As stated in Spike Lee's movie, "Do The Right Thing", we need to stop the madness. As a member of this community, I continuously see the same couple of topics arise that be simply handled by having the appropriate insurance. It's irksome that people do little to no due diligence, or responsibly plan for when undesirable events occur.
First, all hosts should have either a home owner's or business policy that will cover their property for damages and losses caused by guests. Airbnb's host guarantee is BS in the most sincere sense. Fortunately for me and many other US veterans (and their dependents), I am a USAA member, and that organization's home owner's policy provides a Sharing Economy Endorsement which covers short-term rentals of a policy holder's primary home. This endorsement comes at no additional cost to the policy.
If you don't quality for USAA, and need more information about coverage, I recommend doing a search here at the top of any page here on the community site, or on Google, for topics pertaining to STR home owner's or business insurance, because the topic has been discussed at great lengths, and people have provided good information and recommendations for insurance providers. Please put in some effort to gather information beyond just posting a question, and waiting for a response.
Secondly, travelers need to stop taking risks with their travel investments, and purchase travel insurance or use a credit card that provides travel interruption coverage. More frequently that ever before there are many events outside of the traveler's control that disrupt travel plans. The price of a travel insurance policy is likely to cost no more than the non-refundable Airbnb service fee that a guest would have to pay even if given a full refund of the nightly rate, taxes and fees. Having a travel policy provide a sense of assurance. A guest wouldn't have to deal with trying to explain their circumstance to under-trained CS staff, be fretful and wondering if the host will agree to the refund, or lie about their situation or the stay, in an attempt to get a refund.
