Safely

Safely is an insurance and risk platform for the short-term and vacation rental market. It bundles guest screening, guest-caused damage coverage, limited liability coverage of up to $1,000,000 and direct integrations with property management systems (PMS), applying coverage automatically to eligible reservations. Its product portfolio also includes Fortress, a portfolio-wide liability product intended to close gaps in homeowners' personal insurance policies; travel insurance sold to guests at checkout; chargeback protection against fraudulent or disputed guest charges; and loss-of-income coverage for booking revenue lost while a damaged property is out of service.

The Safely Protection Policy covers intentional and accidental guest-caused damage, host liability for guest injury up to $1,000,000, pet-caused damage including at pet-friendly properties, and theft by guests. Claims must be filed within 60 days of checkout and are submitted with photos, a receipt or estimate and a short description; the company states most claims are paid within one week. Claims-related information is provided by On Demand Insurance Agency, LLC.

Guest screening verifies guest identity and cross-references county and court records, national and criminal databases, Europol, Interpol, sex offender lists and other international watchlists, plus the SafelyScore, a proprietary database of stays in which guests caused damage to a rental. Results are returned to the operator, who decides whether to accept or cancel the reservation; adverse decisions follow Fair Credit Reporting Act notification requirements. Screening starts at $5 per screening, or $0.50 per night when combined with the Safely Protection Policy.

Founding story

Safely was founded to address a gap in the short-term rental market after co-founder Andrew Bate observed that owners of secondary homes were leaving them empty for as much as 48 weeks a year out of concern about renting to strangers found online. Bate assembled a team spanning travel, insurance, technology and data science to build a product intended to improve the likelihood of a safe stay and to protect homeowners and property managers when problems occurred.

Business model

Safely sells protection and screening products to short-term rental operators, integrated into their property management systems so coverage and screening are applied per reservation. Offerings are tiered by portfolio size: a property manager program for operators with 10 or more homes, a Fast Growth Program for operators with one to nine homes, and a partner/platform channel through which other companies can offer Safely products to their own customers.

Per-transaction and per-stay pricing: guest screening starts at $5 per screening, or $0.50 per night when purchased together with the Safely Protection Policy, alongside insurance and protection products attached to eligible reservations.

Traction

The company states it has protected over $325 billion in liability across more than seven million guest nights, and publishes customer testimonials from vacation rental managers and homeowners across US markets.

Latest developments

Safely's current product lineup spans short-term rental insurance, the Fortress portfolio-wide liability product, automated guest screening, guest travel insurance, chargeback protection and loss-of-income coverage, with native integrations into leading property management systems. The leadership team is led by CEO Mark Neville, with Samit Gaur as Chief Technology Officer and executives covering business development, finance, accounting, claims, underwriting and customer onboarding.