Airbnb policy for cancellations with extenuating circumstances

[ItalyPerfect0]

We read that AirBnB will refund guests who claim extenuating circumstances:

• There's a death in the guest's family
• The guest has a serious illness or there's a serious illness in their family
• There's a natural disaster in the destination country
• There's political unrest in the destination country
• The guest has jury duty or other similar civil obligations

1. How much is the refund?

2. Within what time frame before and after reservation date can guests claim this?

3. Will AirBnB ensure that the guests do not otherwise have travel insurance?

4. Will AirBnB verify the claim by checking the documentation? What do they require for documentation?

5. Can we require that the guests have travel insurance so that covers such circumstances?

Our experience with this is small but a last minute cancellation  -- with refund -- means we lose a lot of money.  And we have already experienced a certain kind of person who will claim the most disastrous of circumstances, i.e. death in the family to cancel even though, in the end, they cannot prove it. They figure that if they claim such when it isn't true, we will not question people in grief for documentation and then they can change their plans and we lose. 

[Doris11]

I had to cancel the reservation that I just got because the guests who left our property this morning made a serious damage in one room and it is impossible to repair the damage before arrival of the guest who booked on Airbnb. I am in total mess because I have guesthouse with six rooms and need to cancel the other reservations too because we are not able to have guests in of this rooms and we are mostly sold out for this week. This particular reservation is made by instant booking and I immediately canceled it. I have read that I need to contact Airbnb not to charge me cancellation penalty but I don't know how to do that. In help center it is written: "Claims can only be considered after a reservation has been canceled. Once you have informed your host or guest and canceled a reservation, if you feel that your reason for cancellation is covered by Airbnb’s Extenuating Circumstances Policy, contact Airbnb for consideration. We generally require claims to be submitted no later than 14 days from the original check-in date and we may require valid supporting documentation." but I don't know how to cancel it. 

This is my first cancellation ever.

I see on my future transaction that 100 USD for cancellation will be charged.