Anyone successful in claiming security deposit?

Sisi12
Level 2
Roseneath, Canada

Anyone successful in claiming security deposit?

I am in the process of involving Airbnb to decide on a damage claim, after the guest group has declined to pay. From reading other posts in 2016-2018, Airbnb clearly favours guests instead of being fair.

 

Just curious, any host who recently/in 2019 successfully received damage claim? How easy is it in general?

 

Also, I think the first step of resolution claim mechanism, where claim is sent directly to guests to ask if they agree to pay or not, is not necessary/helpful. I would imagine very few guests would voluntarily click "yes"...

13 Replies 13
Branka-and-Silvia0
Level 10
Zagreb, Croatia

@Sisi12 

damages under 250 $ are not difficult to get if you follow the process and have the evidence like bills, receipts, photos. I got it recently in just a couple of days.

But I've heard if the damage is severe and the amount is high then it's another story

I see. My claim is $120; haven't received update from Airbnb yet. Thanks for advising!

Alexandra199
Level 10
Gretton, United Kingdom

@Sisi12  were you successful after all? I am in the same position as you and i have just made a claim. It is in its early stages so i am hoping it will be accepted and will process smoothly but like you, i have read horror stories on here. This situation has really opened my eyes to the issue of damage deposits on airbnb. In my view it appears that there is no compulsion for guests to pay. Why should they? If they refuse nothing happens. In my case the guest has left a significant stain on the carpet and I am claiming for cleaning costs and possible replacement if that does not work.

 

 

@Alexandra199 

 you can't ask for a cleaning cost OR a replacement if it doesn't work.

You should claim one of another and once your case is closed you can't change it or ask for more.

You should have an estimate from a cleaning service or a receipt for cleaning / replacement or a receipt of the carpet when you bought it (if it was recently) or a link to the same carpet online (that's why IKEA is practical)

 

Hi Alexandra, sorry for the late reply, thanks for asking. Unfortunately no, I was declined the request. The damage in my case was deck railings, I did tell Airbnb the railings were 10-year old. So they concluded that was age, ignoring the fact of new cracks.

 

I don’t know if you have heard back yet; when I submitted the request, they said they would follow up with me in 72 hours; I got my reply 5 days later.

 

I raised my nightly price by 20 dollars as a solution.

 

Good luck!

Has anyone successfully claimed on cleaning and damaged caused by pets (I have a no pet policy)?

@Ellen405 Airbnb's host guarantee terms says clearly pet damage is not covered...The best way you can claim that is probably not telling Airbnb it's pet damage. Since you have not pet policy then if guest brings pet without notifying you then you shouldn't be aware of the existence of the pet.

Nanxing0
Level 10
Haverford, PA

The security deposit thing is actually ditched by Airbnb some time ago. Now it doesn't matter how much we put in the security deposit, Airbnb won't charge/hold guests a penny for that. The reason I believe is that there are lots of guests living paycheck to paycheck and don't have enough funds/credit line to deal with the turnover (refund of deposit takes time) and Airbnb cares about more business than hosts' security. Also they made the policy that hosts are not allowed to claim deposit without going through Airbnb which made the security deposit somehow duplicating to the host guarantee. 

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

I've only once filed a claim for damages and I think that was in 2018. I didn't hold up much hope but it went very smoothly. The guest broke a fairly expensive front door lock (cost of replacement + keys + labour of locksmith = over £400) and didn't want to pay as, although he knew he broke it, suggested that perhaps he was the straw that broke the camel's back and that it could have been 'about to break anyway'. Couldn't I just claim it on Airbnb insurance? He was also a host and left me a nice review anyway.

 

All I had to provide Airbnb with was the quote from the locksmith and photos of the broken lock. They refunded me the full amount. To this day I have no idea if this refund came partly from the guest's deposit (£300) or wholly from the Host Guarantee insurance. I never put in a money request to the guest and I already knew he didn't want to pay, but Airbnb had the prior correspondence between us about breaking the lock. He never protested about any charges, so maybe it was from the Host Guarantee.

 

So, I think it is worth putting in a claim if you have some evidence, even if the guest doesn't want to pay. It seems to me that if it is not too small a claim (that might be considered normal wear and tear) and not too large (require a lot of investigation, evidence, he said, she said), then even if the guest doesn't want to pay, Airbnb may refund it under the Host Guarantee.

Patricia2834
Level 2
Marietta, OH

I am still waiting to hear about a claim I placed in November 2020.  I have a $100 security deposit on my listing.  The guest offered to pay damages but because of the Host Agreement I refused to take her money.  I filed a claim on the website exactly as instructed in the Recovery Center 3 days after her checking out and weeks before the next guest was booked.  I am still waiting to hear anything about the claim.  Because of COVID restrictions in my area, I have had to temporarily shut down my bookings.  I don't think I should be punished for that by the Company ignoring me.  

@Patricia2834  "The guest offered to pay damages but because of the Host Agreement I refused to take her money. "

 

I don't understand what you mean by this. The Airbnb protocol is that the host first asks for the guest to cover the damages they caused. If the guest agrees, then of course the host should accept that. It's only after a guest refuses to pay up that you ask Airbnb to pay instead.

 

By refusing the guest's agreement to pay, I think you have pretty much negated having Airbnb pay out of their own coffers.

 

It seems really strange that you wouldn't have been happy to have the guest pay for damages they were responsible for.

The way I read the agreement was that we are never allowed to take money from a guest. Clearly this is open to interpretation. If you can find the clause in the host agreement that says that I would love for you to post a highlighted copy. 

Previous posts on this conversation stream seem to have the same misunderstanding. 

@Patricia2834  I think that you are confusing claiming on the security deposit, with hosts accepting money from guests outside the platform.

 

There is a procedure for claiming for damages, the first of which is sending the guest a request for payment.

 

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/264/what-do-i-do-if-my-guest-breaks-something-in-my-place