Cranston, RI Short-Term Rentals: Insurance Requirements (2026)

Neither the Cranston Code of Ordinances nor R.I. Gen. Laws Section 42-63.1-14 (the state STR registration statute) imposes a liability-insurance minimum on hosts. The Cranston rental-registration scheme administered by the Building Inspector's Office requires submission of the tax assessor's plat and lot, the unit address, and the owner or rental-agent contact information, plus payment of a $20 annual registration fee per dwelling unit and a $25 minimum housing inspection fee per STR unit, but it does not call for a certificate of insurance. State-level registration through the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation costs $25 per year and collects identifying information about the unit and operator under Section 42-63.1-14(d); no insurance schedule is included in the rule. Standard homeowner policies often exclude or limit short-term rental activity, so hosts typically rely on commercial general liability or a short-term rental endorsement plus the host-protection programs offered by listing platforms (for example, Airbnb's AirCover or Vrbo's Liability Insurance), but those are private contractual arrangements, not Cranston requirements. Operators remain responsible for state sales- and lodging-tax compliance under R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 44-18 and for the city's posting requirements regardless of whether they carry insurance.