Palm Bay, FL Short-Term Rentals: Insurance Requirements (2026)

The City of Palm Bay has not enacted a short-term rental ordinance, so there is no city certificate-of-insurance filing, named-additional-insured requirement, or minimum coverage limit at the municipal level. Florida Statute 509.032(7)(b) preempts municipalities from enacting STR-only insurance rules after June 1, 2011, and Palm Bay had no pre-2011 ordinance to grandfather. Florida Statute 509.241 and Florida Administrative Code Chapter 61C-3 require any vacation rental advertised or rented for periods of less than 30 days more than three times in a calendar year to hold a Division of Hotels and Restaurants license, but the DBPR license itself does not mandate a specific commercial general liability minimum. Hosting platforms supply some coverage by default: Airbnb's host liability insurance program offers up to $1,000,000 per occurrence for guest bodily injury or property damage to third parties, and Vrbo's liability insurance offers a similar $1,000,000 limit; both are excess to and conditioned on the host's primary policy. Standard Florida HO-3 homeowners policies typically exclude or sharply limit transient/commercial occupancy, so prudent operators carry a dedicated short-term rental policy (Proper Insurance, Steadily, CBIZ, Slice, or similar) or an HO-3 endorsement explicitly permitting STR use, with $1,000,000 per-occurrence general liability and replacement-cost dwelling coverage. Brevard County's Business Tax Receipt application does not require proof of insurance. If the property is in a homeowners or condominium association, the master deed and declarations may impose their own insurance covenants on rentals.