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I am new to the forum, but an experienced host (4 houses, 2 we own, and 2 I manage for family members), have been on AirBNB for 3 years, VRBO for 5 years.
I am curious about your experience with the resolution process.
We have always had a “pulling teeth” feeling when a guest denies our damage claim, and AirBNB is involved, but I am wondering how often they are approving / denying claims, when they are involved.
If you wouldn’t mind - either here or in the PM, I would super appreciate knowing
if you’ve made a claim against a guest for damage, how many have you made?
how often did the guest “accept” and how often did you escalate to AirBNB,
and then 3) how often AirBNB gave you what you were asking for, or denied you (and why they denied you).
I get the sense they are playing “hide the ball” because this most recent time we’re dealing with them, there seem to be a magical new set of requirements, which they won’t provide documentation for, on which they are denying our claim - and I am curious if this is an experience that other, similarly situated hosts share?
Thanks in advance, looking forward to your feedback, and happy to be here and meeting other hosts!
I have made a claim via the resolution centre where the guest did not accept the amount claimed. For total transparency it was an umbrella that the guest stole. And yes they did steal it because they kindly placed their broken umbrella in place of mine and hoped I wouldn’t notice the swap. Claimed £10 via air to buy a replacement. (It was a totes umbrella). Guest decided they only wanted to pay £3. Air sided with the guest. I don’t know anywhere in London you can buy an umbrella for £3 so essentially I was left out of pocket. Small claim yes, but it immediately made me concerned about larger claims where the guest denies fault. I don’t have confidence in the process at all.
All attempts to find out how the decision was made were completely closed down, after my third attempt to try and get further information on the decision making process I was told ‘we will not discuss this further’. The total lack of transparency also made me incredibly uncomfortable.
For me the process didn’t make sense and was incredibly frustrating as it didn’t match my expectations based on what I’ve read about the host guarantee. I find it incredible that decisions can be made without allowing you to ask reasonable questions about how or why they came to that amount.
I subsequently asked Airbnb what would happen if a guest broke an expensive piece of furniture (for example I have an expensive designer perspex table) and the guest decided they only wanted to pay a fraction of its value (say £30 where the table is actually worth £250). They weren’t able to satisfy me suficiently that the process wouldn’t fail again.
In terms of trust in the company, it’s gone from really high (around 8-9 out of 10) to around 4.
I’m always surprised the issue about claims against their so called guarantee isn’t discussed raised at the annual meet up. @Zandra I think you went to one - was there any discussion around transparency around the decision making/process for the guarantee or when there are problem guests.
I appreciate Airbnb have a process but it seems that hosts rarely get anything like the full amount of their claim.
Of course we only likely to see unhappy claimants on forums.
@HostingPalmSprings I haven’t had to make a claim and for anything sizeable I would rely on my home insurance which has a like for like replacement policy. I really don’t understand why so many hosts don’t have home insurance to cover short term lets. I think Airbnb should include a reminder when hosts set up their profiles that they should check with their home insurance provider to ensure it covers short term lets or take out a specialist policy.
I also think its ridiculous that Airbnb say you need to report losses/damages to the police for a claim to be valid…I can just image …hello local police person, I know you are busy dealing with muggings, murders and mayhem but please can I report some damage to my table so I can make a claim on the Airbnb guarantee…Idiots.
I suspect most hosts do not have homeowners insurance that covers STR – MOST insurance companies in America do not, btw! Or, the deductable is so large that it’s not worth filing a claim for an umbrella!
If you don’t have specific insurance covering STR in your place, you are no doubt operating illegally in your city/county/state, and can expect the worst if you do try to file a claim.
IMHO AirBnb should be acting as a “small claims” department, for proven (photographic before/after evidence) damages under say $500.
Hosts, I strongly urge everyone to take close up photos of tables and any other items in your rental which can be damaged by guests; that way you have “before” evidence of what the item looked like, and can take “after” photos from the same viewpoint if something does happen As ‘camera happy’ as folks have become since the advent of the cellphone, this should not be a difficult task.
It’s all well and good saying go and claim from your insurance; I therefore don’t really understand what the host guarantee is about. Fooling people into thinking that Airbnb is a safe environment to host? Claiming from your home insurance should be a last resort. Why? Because claims on your insurance affect your premiums. Yes we should all have insurance in place but to be honest we should never be put in a position by Airbnb where we have to claim…
Not an option in a one bedroom flat with no outside storage. Unless I gut my flat and re-furnish it. First and foremost this is my home… which I sometimes share and I’m not in a position to have class B furniture just for guests.
As the Host Guarantee doesn’t cover shared or common areas and has limited protection for collectibles, I don’t think they would cover damage to your table.
What’s not protected?
The Host Guarantee should not be considered a replacement or stand-in for homeowners or renters insurance. The Host Guarantee does not protect:
cash and securities
pets
personal liability
shared or common areas
Certain types of property–such as jewelry, collectibles, and artwork–have more limited protections. Hosts may want to secure or remove such valuables when renting their place, and may want to consider independent insurance to cover such items. The Host Guarantee does not protect against reasonable wear and tear.
Here in the U.S. there are big downsides to putting in insurance claims. In the short term your premium will probably increase and your policy may be cancelled for making claims. As one of the questions when applying for an insurance policy is have you put in any claims in the last year; it can be difficult to replace the cancelled policy.
In the long term, putting in claims can make it difficult or impossible to sell the property.
Helsi, I get the sense their intention with the reporting timelines is punitive - because they have tried to deny my claims based on both the 48 hour window AND based on saying I didn’t make the claim before my next guest arrived (which was the same day!).
Just because I was able to host another guest, doesn’t mean the first guest’s damage wasn’t real!
It also seems like they are inconsistent - for example, I have never been asked for a police report - but it seems like they are denying some people based on that?
You are right - Airbnb are a nightmare and not having a consistent approach makes it difficult for hosts to understand how the ‘guarantee’ works.
The reason I have insurance is that my most expensive/valuable items are in my shared space. Airbnb certainly don’t make it clear in their advertising blurb that these areas aren’t covered.
I appreciate @Zandra that claims can affect premiums but when you look at the large scale damage some hosts incur I would rather have a higher insurance rate then be liable for thousands and thousands because I relied on a so called guarantee that isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
Personally, I would think long and hard before putting in a claim with my homeowner insurance. This isn’t because of the increased premium. It’s because it can be difficult to sell a house with a history of claims.
