Air Cover is a scam.

[CatalunyaCasas0]

I would like to propose an investigation dedicated to Airbnb’s shady practices of wooing new hosts to join while providing fraudulent ‘incentives’: 

Airbnb is driving to increase host sign up, but have no host retention plan and their 3 million Air Cover is a scam. 

While Airbnb continues to encourage new hosts to sign on to their platform, their incentive programmes like Air Cover continue to defraud. Hosts should beware of their 'Air Cover' plan which claims to cover up to 3 million Euros but in reality they defraud their hosts, with completely false denial responses and bogus ‘clauses’ to get out of paying any type of coverage. 

Please review the following case below, one of many similar in 2022 that can be provided - and this is only from one agency. 

The following items were declined for reimbursement these are the reasons for denial:

- Coffee table exterior

**[Private conversation removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

LACK OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION? THERE IS A VERY CLEAR PHOTO OF THE BURN DAMAGE. THE PHOTO PROVIDED CANNOT BE MORE EXACT SHOWING EXACTLY THE DAMAGE. SUPPORTING PHOTOS PROVIDED ATTACHED. 

 - Coffee table interior

**[Private conversation removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

- LACK OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION? THERE IS A VERY CLEAR PHOTO OF THE DAMAGE TO THE GLASS, THE GUEST ADMITTED THEY MOVED TO TABLE TO ANOTHER FLOOR OF THE HOUSE (down a tight special staircase!) , AND YOU HAVE A REPAIR QUOTATION. WHAT SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION IS POSSIBLY MISSING? SUPPORTING PHOTOS AND DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED ATTACHED. 

 - Door repair in both doors to terrace and interior.

**[Private conversation removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

 THERE ARE SCREW HOLES IN THE DOOR FRAMES AND THE PHOTOS CLEARLY EVIDENCE THIS!!!! THEY ARE SMALL BUT CLEARLY INDICATED IN THE PHOTOS PROVIDED. SUPPORTING PHOTOS AND DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED ATTACHED. 

- Stairs

**[Private conversation removed in line with the Community Center Guidelines]

DOCUMENTATION DOES NOT SUFFICE? THERE ARE NUMEROUS PHOTOS, THE GUEST BROUGHT A DOG, THE SCRATCHES ARE CLEARLY FROM A DOG, AND AN IN DEPTH AND DETAILED REPAIR QUOTATION WITH A PRICE BREAKDOWN FROM A QUALIFIED CARPENTER STATING EXACTLY WHAT HAS TO BE REPAIRED, HOW IT HAS TO BE REPAIRED, AND THE COST OF REPAIR. ALL HAS BEEN DETAILED VERY THOROUGHLY. SUPPORTING PHOTOS AND DOCUMENTATION PROVIDED ATTACHED - INCLUDING THE DETAILED REPAIR QUOTATION WITH COST ANALYSIS AND PRICE BREAKDOWN.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@CatalunyaCasas0 I would claim on your house insurance and not waste your time with Aircover. The ts and cs of the damage element are clear that it only pays out at the whim of Airbnb.

[CatalunyaCasas0]

Yeah I get that. I just want to make as many people possible aware that even though you provide EXACTLY what they are looking for,  with all the proof necessary, they still make invalid excuses not to pay and there is nothing you can do about it because their terms & conditions state they can do what they want. It's a joke. They should not be advertising up to 3 million Air Cover because it's a marketing scam. Instead, I will try and get some media coverage with this. 

[Katie1363]

It is absolutely a scam / marketing ploy - I'm two months into the same situation you found yourself in and there is no support from Airbnb - nothing is set up to actually support hosts.. I'm assuming some day they will be sued for the way they have treated us because everything they claim on their website about Air Cover is a lie.

[Brittini0]

It is a complete SCAM!! 

I want to start a class action lawsuit!! 

26 seconds ago

I have had an almost identical situation but it’s now been MONTHS that the air coverage revolutions team has had my case and co to use to do nothing to support me in a resolution. It’s been 3 months and they continue to say “they’re still reviewing my case” yet they imposed a very tight deadline for me to provide all of the following proof for the damage:

- before/after photos 

- original receipts

-replacement receipts 

- professional incident reports 

- professional repair reports (some items they asked for THREE different professional quotes) 

- age of item 

after complying with all requests they’ve offered zero progress or resolution or reimbursement for thousands of dollars worth of damage that my very first Airbnb guest did to my home and my property. It’s crippling to hosts who trust this system to protect them when things go wrong because ever since the new air coverage platform was launched- it’s evident they were trained to evade hosts and not provide legitimate payouts for incidentals. 

[Susie117]

Nope, there is nothing good to say about Aircover, it is a scam. I was an insurance adjuster in my past life, so I know how insurance works.

If you are very, very lucky, they may pay 50% of your claim and then radio silence. No explanation, no accounting, nothing, just case closed. However, in order to get that 50%, you must file your claim immediately because they will drag their feet and send generic copy-and-paste messages until either they finally wear you down and you simply give up in frustration, or it goes past the 30 days and they say your claim is no longer valid.

Unlike with a proper insurance company, where you will be assigned one adjuster to handle your claim all the way through, you will have an average of 10 different agents trying to handle the same claim. They will pass it on from agent to agent, many of whom do not speak English and use an online translation program that is often not accurate, which makes it frustrating as the agents do not listen or read carefully to what you are saying and they have clearly been trained to NOT pay up. Each new agent comes on and you will frustratingly have to repeat the whole thing over again, until they eventually say "oops my shift is ending now, I will have to get back to you" ......and then they don't, they pass it on to someone else and you start from square one again. They will even often get confused as to if you are the guest or the host.

Sometimes they will say "I'm going to forward your case to a member of our team who's in a better position to resolve this for you". However, you will NOT find the next person any more informed or helpful than the last person, albeit, the copy and pastes faver complimentary flowery language meant to fool you.

They will try to placate you by saying "You are a Superhost and a valued member of our community" yada yada. Please know that YOU ARE NOT a valued Airbnb host, none of us are. Airbnb is simply a vehicle to get bookings, as I said earlier do not expect them to be on your team, you must manage your expectations.

I have been on Airbnb with 5 properties for over 10 years and a consecutive Superhost for as long as they have had that system, which means nothing to Airbnb. The few times I have had claims with them they follow the exact same process I mentioned above. I am only two weeks into my current claim and I am already just ready to surrender (clearly the AirCover systems preference). The almost $2500 they owe me on this claim, for which I have photographs, receipts, witnesses and documentation is almost not worth the frustration.

As I said, it is a decent platform to get bookings but don't plan on Airbnb being there for you if you have challenges, you are on your own with that. Sorry, this is just the nature of the beast, 90% of my guests are wonderful, so I just have to focus on those.

I have been advised to report them to the Texas Insurance Board which I may well do. Maybe it will help them to finally step up and do the right thing, but it would take many of us doing that for this to happen.

[Elaine701]

@Susie117 

I think most seasoned hosts know very well that "AirCover" is just a facade. I avoid AirBnb support whenever possible, and would never again attempt a claim via "AirCover". Waste of time. And it has consequences. I have insurance. That works.

But with all due respect, it does beg the question of why anyone would continue to attempt to make claims through "AirCover". I can appreciate the first attempt. But why bother with it any further after learning that it's just a facade? 

Yet I also appreciate that it's ethically questionable in the first place. I'm sure it attracts would-be hosts with a [false] sense of security in listing on AirBnb, but any host who has any experience listing an STR on ANY platform, you already know that you're largely on your own - it doesn't matter what platform. It's just the nature of the beast.

[Bernd67]

Well, I had a situation where a family did a lot of damage and many things went missing. When we returned from our vacation they had not even moved out and there were crack pipes in the living room etc. all in all it was pretty clear that the couple was gang related and there was a lot of damage. Airbnb told me they can’t do anything if I don’t file a complaint against them which would be shared with the them. Who in his right mind would write a complaint about someone who is gang related? We had several hundreds of dollar in damage. I asked Airbnb if they would at least flag the couple. Their response was that they can only do so if I file an official report. So they are still moving around  I guess taking advantage of the next host. And if they dont want any retributions this goes on and on… And this is just another version of none existing air cover. Btw. We are super hosts for eight years with hundreds of bookings. 

[Helen3]

It's awful that these guests damaged your property @Bernd67 . In retrospect when you vetted these guests as part of your booking process was there anything about their booking process that led to any concerns? 

i don't know what evidence you have that the family was involved in local gang activity ? (Presuming these guests must be local) 

but how would you expect Airbnb to adjudicate a claim for damages if you don't follow their policy and raise your claim with the guests first. Airbnb can't just pay out your claim on your say so.

if you don't want to contact your previous guests about the damage they caused you could put in a claim with your home insurance for short term lets ?

[Michael9204]

Air cover is a fraud. Airbnb is a fraud! They do everything to deny a claim.