Assurant Damage Insurance

I’m curious if anyone has used Assurant for damage protection and if so, how did you structure the use to charge the guest. My website is hosted by MyVr and they added in the option for owners to utilize Assurant for damage protection along with or in lieu of a damage deposit. I normally charge a $500 deposit but now that VRBO and AirBnB won’t be collecting this fee when a guest books, I"m thinking of adding this insurance in as a fee. I just had my first experience with a guest breaking a window and I’ll have to claim against his deposit on VRBO. What damage I get normally is small and usually something we can fix.

It’s awkward to collect fees post-booking on Airbnb, plus guests hate it. Can’t you just include it in your nightly rate?

1 Like

Airbnb have never, to my knowledge, collected the security deposit.

VRBO changed the way they do it recently, instead of actually charging the guests the deposit on booking, they say they will charge the guests card post stay, if any issues arise, so technically they are still collecting it. Funny thing is I can’t find any info on this updated policy, will have a proper search later.

We use VRBO as a payment processor, so if you process payments yourself it may be different.

JF

Found it.

After a guest checks out, you will have 14 days to assess the property and file a damage claim. We will make every effort to process your request and collect damages from your guest using their card on file. Most claims are processed immediately and the money is deposited into your account within 3-7 business days. In the unlikely event that the money cannot be collected from your guest, we are committed to supporting you by helping cover the cost of your claim. We retain the right to withhold a payout for claims that cannot be verified.

https://help.homeaway.co.uk/articles/How-do-I-file-a-damage-deposit-claim?_ga=2.31074751.1801884237.1593161166-1868574392.1590334997

JF

I submitted my claim on VRBO against the guests deposit. What I didn’t realize or think about is that VRBO hadn’t charged the damage deposit to the guest so the amount I submitted for was reduced by their credit card processing fee. This guy booked in Nov 2019 so I thought they’d charged the deposit back then since they’d recently announced the change. Guess they started earlier with this process. A real bummer to learn after the fact.

I have found a few listings that have the insurance fee stated on VRBO. However, I have not been able to find any VRBO listings that state the insurance fee that are also on AirBnB. I’d like to have the same rates/fees across the platforms but that doesn’t seem possible with how AirBnB runs things.

Can you explain why you can’t you just roll it into your nightly rate on BOTH platforms? The only disadvantage would be that the guest would have to pay taxes and fees on top of the insurance, but unless that actually lowers your occupancy, you shouldn’t worry about it.