Damage to property. Aircover want me to provide a "Professional Damage Report". What is that?

[James3226]

I recently had a guest stay who managed to break the fridge. The fridge is under the counter and it appears that the guest loaded her items into the fridge and then used the fridge door to pull herself back up to a standing position, snapping the top hinge off the fridge in the process. 

Although the guest has admitted to the fridge becoming broken during her occupation she refuses to pay a very reasonable charge for a replacement used fridge that I had to obtain before the next guests arrived only hours after she checked out. 

Therefore, I have started an "aircover" claim to which I have be requested to provide a "professional damage report". Could someone tell me what 

[Helen3]

I would imagine you would need to get a report from someone who specialises in fridges to show the fridge can't be fixed and needs to be replaced 

Or if it can be fixed you need a quote from them for doing so. 

[Lorna170]

@James3226   A Professional damage report would be from a repair company, on their letterhead or invoice with the details of the repair needed, the cost of the parts and labor, and (possibly) the date of completion or a recommendation that host purchase a replacement.  The reasoning is that some hosts may conduct the repair themselves and then try to obtain reimbursement when AirBnB considers anything a host can fix as "wear and tear".

[Mark116]

@Lorna170  That is, to some degree, annoying and unfair.  We had some guests recently who left a scorch/burn mark on the kitchen table.  Since there was video of the space right before they checked in there could be no question that it was they who burned the table.  However, rather than go through a huge process of finding someone to give a written estimate of sanding the table down, and then fighting with Airbnb for weeks....we simply sanded it down ourselves.  But not everyone has the tools or the skills to do that kind of stuff and it is unfair that Airbnb makes reimbursement so difficult.

[James3226]

Oh. OK. Thanks. Now I see what they're doing.

The sadness is its cheaper to replace the fridge with a good used one than it will be to get someone to write the report. So even though I've got a text from the guest confirming that she broke it the chances are that I will be left out of pocket. 

Thanks for your input.