What is a home-sharing endorsement, and does the FAIR Plan have one?

It can do either. In December 2016, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners described two kinds, each drafted by the Insurance Services Office, which writes model forms for insurers.

The first kind spells out what hosting is not covered for. Under it, theft, vandalism, liability and personal injury tied to home sharing are left out, the paper says, while fire, wind and hail damage stay covered.

The second kind gives coverage back. The paper says these add-ons can restore what the exclusion removed, reach other buildings on the lot, widen theft coverage and pay lost rental income.

Insurers sell their own versions too. One insurer's May 2020 California manual, for example, offered a home-sharing add-on that "provides property and liability coverage" when the home is rented to a short-term guest. How a homeowners policy treats paying guests covers the rules underneath.

Yes. The FAIR Plan filed a Home Sharing Endorsement, form CFP 00 01f, with the Department of Insurance on August 25, 2020, under Department file 20-2965. It was part of a rate filing for dwelling policies that the Department approved on September 18, 2020.

Before this filing, the Plan wrote homes used for short-term home sharing for gain under its commercial program, the filing says. The filing proposed to take them into its dwelling program instead.

The form was to be "attached to all Dwelling Property policies," the filing says, from January 1, 2021. The filing's list of forms marks the endorsement as new and mandatory, and as a restriction of coverage, not a broadening.

The endorsement defines home sharing broadly. It counts renting the home or any part of it, or holding it out for rent, for less than 365 days. That holds through a booking site or not, so even a six-month lease counts.

A guest is what it calls a "home-sharing occupant": anyone other than you who agrees to use the home, or part of it, for less than 365 days.

With the endorsement on a policy:

• Your belongings: not covered when a guest damages them, or when they are damaged in the course of hosting.
• Guests' belongings: not covered, even though the base policy covers a guest's things at your request.
• Lost rent: figured as if a long-term tenant lived there, with nothing for bookings you lose.
• Vandalism: if you bought that add-on, it no longer covers damage guests cause or damage from hosting.
• The building: the endorsement leaves its fire coverage alone, since "All other provisions of the policy apply."

No public source says whether the Plan still attaches the endorsement. Its dwelling page, its Plan of Operation and its sample dwelling policy, edition CFP 00 01 (05/2026), never mention home sharing. The endorsement was filed as a separate form, though, so a sample policy would not show it.

Other FAIR Plan pages still draw the same one-year line. The dwelling page names a "Seasonal Rental" occupancy, and the online estimator asks if any part of the home is "rented for less than 365 days."

A January 2021 FAIR Plan application form, still posted on its website, asks the same question. Before you rely on the policy, have the agent or broker handling it tell you in writing whether form CFP 00 01f is attached.

Start with the gap that matters most to a host. A FAIR Plan policy pays nothing if a guest is hurt at the home. It has no liability coverage, with or without the endorsement.

Answer the Plan's rental question accurately. Its policy pays nothing for a loss if an insured person intentionally concealed or misstated a material fact, under its fraud condition.

For coverage that fits hosting, look for one policy that covers the home and the guests, asking standard insurers before specialty insurers. What the FAIR Plan leaves out covers its other gaps, and which policy fits a second home you rent out covers part-time homes.