What happens if Host and AirBnB cannot get the Guest to pay damages?

[Philippe588]

I figure the guest profile will most likely get flagged but will AirBnB be able to charge the Guest even if the guest refuses to?  If the guest refuses to pay does the Host Insurance ($1Mil) cover the cost?  Will AirBnB put out a collection for the guest?

[Alice-and-Jeff0]

@Philippe588 -   https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/938/what-s-the-difference-between-airbnb-s-host-guarantee-and-ho...

1. The Host Guarantee is not insurance (that $1M you mention)
2. The guest is not the one who guarantees payment of this - it is an Airbnb pledge to you
3. The Host Protection Insurance is only for 3rd-party claims against YOU.
4. You have to prove damages of all kinds that must be directly attributed to the guest stay and it only covers your own property (read up here in the community forums - it is almost impossible to get Airbnb to pay out money in this category)
5. The security deposit agreed to is the only amount the guest will be beholden to pay outright should damages occur that you can prove.  It is the amount Airbnb is willing to go after the guest to get from them.  They can get more when it is appropriate, but it is a basic threshold of liability to the guest. 
6. Airbnb is going to have you file a claim with your own personal homeowners or renters insurance.  At that time, should the claim need litigating as to who will pay, the lawyers will fight it out in court.  This is why you need to have insurance on your property.
7. Yes, a person who steals, damages, or fails to pay in some way can have a lien placed against them, can have criminal charges filed, and can be held financially responsible should the situation arise.  Airbnb does not have the authority to do this - they would need to work with the host and local law enforcement.  

You need to read a bunch more about how filing a Resolution Center request works, how the Host Guarantee works, how the Host Protection Insurance works, and how Security deposits work.

https://www.airbnb.com/guarantee

https://www.airbnb.com/host-protection-insurance

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/140/how-does-airbnb-handle-security-deposits

https://www.airbnb.com/trust

[Ute42]

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Hi @Philippe588 ,

the 1 M airbnb host guarantee is a marketing feature only. You won't get much out of it.

[Letti0]

@Philippe588  Unless the guests agree to pay it's not going to happen for the most part. You personally need to flag/report a guest no one else will. As @Ute42 states the Host Guarantee is for the most part totally useless to hosts and gives a false sense of security to hosts who do not read the actual details. You need to have your own commercial insurance in place as your home owners will not cover damages done by an AirBnB guest.