Answers to common questions about Safely’s liability programs. For more detailed information, please review the policy documents received after your initial sign up or from your recent renewal period.
Each claim is reviewed individually on its own merit. As with any claim, the claim agent makes a final determination. Our guidance is based on Safely's interpretation of the policy based on prior claims.
What are the key features of Safely’s liability coverage?
- Med Pay: Liability coverage includes $1,000 of "med-pay". This is non-liability coverage that we provide to help the guest offset out-of-pocket expenses as the result of an injury. It does not require liability on the part of the property manager.
An example of how Med Pay can be used: A guest goes to the emergency room as the result of an injury during their stay and they have to pay a deductible under their medical insurance; we can provide the guest with up to $1,000 of med-pay payments to help off-set this out of pocket cost.
- Legal Defense: Legal defense is provided under liability coverage. The cost of this legal defense is in addition to the coverage provided under the policy. This means if your policy has a $1M liability limit and Safely incurs $100,000 in legal costs to litigate the liability claim on your behalf, the legal costs are not deducted from the $1M in liability coverage.
- Coordination with Other Insurance Policies: In a liability claim, if the PM has other insurance policies that also have coverage for the type of loss involved, Safely will work with those agencies to get the claim resolved.
- Guest Bodily Injury: Our liability coverage is NOT a bodily injury policy for the guest*. A "bodily injury" policy covers injury regardless of liability. This is what one expects of medical insurance policies. Safely's policy covers the PM's liability for the guest injury. If the PM is not liable, the guest's injury is not covered by Safely.
- Bed Bugs: If your Safely policy includes liability AND contents damage coverage, it also includes Bed Bug coverage.
- The limit of bed bug coverage is included in the contents limit of the policy.
- The policy also limits coverage to 2 bed bug claims for each individual property during the master policy year.
The Bed Bug coverage includes the following:
- Loss of use of a premises which shall be calculated based on the rental value under a typical “rental agreement” for the period the premises could not be rented.
- Expenses incurred by a licensed professional exterminator to treat the infested premises; and expenses of relocating a “guest” if there is an active “rental agreement” at the time of the “verified bed bug infestation”.
To file a bed bug claim, a professional, third-party service must be used to confirm a bed bug infestation and provide remediation. We will require an official report for our claim evaluation process.
When do I need to submit a Liability Claim?
- To get the full benefit of the Safely policy, we recommend submitting a claim whenever you become aware that a guest was injured on the property or has sought medical attention. By submitting a claim immediately, Safely can collect information from the guest about their injury and provide up to $1,000 of Med Pay as a benefit to your guest.
- Under the terms of the policy, you must file a claim within 60 calendar days of constructive notice from the injured party or their representative of a claim. For example, if a PM is served with a demand letter from an attorney representing a guest, they have 60 calendar days from that time to notify us of the claim. However, we highly suggest you submit the claim as soon as you receive any notice or demand letter from an attorney.
What is not included under Liability coverage?
Coverage is excluded in the case of bodily injury or property damage to other’s property resulting from any of the following:
- That is expected or intended from the standpoint of the insured.
- Related to use of recreational equipment (e.g. ATVs, golf cart, bikes, kayaks).
- Related to the use of Transportation Vehicles and Autos.
- Resulting from a failure to maintain the property.
- Resulting from Formal Events.
- Resulting from pollution.
- Related to pets, including bites.
- Resulting from viruses, bacteria, mold, or fungi.
- Related to invasion of privacy or dishonest acts.
- Resulting from the recording and distribution of material or information in violation of the law.
- Injuries a guest causes to another guest.
- Damages that a guest causes to neighbors, or property not maintained by the named insured.
- Host/Owners can offer alcohol, but our policy will not be responsible for liability that arises from the distribution of alcohol.
- Resulting from acts of terrorism.
*What is Safely’s Fortress program?
Fortress is a monthly liability-only program. The program extends liability cover to the property owner in addition to the property manager (e.g. the named insured). The program is billed monthly, and coverage is applied only to paid reservations. The program provides the same liability protections offered under the standard Safely liability coverage; but extended to the property owners as well
For more detailed information, please review the policy documents received after your initial sign up or from your recent renewal period.
For information about Safely's damage coverage click here.