We are superhost for over 5 years with 2 units. Last month a guest in our 2BR Haus burned a pizza all night.
The smoke damages have been removed by a .... company for both units. We moved our next guests to the nearby Marriott for 5 nights. At the end $21,000 later we claimed the host guarantee with AirBnB. The claim was denied after a 3 weeks wait in fist place, because we did not file it before the next guest moved in the same day the damages happened. Well, as this rule makes sense to be sure who is responsible for the damage, in our case it was prooven by a police and fire department report and the witness of our other guest in the Studio, which discovered the smoke in first place.
After back and force with AirBnB resolution center and asking for escalating the case to a management level - we received a final decision:
quote: Robin W: ”My manager has reviewed and approved this case denial."
For us it looks like AirBnB uses the Host Guarantee as a marketing tool only, not serious about actually helping a host.
Luckily we got reimburse from our short time rental insurance Foremost, but short of $1,000 deductible. The insurance claim was fast, professional and with no back and forth handled. I wish AirBnB can live up to their promised guarantee and reimburse us the $1,000 insurance deductible. We are sending another request for the deductible reimbursement and will keep you posted what happens next.
Dena & Helmut, CherryHill Haus & Studio, Flagstaff, AZ