Morning @Debra300 sorry for getting back to you so late I don't have notifications set up on this lol.
So, the reason I say Home Away/VRBO does not side with their host's is because their "Property Damage Protection" is completely flawed.
First, Home Away gives hosts the option to either charge guests a security deposit or require the guests to purchase a third party insurance plan through CSA/Generali Global Assistance that apparently covers property damage up to $5,000 (depending on the level of coverage the guest purchases) it's either one or the other not both.
For my listing, I set it up so that guest's may purchase a $60 insurance policy (that insured me up to $1,500 in damages) rather than placing a $500 security hold on their account as that was the more attractive option for guests.
What I didn't know was that the insurance policy actually only covers guests and NOT the host; and so I had one booking where a guest threw a full blown house party with private security guards and all and these guests completely trashed my house and damaged my property. I had proof and supporting documentation of the incident and immediately made an insurance claim only to find out that the third party insurance company only insures the guests if they "accidentally" damaged my property. I read the insurance clause and it stated that if guests where to "intentionally" damage the property, that the policy is voided and a claim cannot be made.
If you look at Home Away, they advertise this CSA/Generali third party insurance but it is completely useless and gives hosts a false sense of security. When I contacted home away for that one incident and told them that the insurance company didn't want to support my claim home away gave me the run around and said there was nothing I can do and that next time I should just charge a deposit.
I went as far as trying to sue Home Away for false advertisement but I was diving into rabbit holes as I would have needed to file for a discovery on Home Away to disclose the actual insurance payouts that were disbursed to hosts (obviously there would be very few insurance payouts) but that was turning into a headache and I ended up biting the bullet and just changing my listing settings to charge future guests the $500 security deposit.
I will say this, coincidentally after threatening Home Away with legal action, a week later they changed their damage protection terms and now if a guest damages your property, you submit a claim directly to Home Away and they will charge the guests credit card for coverage up to $500.
I had to do this recently and was surprised at how easy the claim and process was. I was disbursed the funds for a claim I made within 3 business days.
All in all Airbnb and Home Away are direct competitors. Airbnb is more attractive to the modern and younger crowd of guests where as Home Away I find to be more attractive to older crowds and families if that makes sense. I'd like to think about 75% of my bookings come from Airbnb and 25% from Home Away.
I will say this, I have definitely had more bad experiences with Airbnb guests than Home Away guests but I guess that makes sense considering I get more Airbnb traffic. Hope this helps!