Oakley, CA Short-Term Rentals: Insurance Requirements (2026)

Unlike some California cities that mandate a specific commercial liability minimum (for example $1,000,000 in Los Angeles or $500,000 in San Francisco), Oakley Municipal Code Chapter 5.15 (Short-Term Rentals, Ord. 06-20, May 12, 2020) does not contain a stand-alone subsection requiring proof of a specified amount of general liability insurance as a permit condition. Instead, the chapter takes a personal-responsibility approach: the owner shall be personally responsible for compliance with the requirements of the chapter and shall be subject to any applicable remedies for noncompliance, regardless of whether the noncompliance was committed by the owner, the occupants of the short-term rental unit, or their guests. The owner must also remain available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and must respond within 60 minutes to complaints, which makes prompt incident handling - and the underlying insurance to support it - a practical necessity. At the state level, California law requires hosting platforms (such as Airbnb and Vrbo) to provide hosts with notice that they should review their homeowner's or renter's policy for restrictions on coverage related to short-term rental activity to ensure appropriate coverage. California Government Code Section 65852.2, which governs accessory dwelling units and is sometimes cited in connection with STRs, does not impose STR insurance minimums. (Note: California AB 2873 of the 2023-2024 session, signed into law as Chapter 224, Statutes of 2024, addresses the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee and low-income housing credit business enterprises - it is not a short-term rental insurance bill.) Because standard homeowner policies generally exclude transient/commercial rental use, hosts in Oakley typically need a specialty short-term rental endorsement, a landlord policy with STR coverage, or a hosting platform that provides primary host liability coverage (Airbnb's Host Liability Insurance and Vrbo's Liability Insurance both provide up to $1,000,000 in primary coverage subject to terms). Note that Contra Costa County's Ordinance No. 2020-12 (Chapter 88-32) regulates STRs only in the unincorporated areas of the county and does not apply within the incorporated City of Oakley.