure and underwriting. My own historical quote was $1,600 per year, while other STR owners report quotes running several thousand dollars per year. The only useful price is the quote for your actual property.

Proper can cost more than conventional homeowners or landlord coverage, but those products may be solving a different insurance problem. A lower premium is not automatically a better deal if the quoted policy does not explicitly accommodate frequent paying guests, the property’s business income, or STR-specific liability exposures. Compare the actual forms and endorsements rather than assuming two policies are equivalent because both insure the same building.

The honest take: if you’re renting your property regularly and it represents a significant asset, the gap in coverage between a standard policy and Proper is likely worth more than the premium difference.

How to Get a Proper Insurance Quote

Getting a quote is straightforward — you can do it online or by phone. Have your property address, rebuild value estimate, contents value, and average annual rental income handy. The process takes about 5 minutes online.

Proper Insurance Pros and Cons

Pros ✅

• Purpose-built for STR hosts — not a homeowners policy with STR add-ons
• Broadest coverage in the market — bed bugs, squatters, liquor liability, amenity liability, and more
• No guest damage cap — unlimited coverage for damage caused by guests
• Business income with no time limit — unlike standard policies that cap at 12 months
• In-house claims administration — faster, more host-friendly claim resolution
• Lloyd’s of London backing — A- (Excellent) A.M. Best financial strength
• All 50 states — nationwide availability
• Named insured flexibility — individual, LLC, or sole proprietor
• Strong third-party customer ratings — check the current Trustpilot, BBB and WalletHub scores because they change over time

Cons ❌

• Higher cost — often 1.5–2x the price of competing policies
• No flood or earthquake coverage — requires separate policies in risk-prone areas
• Shared liability/commercial pool — aggregate limits shared between property and liability claims
• Not available as on-demand coverage — requires an annual policy (not ideal for occasional renters)
• Digital-first process — no paper application; some hosts prefer agent-assisted enrollment
• Relatively newer company — shorter track record than legacy carriers, though Lloyd’s backing mitigates this

Proper Insurance Claims — What to Expect

How to File a Claim

Proper handles claims directly — you contact them, not a third party. You’ll document the damage (photos are essential), submit through their claims portal or by phone, and a dedicated claims specialist is assigned to your case. Most reviewers praise the responsiveness of the claims team and the clarity of communication throughout the process.

How Long Does It Take to Get Paid?

There is no responsible universal claim-payment timeline I can give you. Timing depends on the type and severity of loss, documentation, adjuster involvement, coverage questions and whether repairs or business-income calculations are involved. Proper provides claims reporting and claims support, but you should judge a claim on the actual policy terms and circumstances rather than expecting a specific number of days based on an online review.

Real Customer Claims Experiences

The Trustpilot and BBB reviews paint a generally positive picture when it comes to claims. Recurring themes in positive reviews include agents who “walked me through every step,” settlements that covered the full replacement cost, and claims specialists who genuinely advocated for coverage rather than looking for reasons to deny it. The in-house model shows up clearly in the reviews — there’s a personal accountability that you don’t get with TPA-managed claims.

Proper Insurance Complaints & Negative Reviews

No insurance review is useful if it only repeats the company’s selling points. The recurring concerns I would investigate before buying Proper are premium level, renewal increases, underwriting requirements, exclusions, and the details of individual claim disputes. At the same time, Proper is currently BBB Accredited with an A+ rating and has strong ratings on other major review platforms. That context matters: complaints exist, but they should be weighed against the size of the customer base and the overall review pattern.

Every insurance company has unhappy customers, and Proper is no exception. Here’s what the negative reviews actually say — and how to weigh them.

Common Complaints on Trustpilot, BBB & Reddit

• Premium increases at renewal: Some long-term policyholders report significant year-over-year premium increases, which they attribute to broad market conditions rather than their own claims history. This is an industry-wide issue but frustrating nonetheless.
• Coverage denials on specific exclusions: A handful of reviews reference claim denials related to flood, earthquake, or situations that fell outside policy terms. These appear to be genuine exclusion-based denials rather than bad-faith handling — but they reinforce the importance of reading your policy carefully.
• Cancellation friction: A few reviews mention frustration around cancellation processes, particularly when a property was being held off-market temporarily.
• Price sensitivity: The most common “complaint” is simply that Proper is expensive. For hosts on tighter margins, the premium can feel hard to justify until they actually need to use it.

How Proper Responds to Complaints

To their credit, Proper Insurance actively responds to complaints on BBB and Trustpilot. Their responses are typically personal and substantive — not boilerplate deflections. This matters from an E-E-A-T and trust perspective, and it suggests a company culture that takes service reputation seriously.

Bottom line on complaints: The volume of complaints is low relative to 200,000+ policies. The nature of the complaints is mostly pricing and exclusion-related — not bad-faith claims handling. That’s a reasonably clean record for an insurance company at this scale.

Proper Insurance vs. Competitors

Proper Insurance vs. CBIZ Vacation Rental Insurance

CBIZ is Proper’s most direct competitor. CBIZ covers a wider range of property types and has been in the market longer, but their coverage limits on specific items (medical fees capped at $5,000, for example) reveal gaps that Proper doesn’t have. Proper’s guest damage coverage has no per-incident cap; CBIZ’s does. Proper generally wins on coverage breadth; CBIZ can win on price for lower-value properties.

Proper Insurance vs. Steadily

Steadily is an insurance agency focused on rental-property investors and has a faster quote process. Their rates are competitive ($2,000–$3,000 for many markets), and they’ve built a strong following among real estate investors. However, Steadily’s STR-specific endorsements don’t match Proper’s depth — particularly on amenity liability, bed bugs, and squatter coverage.

Proper Insurance vs. Airbnb AirCover & VRBO’s $1M Liability

This comparison comes up constantly, and it’s worth being direct: Airbnb’s Host damage protection is not an insurance policy; AirCover also includes separate Host liability insurance. Platform protection should not be treated as a substitute for reviewing the property’s underlying insurance. They’re host guarantee programs with significant limitations, exclusions, and no regulatory oversight as insurance products. They don’t replace your property coverage, don’t cover business income, and have been the subject of numerous complaints about denied host protection claims. Treat them as a bonus layer, not a substitute for a dedicated policy.

Proper Insurance vs. Your Homeowners Policy

This is perhaps the most important comparison. A standard HO policy has a “business activity exclusion” that kicks in the moment a paying guest is on your property. Guest-caused damage, commercial liability, and business income are all effectively uncovered under a standard HO policy used for STR. Proper was built specifically to fill this gap. The question isn’t whether Proper is better than your HO policy for STR use — it clearly is. The question is whether the cost is justified for your specific situation.

Is Proper Insurance Legitimate?

Yes — unambiguously. Proper Insurance is a licensed property and casualty insurance agency operating in all 50 states, backed by Lloyd’s of London underwriting, holding an A- (Excellent) A.M. Best rating through its carriers, and accredited by the Better Business Bureau. They have 200,000+ policies in force and a documented claims history. There is no credible basis for questioning their legitimacy as an insurer.

The more nuanced question — “is it the right insurer for me?” — is where the answer gets situational. See below.

Who Is Proper Insurance Best For?

Proper Insurance is an excellent fit if you:

• Own a property listed full-time (or most of the year) on Airbnb, VRBO, or a similar platform
• Have a property worth $300,000 or more in replacement cost
• Earn meaningful rental income and can’t afford prolonged interruption
• Own amenities like a pool, hot tub, or offer bikes/kayaks to guests
• Operate through an LLC or as a business entity
• Manage multiple STR properties as a co-host or property manager
• Want the broadest possible coverage with no worry about gaps

Proper Insurance may not be the best fit if you:

• Only rent your home a few nights per year (on-demand coverage from a provider like Slice may make more sense)
• Are in a flood or earthquake zone and need bundled natural disaster coverage
• Are working with very tight margins where the premium is hard to absorb
• Own a very low-value property where the premium-to-value ratio doesn’t pencil out

Our Verdict: Is Proper Insurance Worth It?

After looking at everything — coverage, claims, pricing, complaints, and the competitive landscape — here’s our honest take:

Proper offers one of the broadest STR-specific insurance packages I have reviewed. Its combination of property coverage, commercial liability, business-revenue protection and STR-specific features makes it a strong benchmark for serious vacation-rental owners. That does not mean no competing policy can match it for a particular property; coverage and underwriting vary, so the actual quote and policy form should decide the comparison.

The cost is real, and it’s not for everyone. If you rent occasionally, the math may not work. If you’re a full-time host with a property that represents a significant financial asset and regular income, paying more for a policy that actually covers you is the rational choice.

We recommend getting a quote even if you’re not ready to commit — the comparison to your current policy is usually eye-opening.

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Last Updated: March 2026