“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. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Colleen253 I think it is a branding that encompasses the host guarantee and the other thing that purports to protect hosts.

[Bob297]

Using search engine:

AirCover is top-to-bottom coverage for the home and is now free to all hosts on the platform. It’s up to $1 million in damage protection and $1 million in liability coverage. This also includes income loss protection, pet damage protection and deep cleaning protection.

The coverage product offers a 14-day filing window and promises faster reimbursements to hosts who file a claim, with an even faster track for Superhosts.

Airbnb’s Host Protection plan, which has been around for a long time now, has always offered up to $1 million in both damage protection and liability coverage, but there were plenty of gaps in that coverage. For example, income loss for superhosts who needed to take time off of the platform or cancel bookings for repairs were not covered for the loss of that income. Damage caused by pets was also not included in the coverage.

Pet damage coverage will indeed be a big one for hosts and guests alike. The pandemic led many folks to get themselves a furry friend, and now those same folks want to travel. But hosts, for good reason, are not often keen on allowing pets into their properties, which is again creating a big gap between supply and demand.

Pet damage protection should naturally readjust that imbalance.

AirCover is actually a pretty huge deal in that it expands beyond Host Protection, which covered the structure of the home but not the property inside of it. AirCover covers most of the goods in the home, with several exclusions like fine art, currency, automobiles and other vehicles like boats and jets, weapons, security cameras and precious metals and/or jewelry. Even with these exclusions, it’s a huge step up from the original policy, which didn’t cover things like furniture damage or theft of items.

You can check out the full list of exclusions here.

For those interested in the nitty gritty, Airbnb’s AirCover is provided through a policy issued by Zurich Insurance plc in most locations. In some jurisdictions, where a locally issued policy is required by regulation, coverage may be provided by a Zurich Insurance plc partner company, according to Airbnb.
@Colleen253 @Mike-And-Jane0 

[Michelle53]

@Colleen253 @Mike-And-Jane0  I watched the "new releases" video, and it adds some coverages- including pet damage and deep cleaning, and extends the time for submitting claims to 14 days.

[Colleen253]

@Michelle53 @Bob297 @Mike-And-Jane0

Wow, on the face of it, it sounds like we finally have some wins on the host side. I will

have to catch up on all the news a bit later. Here’s hoping it doesn’t just all fizzle out in reality. 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Colleen253  14 days and furniture damage is not new

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Colleen253 ,

Well spotted! It launched today and we did make an announcement but have had to hide it again because the Resource Center is having a technical hiccup. As soon as it's sorted, I'll pop a link here for you all.

Thanks,

Stephanie

[Colleen253]

@Stephanie Not much gets by me anymore. With all the glitches, I examine everything to do with my listing closely every day.😎

Thank you!

[Michelle53]

@Colleen253  First thing I did after learning about the new, expanded, "super flexible search" was to go look for any new amenity options.  Nothing thus far, today.

[Elaine701]

@Colleen253 

We'll see. I don't think they needed to rebrand it, only make it non-illusuonary. 

But even if it's all on the up & up, it's still front-ended by the same outsourced "experts" who often haven't a clue (or perhaps are incentivised to decline as many claims as possible).  We'll see if there's any improvement in that area. 

[Sarah977]

@Elaine701  Like all of Airbnb's "great new features and promises" I would be skeptical myself. Unless they change their clueless CS staff, this could easily just prove to be another PR smoke and mirrors game.

Just like the HAB, just like Catherine Powell's announcement of how hosts would now be able to easily get reviews of partiers removed, when in fact, hosts are still battling to have those revenge reviews  removed.

I have a really hard time believing they are suddenly going to start reimbursing tens of thousands of dollars without a big hassle, to cover damages. 

Where is all this money going to come from? Is Chesky planning to take a cut in his CEO salary? Show his shareholders even bigger losses than Airbnb has shown in the past?

[Stephanie]

Hi @Sarah977 ,

I hear your frustration and understand that what we see in this forum is  cases where Hosts didn't feel like the reviews were addressed as they should be.

However, Airbnb does take a very strict stance on parties and large gatherings, and have been, and continue to, remove these retaliatory guest reviews. A refresher here on the policy update.

I appreciate your views and feedback here on the Community Center. It can be difficult to see the good when it's human nature to speak up to complain before we will praise, and forums such as this are usually where this is realised on a larger scale. If you want to chat about this more, my DMs are always open. 

Thanks,

Stephanie

[John5097]

@Colleen253  There was a recent post by a new host who thought Airbnb would need to reword their host insurance wording or face liability. It may just rebranding as "Air Cover" doesn't imply any kind of insurance as "Host Guarantee". I'm confident I won't be dropping my dedicated STR insurance policy anytime soon. Will need to wait and see. Thanks for posting and nice observation! 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@John5097 I think AirCover is real insurance a it is provided by an insurance company. Now if I were Airbnb I would introduce this 'proper'  insurance and then make it an optional extra in the future. I say 'proper' because the quick look I had says it still pays depreciated values which on our antique furniture would probably be  zero after a couple of hundred years of depreciation.

[Mike-And-Jane0]

Actually only the liability bit is proper insurance - the property damage bit isn't insurance.