Airbnb introduces weather insurance / Tourists may receive compensation for rain affecting their holiday

Airbnb will introduce, in partnership with insurer Chubb, a weather insurance option for tourists who make bookings through the platform. The service will initially be available in Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden, and will cover both domestic and international trips.

The insurance can be added at the time of booking. Eligible customers will receive daily compensation ranging from €50 to €1,000 if at least 1.5 millimetres of precipitation per hour is recorded at the accommodation address, between 8:00 and 20:00, for the minimum number of hours specified in the policy.

The compensation amount and time threshold will vary depending on the country and the policy terms. Weather monitoring will be carried out automatically, based on data provided by NASA, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and NOAA. As a result, tourists will not need to provide evidence and will be notified if they meet the conditions for compensation.

Airbnb says the new service would allow guests to recover part of their costs when rain affects their holiday. However, the platform is not the only company offering such a product. WeatherPromise, launched in 2022, provides similar insurance calculated according to the accommodation address, the travel period and its cost.