You probably remember the viral incident last year involving a guest who left a host’s house with RM50,000 worth of damage.
It’s any host’s nightmare brought to reality to find most of their furniture smashed with garbage strewn about all around.
This isn’t the first time incidents like this have been reported. There have been numerous cases globally involving loss and damage happening to short-stay homes which adds a burden to the host when renting out their property.
And despite the increasing demand in the short-stay market in Malaysia, there aren’t a lot of options for hosts to protect their property and themselves from such occurrences.
This is where HostAStay comes in, a homegrown short-stay management platform. Just today, they announced a partnership with a leading insurance player to bring a solution to the market called HostProtect.
Covering For Unfortunate Incidents
HostProtect is a one-of-a-kind insurance plan curated for hosts who utilise the HostAStay platform to manage their short-stay businesses.
The product was created from a collaboration between HostAStay and Tune Protect Malaysia, a licensed insurer with a comprehensive range of general insurance solutions to serve multiple consumers.
“Tune Protect Malaysia is proud to work with a progressive company such as HostAStay to offer another innovative value added insurance plan to customers, giving them peace of mind,” said Khoo Ai Lin, CEO of Tune Protect Malaysia.
During the development phase, the two companies worked closely and gathered some valuable insights on two main concerns that hosts face in the industry:
- Fear of loss and damage to home contents.
Many hosts worry that bad things could happen inside their property whilst they’re not around, which holds them back from investing in better quality furniture or fixtures. This impacts the desirability of their short-stay properties and also prevents them from participating in the short-term sharing economy altogether.
- Safety of guests and other third parties.
Although the main concern involves items being destroyed or lost, they’re at least replaceable.
With guests, anything could happen. Hosts have to prepare themselves for the possibility of facing lawsuits from accidents or unintended oversights that could lead to more trouble than gain.
“When our surveys showed that 81% of people are very worried about their unit after renting it out, myself among them, I realised it was important to bring a risk-free experience to the properties using our platform,” said Jordan Oon, CEO of HostAStay.
The Whats And Hows Of HostProtect
To address these concerns, the HostProtect service includes coverage for any loss or damage to the contents in your properties of up to RM30,000 per household. This includes theft, fire damage, flood damage, accidental damage, and general loss or damage to property.
Aside from that, the plan also covers for legal liability to guests staying in the properties of up to RM50,000 per incident that are managed by HostAStay’s host. This includes accidental death, accidental bodily injury, food and drink poisoning, accidental property damage, and loss or damage to guest’s content.
As this service is only available for all properties managed by HostAStay, it can’t be purchased separately from the HostAStay system platform.
But as long as you’re paying for the standard package which has a one-time lump sum payment of RM599 for a year’s subscription to their management platform, the property is automatically eligible for the HostProtect service.
“Our end goal is to give all our clients peace of mind when it comes to their property. We’re very proud to be Malaysia’s first short-stay protection and solutions provider,” said Jordan.
The Future Of The Short-stay Market
Travellers, tourists and guests have many choices when it comes to insurance plans protecting them. It was only a matter of time that a viable option for the other side, i.e. the hosts themselves, would appear in the market.
HostAStay believes that with this added coverage, more hosts would be keen on exploring this sharing economy model to further improve the short-stay industry here in Malaysia, which HostAStay estimates to be worth between US$10 to US$14 billion by 2025.
For Jordan, this launch is another stepping stone into the big goals he has set for HostAStay. He is looking forward to the possibilities of expanding into the rest of Southeast Asia while also focusing on building up the short-stay experience in Malaysia.
“We are committed to delivering exceptional experiences and want to provide hosts and travellers the best service. There is no doubt that HostProtect adds incredible value to all parties involved.”
– Jordan
- For more information on HostProtect or to consult with HostAStay on their large range of services, you can visit their website here.
Feature Image Credit: HostAStay
