“Air Cover”?

[Colleen253]

Anyone know what “Air Cover” is all about?

I saw it on a recent booking (“Protected by Air Cover”), but when I clicked on the link I got the falling ice cream cone.

There’s nothing in the Airbnb updates about this. 

[John5097]

@Mike-And-Jane0 Before hosting I did some research on insurance. The way I understood it is that the Airbnb claim to cover what homeowner's insurance didn't cover, meant that if existing homeowners policy was limited to say 50k then Airbnb insurance would supplement beyond the primary coverage, however, if homeowners insurance denied the insurance claim because, say they don't cover STR with a residential policy, then Airbnb would also deny any supplemental coverage because the host had the wrong kind of primary insurance to begin with. One of the two only STR insurance companies is named Proper Insurance. It replaces the entire homeowner's policy. They issue a policy and contract, and host choose a deductible and the primium is based on that. Its not free. This new policy sounds like the same kind of compensation for kind of minor dameges and pays on a case by case pro rated bases, as you mentioned. I would be surprised if its more than just a name change and including pet damages into the exiting policy. But this is just speculation at this point based on existing policy and marketing strategy. I do agree that hopefully it will be an additional option for guest to purchase real insurance at time of booking like other platforms. One of the two legitimate STR insurance companies in the US is owned by vrbo, at least at the time I last researched this. So hopefully Airbnb will have more substance and also improve policies to help reduce risk to both host and lower their claims.    

Here is a link to Proper Insurance which I have now and of course not free. 
https://www.proper.insure/

[Sara7987]

I have just taken out a policy with Foremost. It was the only STR insurance I could find. Thanks for your comments. I will check with Proper.

Sara

[Ramona-Bogdana0 · Accepted solution]

Hello to all, 

File a claim if a guest gets hurt or their belongings are damaged.

Go to intake form

What's covered

Host liability insurance covers you if you’re found legally responsible for:

• Bodily injury to a guest (or others)
• Damage to or theft of property belonging to a guest (or others)
• Damage caused by a guest (or others) to common areas, like building lobbies and nearby properties

Host liability insurance doesn't cover:

• Damage or injury resulting from something done intentionally
• Damage to your place or belongings caused by a guest (that’s covered by Host damage protection)
• Other exclusions apply

The claims process:

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/937/host-liability-insurance

Have a great time!

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Colleen253 @Sarah977 @Ramona-Bogdana0 @Mike-And-Jane0 @John5097 @Elaine701 @Michelle53 @Bob297 

As promised, you can find 3 new articles in our Airbnb Updates board here: Airbnb updates

I would absolutely love to hear your feedback on each of them so please do go check them out, have a read of them and the Resource Center articles that are embedded in them, and share back your thoughts, and questions!

Many thanks,

Stephanie

[Colleen253]

@Stephanie As regards the additions to the rebranded 'Air Cover', as usual, it sounds fabulous, until you get into the finer details. While the additions are great, they are meaningless as the one thing that didn't change is,

"If you need to request reimbursement, just start an AirCover request at our Resolution Center. Once you submit your request, we’ll notify your guest about what’s damaged or missing. Your guest then has 72 hours to pay the amount you’re requesting. If they decline to pay the full amount or don’t respond, you'll be able to involve Airbnb Support".

Guests are still as free as ever to just say 'nah' to a request for damages. Then it goes to Airbnb who is just as likely as ever to also say 'nah'. Disappointment once again.

@Sarah977 @John5097 @Mike-And-Jane0 @Michelle53 @Branka-and-Silvia0 

[John5097]

@Colleen253 I've always realized it wasn't comprehensive insurance policy. No biggie for me. Maybe the name change is an indication of pressure to adopt more responsible policy that lowers risk for host. How about anytime ABB allows a guest to book with only email and phone number, ABB automatically pays all damages and guest can't leave a review. Wishful thinking but if ABB was paying full damages these ghost profiles would be a thing of the past. 🙂

[Sharmini5]

Has anyone in our Airbnb Host Community faced technical issues in filing an Aircover claim through the Resolution Centre?

My last guest  totally ignored my house rules and nearly started a fire in my apartment. This required expensive deep cleaning of the premises, replacement of a super king mattress and pillows.

As requested by my Airbnb Support Agent, I politely asked the guest if he would be willing to pay (via Airbnb)  for the  deep cleaning by a professional cleaner, and the damaged items, but he refused.

In fact, he was extremely rude to me about it and left me a scathing review and a low star rating that reduced my 5-star rating to 4.56.

However, I got  professional cleaners to do a deep cleaning of the bedroom at my own expense as another guest was checking in the following day. 

Now I'm facing an issue in filing an Aircover claim as the required procedure gets stuck midway. Hence I'm unable to complete the request.

I also discovered that being a Super Host has its disadvantaged when it comes to contacting Airbnb Support. They take a very long time (well over 24 hours) to respond. 

I first contacted Airbnb Support 6 days ago and the technical issue with the Resource Centre which prevents me from completing my Aircover claim has still not been fixed. I'm also not kept informed of what's going on.

This is extremely stressful.

[Julie4414]

@Sharmini5 I am experiencing the exact same thing.  Have you had a resolution yet? 

[Sharmini5]

@Julie4414 21 days have passed and no resolution yet. I also have no idea what's going on since the person I was communicating with via email doesn't respond to my emails. Hence I'm not sure if Airbnb has received all the required information I sent viz. receipts, photos etc.

The bug in the Resolution Centre doesn't seem to have been fixed yet. I tried to check on what was happening to my Aircover request.

I saw a notice stating, "We’re reviewing your request. You can still add items or evidence below if you have anything new to share with us."

But I can't "add items or evidence below" as "below" is not accessible. It gets stuck.

[Adrian2833]

running same thing gets stuck when uploading evidence did yours finally work all my emails get ignored

[Sarah977]

 

[Sue_David0]

I had my first experience trying to use Air Cover this week. I found the application awkward to work with and I used to work in IT support.  I had several issues with one guest stay and could not get the different things posted there with different prices.  I explained my issue to the first Superhost contact (45 minutes).  That agent's suggestion did not work (I realize they cannot be experts on all the options).  I then asked to be transferred to the Air Cover division so I could get my requests in.  So far, no calls, just emails telling me to take actions I have already taken.  They don't quite understand my issue.  

[Terry721]

I'm just in the initial stages of trying to do the application with Aircover this weekend. I am finding the same issues as others have noted above.  Not a user friendly application at all.

Airbnb provided me with a guest who probably shouldn't have been allowed on the platform at all (this guest is still on the platform and able to became a guest at someone else's Airbnb after causing over $5,000 in damage - documented with photos - in about 30 hours).

I found the emergency line response from Airbnb to my calls about my guest's behavior to be simply a way to keep the guest in the home and keep Airbnb's income intact. 

I have a sad feeling that Aircover will be just the same type of experience.

[Erika945]

I would not trust being covered by Air Cover. I had a guest clog a toilet, which then overflowed, and the overflowed water went through the ceiling to our first floor kitchen. The guest was then able to unclog the toilet, and use it for the rest of the stay (so the toilet was fine). But our drywall was damaged. Airbnb CS asked us for a plumber report (ug - why would I call a plumber?), then they stated that the guest said the tub overflowed b/c of the toilet (which is impossible, the two are NEVER connected), so it was an existing issue. We had the place professionally cleaned right b/f this guest arrived. Essentially they will do whatever they can to not pay out a claim. This guest was a first time user of Airbnb and I have <150 5 star reviews... so of course you would go with their account of what happened I guess?!