Help me get paid for guest damages that AirBnB is ignoring and/or not responding to

[Stormy-and0]

I am making this short as AirBnB just expired the conversation I just attempted to post.

I have had several bad guests in the 4 months since we began and they have not paid a penny toward the $10,000 in damages to property and furnishings

the support people close out without even reading anything

or

the support people repeatedly as for submission of things already submitted ~ I'm now on my 4th or 5th with one claim

and

they require contacting the guest immediately through the resolution center and then there is a bad review which Airbnb does nothing about even when it is obviously retaliation because the guest doesn't want to pay

the list goes on ~ ~ ~

do i need to just move to another service?

[Sarah977]

@Stormy-and0  Sorry you are having problems, it's not unusual.

I have to say that having "several" bad guests in the course of 4 months who managed to do $10,000 worth of damage makes it seem like you need to learn to vet your guests better. I know we can all have the misfortune of getting bad guests, but your experiences seem too frequent. Do you read guests past reviews and ask them questions before accepting? 

Yes, the claim process requires that you ask the guest to pay first, and if they refuse, only then can you file a claim. And you have to report damage before the next guest checks in.

There is no guarantee that Airbnb will reimburse you for damages- you need to have your own private str insurance. Their host guarantee is all smoke and mirrors. They are apparently better at paying out for small amounts. $10,000 in 4 months is a lot. 

And yes, that bad guests who do damage and are asked to pay for it can leave bad revenge reviews is a constant topic of complaint and outrage here.

[Helen3]

It's not clear from your posts why Airbnb are turning down multiple claims on its guarantee @Stormy-and0 

1. If you followed Airbnb's rules for submitting a claim and each  claim is for an area covered by it's guarantee - you can pay to go to arbitration via Airbnb  with an independent third party and if you're successful you will get your money back 

2. with such large amounts did you not consider claiming on your own home insurance for STRs when you were unsuccessful with Airbnb

3. Yes it's foolhardy to rely on one marketing channel to run your STR business

i agree with @Sarah977  if you are having multiple problem guests it's worth you reviewing your vetting process . 

[Anonymous]

@Stormy-and0   A careful read of the Host Guarantee makes it pretty clear that it's only useful as a supplement to your private STR insurance plan. Please tell me that you aren't relying on Airbnb to be your insurance.

[Dale711]

Hi @Stormy-and0 ,

Welcome to the community! 

Sorry to hear your experience and understand your’re frustrated.

The short answer is that as an Airbnb host, you do need additional insurance.

Hosting with any real frequency is likely to void your current homeowners policy, and Airbnb's own protection is inadequate.

Unfortunately, standard homeowners, insurance can get extremely tricky when dealing with Airbnb rentals due to the business exculan language in standard policies. Which means in most cases it will not be authorize.

The Host Protection Insurance acts as primacy coverage, so other insurance policies will not be used for claims that are covered under the program.

As an Airbnb host, it's crucial that you have plenty of Protection, as you are having many people come in and out of your renl. While normally things run smoothly, you do not want to run in the issue of an incident occurring and have to deal with the stressful aftermath.

Having the appropriate insurance safeguards, you against these kind of solutions that the Airbnb oragrams do not fully protect against. It's is important to find what works best for you.

The Proper Insurance. 

In the Airbnb help page, where you’ll find articles such as the below.

Host Guaranteed

https://www.airbnb.com/d/guarantee

Host Protection Insurance

https://www.airbnb.com/d/host-protection-insurance

What's the difference between Airbnb's Host Guarantee and Host Protection Insurance?

 https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/938/whats-the-difference-between-airbnbs-host-guarantee-and-host...

Investopedia

Investopedia is the world's leading source of financial content on the web, ranging from market news to retirement strategies, investing education to insights from advisor

Airbnb: Advantages and Disadvantage

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/032814/pros-and-cons-using-airbnb.asp

Do consult with your local insurance agency for additional protection and the insurance procedures.

I hope Airbnb will contact you soon to updated your concern.

[Robin4]

@Stormy-and0 

I have read your reviews over both your listings, not just the guest reviews of you, but your reviews of the guests and the only reference to damage that I can see is a broken chair, presumably broken by a 5 year old child. Where is this $10,000 in damage? It's not mentioned in any of the other reviews you have received or your reviews of your guests. 

Stormy.....and O, I have worked in Airbnb support and I do find these complaints disturbing! Sure support seems to have slipped somewhat over the past 18 months, but your complaint here is one that support has had to deal with for almost a decade!

You are claiming what seems to be $10,000 for a broken chair!

Often we would get a claim from a host for an outdoor setting that a guest had damaged with cigarette burns to the cushions! The host submitted a claim for $2,500 for an equivalent replacement outdoor setting as the cushions were not replaceable....all legitimate, quotes supplied.

What the host did not reveal, he paid $295 for that setting from the local charity op shop for which he is now claiming $2,500 in compensation!!!

Airbnb have a difficult task in sorting out what is legitimate and what is not and I can fully understand why they are balking at entertaining a payout of $10,000 for a chair a child broke!

Cheers........Rob  

[Anonymous]

@Robin4  One review from March mentioned that the host tried to charge the guest $1200 for flooding damage caused by a broken pipe. Without knowing the whole story, this sounds like a home insurance issue beyond the scope of the Host Guarantee  (Limitations & Exclusions: 6.iv)

$10,000 worth of damage claims from an account with only 39 reviews would definitely raise some suspicions. 

[Robin4]

@Anonymous 

Agree entirely, in 5+ years of hosting I haven't racked up a grand, and I have never claimed a solitary cent from Airbnb.

In my time with Directly I spent the best part of a year trying to sort out the Wheat from the chaff.....and there does seem to be a lot of Chaff here Andrew!

I was hoping @Stormy-and0  would come back here and elaborate on what the claim related to so we could be more definitive with our advice.

Cheers.......Rob