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

The Development Code STR conditions require every permitted operator to maintain liability insurance naming the City of San Bernardino as an additional insured on request, with a minimum single-occurrence limit commonly set at 500,000 dollars and an aggregate limit of 1,000,000 dollars. Standard HO-3 homeowner policies contain a business activity exclusion that voids coverage when the dwelling is rented for periods under 30 days on a regular basis, so a specialized short-term rental policy or a commercial general liability endorsement is required. Airbnb Host Liability Insurance and VRBO Liability Insurance provide platform-level coverage during active bookings, but both are secondary to the operator policy and do not satisfy the city requirement on their own. Operators should verify that the policy covers dog bites, pool or hot tub incidents, carbon monoxide exposure, and guest injury on stairs, since these account for the majority of STR claims. California Civil Code 1714 general negligence rules apply, and a waiver signed by the guest does not fully shield the host. Proof of insurance must be uploaded to the STR registration portal on annual renewal. Lapses in coverage automatically suspend the permit. HOA units have an additional master-policy verification step to ensure association coverage is not impaired by STR use.