Why is it that Airbnb doesn't cover damages from pets? Is there a way we can charge a pet deposit?

[Nathan210]

It would be nice to be able to charge a pet deposit conditionally for guests traveling with a pet. Is there a reason Airbnb doesn't have this built in?

[Helen3]

1. No it doesn’t (see Guarantee T&Cs  on Airbnb Help Centre)

2. Yes you can if you state that you will in your house rules with amounts. 

[Tracey207]

Declare in your house rules that you charge a refundable or non-refundable pet fee. Then you can send the guests a ‘money request’ once they are booked, for the fee.

[Nathan210]

Does Airbnb take fees out of a money request? 

[Pete28]

No insurance covers pet damage - animals are unpredictable and can cause huge damage very quickly. Urine on sofa $1k, scratch shower enclosure $2k,  destroy carpet $6k etc etc.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@Pete28

kids and some humans are also unpredictable but the person who books is responsible for damage done by his kids or friends in his group.

I don't understand the logic why the owner shouldn't be responsible for damage done by his pet?

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

@Nathan210

With pets you accept that there is a higher risk. You can expect damage from pets therefore it is largely uninsurable- or expensive if you want to cover all damage by pets. Remember everyone things their dog/child is an angel - others will find their sofa chewing habit so annoying.

so, unless you love vacuuming pet hair, love pets and are prepared to accept a higher risk then don’t go there.

if you are happy to accept the risk then remember Airbnb won’t help you if for example a dog barks all night at every sound. You may find pet owners who are more than happy to pay an additional cleaning fee upfront as part of their booking and that is prey much the most you can hope for.

[Nathan210]

I agree pets are a higher risk. Hence my question about the security deposit. It seems a feature like that would make sense - If you are traveling with a pet, a hold is put on your credit card for a security deposit. If there is no damage, the hold is released. This way, hosts are more likely to allow pets in their home, and pet owners have more inventory available for booking. I've heard pet owners say it can be hard to find listings that allow pets, which means those bookings are either lost or go elsewhere. 

[Chad170]

Airbnb's policy is that nothing is covered by pets.

I charge a $200 security deposit that I have been unable to claim due to pets - even when I have video footage of them damaging my screen door. I began charging a $100 pet fee to get the furniture steam cleaned after each pet visit, but its not worth it. I'm about to remove the option to allow pets based off of their terrible policies to simply cash-in on the security deposit that is clearly stated in my house rules. 

I wouldn't want to charge MORE than $100, but thats how much it costs to get a company to come out and do the labor. This is a terrible gap in their policy and I'm getting pretty fed up with Airbnb's lack of response to obvious flaws in their ever-expanding gappy platform. 

[Alexandre152]

There is apparently an option offered to hotels to get a security damage for pets.

Just had exactly the same experience. 
It is despicable to be treated this way when we acted in good faith and secured a security deposit for that purpose.  

Apparently hotels that advertise on Airbnb are privileged with an additional option we don’t have as regular hosts.

Here is the explanation from Airbnb UK:

“If you are seeing large numbers of bookings with pets and want to accommodate them, a solution could be that you collect an "offline" deposit for these pet bookings. (Usually it's only for hotels businesses but I'm happy to "enable" your account to do so given the situation described). 

Please let me know if that something that could work for you.

Kind regards

Alice

Alice de Saint-Pierre

Market Coordinator UKIE, Airbnb