Dear Hosts,
I have been a host for many years and recently found myself in a situation where a group of guests caused considerable damage to my property.
I submitted my request to Airbnb on time and according to guidelines and after two weeks of back and forth where Airbnb asked me to provide a sizeable amount of documents to prove the damage, I was told that my Host Guarantee payment request had been declined as it was not possible to determine the guest's liability for the damages.
This is more than disappointing as it means that unless you can prove your guest was directly responsible for the damage (by taking a picture of the damage while it is happening? by installing CCTVs in your property?) Airbnb will not cover you. When I raised this point I was told that they are sorry but Airbnb reserves the right to make the final determination with regard to these disputes.
What this tells me is that the Airbnb Host Guarantee is not exactly what they lead us to believe and the deposit they hold for you (which should be held on your behalf exactly for situations like this one) is little more than a joke.
I do not feel as safe leaving my house in the hands of strangers which could damage it without consequences.
Please be careful and assume that Airbnb will not cover for your damages and take extra precautions to protect your property.
If anyone else had similar experiences please share!
Valentina