Insurance Requirements: Martinez vs Oakley

Does Martinez require a short-term rental host to carry liability insurance?

No. Martinez has not adopted a short-term rental ordinance and does not impose a minimum liability-insurance amount, certificate-of-insurance filing, or additional-insured requirement on STR operators. Any insurance condition would only arise case-by-case through a bed-and-breakfast or conditional use approval under Section 22.04.051.

Does California state law require STR insurance?

No. California does not have a statewide minimum liability-insurance requirement for short-term rentals. AB 2873 (2022) is unrelated - it addresses affordable-housing tax credit allocation and supplier diversity, not STR insurance. Any STR insurance minimum comes from the local city or county, and Martinez has not adopted one.

Will my homeowner's policy cover Airbnb or Vrbo guests?

Usually not. A standard homeowner's policy typically treats paid short-term lodging as a business use and may deny claims tied to a paying guest. Most hosts purchase a dedicated short-term rental policy or commercial landlord policy, often with $1 million per-occurrence liability. Platform programs like Airbnb's AirCover supplement rather than replace a host's own primary coverage.

Does Oakley require a specific amount of liability insurance for a short-term rental?

Oakley Municipal Code Chapter 5.15 does not set a specific dollar minimum for STR liability insurance. The chapter instead makes the owner personally responsible for all guest and occupant conduct, so most hosts carry an STR-specific policy or rely on a hosting platform that provides primary host liability coverage (commonly up to $1,000,000).

Will my regular homeowner's policy cover my Oakley short-term rental?

Usually not. Standard homeowner's and renter's policies typically exclude short-term/transient rental activity. California state law requires hosting platforms to advise hosts to review their policy for short-term rental restrictions, and most Oakley hosts add a short-term rental endorsement, a landlord policy with STR coverage, or rely on a platform's host liability insurance.