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Hello. I was wondering if I could get an idea of what type of things hosts are making claims against Airbnb’s Aircover? How many claims are you averaging a year?
I have 5 properties and make around 10 claims a year, so two per property per year. I have recently started making claims for guests using excessive electricity at one property. I had a 500 USD bill on a 1300 sq foot property and knew I had to figure out a plan to control the costs so now I charge for anything over 80KWH per day.
My concern is that Airbnb may consider canceling my listing if I have too many claims per year on one particular property.
Do hosts believe they keep track and if so it becomes more profitable to cancel a host than handle the claims?
I don’t see it either. I don’t think I ever had one guest agree to pay for damages in 5 years as a host, so the deposit seemed useless. I started writing the guests that I was going to make a claim and they can go ahead and deny it (as I knew they would anyway). It’s better to put it that way to the guests as they don’t get as charged up.
Wow! I’ve never made a claim in over a decade. Perhaps having a homeshare versus a separate unit has made the difference. I had some guests cause a big grease stain on my kitchen ceiling but alas, had gone to direct bill so could not handle that one through Airbnb. Frankly I’ve never heard of anyone having so many claims so I have no idea what Airbnb will do.
Most of my properties have 6 guests per stay so I felt I was being conservative on my claims at 2 per year but maybe I am nitpicking. I was interested to hear what other people are doing. I imagine a homeshare would be much ore respectful in the home
I am not sure. I have an average of 75 bookings a year for. few of these listing so I am not sure 2 claims is a lot. If I required guests with reviews I may not have those claims but I would loose out on 30 percent of reservations. I guess I am hearing so far that 2 claims is excessive.
Most hosts posting here are “one host, one home.” Some have or had more than one listing at their home. However there are only a handful who have 5 separate stand alone properties. So 10 claims a year or 2 per property seems like a lot.
I don’t think anyone here would have a better understanding of what is excessive than Airbnb would. If they are paying out 10 claims a year for one host they must not think it’s excessive.
However my answer to this question:
would be yes. If a host is costing them more than they make then it wouldn’t make business sense for them to keep you.
Are you only listed on Airbnb? If I had whole properties I’d want to have my own website as well as listing on VRBO, Booking dot com and other sites.
Excess electricity usage isn’t what AirCover is for- it’s for damages. If guests’ electric usage is excessive, either raise your prices or charge a refundable deposit for usage over a reasonable base amount.
And while I am also a homeshare host who has never made a claim (started hosting in 2016), I also have several friends who are hosts of entire places and have never made a claim.
It sounds like you need to learn to vet your guests better and stop renting to the kind of animals who put holes in walls.
Yes and no. I had a spate of guests this year who were blatant in their disregard of my house rules and were messy and rude and ruined a few towels and sheets (cost of doing business). I left appropriate reviews and did not enter a claim.
What on earth are you claiming for at 10 per year? I understand the electricity (sort of) but I build that cost into my daily fee.
Wow. None of that here. Perhaps you should turn off IB and vet your guests better? It sounds like lots of parties.
Raise your prices for sure. It sounds like you’re cheap and getting people who don’t value your homes.
This. More control for you, security deposits that are actual deposits, and you will need a lease/guest terms.
Regarding the suggestions to change booking policies (rates, minimums, etc.), Alex4 has a business model that’s working, assuming they’re making a profit – some rowdy guests, damage that that they treat unemotionally as part of doing business, SOP for making claims without causing guest reactivity.
They’ve correctly identified their business risk as sudden Airbnb shutdown if the claims reach a tilt point.
I haven’t seen any info on the inner workings of Airbnb’s formula for identifying excessive claims. So concur with other posters to have alternate platforms. Preemptively filtering guests through higher rates, etc. to reduce claims may or may not be feasible given the competitive environment in the locale.
How many guests are staying per night? It sounds like folks are partying at your listing. From my past experience more than six is a party! I used to host 8 and had many issues. I downsized to 6 and it’s been so much better.
I agree with Rolf. This is my first post but I have hosted two properties for over five years and have had two claims. One was an unauthorized house party during the height of the pandemic. Now I have exterior cameras on that house. Raise your prices because you are getting scofflaw guests.
Hi Alex - While I haven’t had an Aircover claim, I also have 2 full houses on airbnb. Here are my thoughts:
Increase your prices to attract better guests (I use Wheelhouse as my pricing tool and have it set to adjust to the most expensive pricing)
Including in your policies than you’ll be sending a subsequent bill for anything over $XXX in cost and mention that if they decline to reimburse you, you may include a less than favorable review for them.
Install a NEST or similar system so you can control the usage of the HVAC system remotely
