AirCover loopholes and considerations

[David8590]

Wanted to briefly share my experience with attempting to recoup damages from hosting a guest. Should add I am Superhost for context. Real simple... guest failed to close storm door despite sign on door, checkout instructions and house rules(includes warning). The afternoon of check out and next day there was wind storm. 2k+ damages later I was told that I am only covered if they are in house.

Lesson learned is that there is no recourse even if guest fails to secure property. It seems to me this should be a reasonable expectation.
Another thing that you should be aware of if your guest brings an undeclared guest and something happens they are not covered under AirCover. This is in their terms but unless you are actively monitoring the ins and outs at all hours and time you are exposed with no recourse.

Naturally you should carry your own policy with landlord coverage but... with deductible of 500, 1000 or more it becomes a more painful experience than the AirCover presentation would like to lead you to believe.
You can no longer secure a security deposit so that leaves you with only AirCover. After going through it I realized that Airbnb has put themselves in position of judge, jury and executioner. With an obvious conflict of interest if you believe they are guest biased I wonder about the fairness of it at all.

Food for thought

[Sudsrung0]

@David8590 

Not a lot of host are aware of that, I see a post the other day on FB, That could be a good way to get rid of any unwanted guest. 

Another thing that you should be aware of if your guest brings an undeclared guest and something happens they are not covered under AirCover.

[Fred13]

I have always promoted this thought - drop AirCover altogether (aka Host Guarantee, or whatever was called before that). At a host fee of 3% and the amount guests they usually bring, most hosts will still list with Airbnb anyway since where are they going to go to do better? Force hosts to get their own insurance or provide one, for an additional fee (3% or 5%?); to many it will be more than worth it.

I didn't know Airbnb ever had a real security deposit program. Even if they start one, I do not think this is such an instant panacea because then it will quickly lead to a different type of conflict; i.e. hosts wanting to keep guest money for frivolous reasons and again this drags Airbnb into having to play the role of judge/jury/executioner once more. Why even go there?

[David8590]

Well said and I agree that hosts should be required to have insurance but...there should be ability to recoup deductible in the event the guest causes damage. Also not without problems or issues to work out but at least realistic in mitigating the risks the actual host takes on as opposed to  the "Top-to-bottom protection" slogan would lead you to believe.

[Fred13]

Aye @David8590  it could and should be presented as what it is.. partial help and not the 'we got you covered' mantra which leads to false expectations.

[Bhumika]

Hi @David8590 ,

Looks like you seemingly didn't have the expected outcome with Aircover. Please be assured that I have shared your concerns and feedback with the related teams and if they can assist you with more information.

Can’t find what you’re searching for? start a conversation

[David8590]

Well I guess I didn't. The outcome did however fall in line with the terms of AirCover in hindsight to be fair. My motivation to point these issues out comes from the disparity between common sense and the "terms". Again is seems to me that hosts should be able to expect that guest should secure property upon checkout. If you take moment to imagine the possible negative outcomes in this  scenario you begin to realize that the promise AirCover promotes falls very short in practice.