Insurance and Host guarantee

Insurance and Host guarantee

As a new host I would love to know whether most people rely on the Airbnb Host Guarantee and Insurance AND whether they are included in the service fee? 

4 Replies 4
Elaine701
Level 10
Balearic Islands, Spain

@Elizabeth2194 

 

Welcome to hosting! It can be a very rewarding experience, but you need to set your expectations appropriately. 

 

First, in any practical sense, there is no real "host guarantee". Don't rely on it, because you're unlikely to successfully get any claim covered, unless it's very small, AND the guest agrees to pay it (which they rarely do). And there's a bit of a gauntlet of steps you must take precisely, or else Airbnb will promptly close the case and refuse to discuss it further.

 

Also, filing a damage claim has other hazards, such as retaliatory reviews from guests that can be quite damaging to your overall rating. It's a well known flaw in the Airbnb system, and you need to be wise about making damage claims. 

 

You should be covered by an independent policy specifically covering holiday or otherwise "short term" rentals. A normal homeowners insurance is generally inappropriate, and won't likely cover you. Check with your preferred insurance provider to see if they have suitable plans for this. 

 

In general, however, prevention is the best cure.  Vet your guests carefully. Be wary of any guest with no history or profile. And especially when they make requests that you feel instinctively are questionable. I would avoid using instant book to begin with. This will require anyone who wants to book your place to first introduce themselves and provides a platform for you to ask questions before they can book it.

 

Seriously, be careful. There has been a rash of dubious guests in the past year, and they can be very costly, both monetarily, and to your overall ratings. 

 

Most are really great guests. These are the ones you want. But just one bad one can be pretty painful. 

 

Good luck with everything. And always come here if you need help. Lots of very experienced hosts here who've already made all the mistakes 🙃

Elaine, thank you SO much for this timely advice. I will try and get everything in position to limit any difficulties but also very helpful to know that claiming for anything on Airbnb can result in retaliation. I can see just how that would pan out. I'll look into insurance and vet my guests carefully.

@Elizabeth2194 

 

Liz, we're all sort of in this together, so offering advice benefits all of us.

 

Like I said, there are some really good, knowledgeable hosts here who are always happy to help. You're far more likely to get solid, correct answers here than if you rely on Airbnb customer service. If you need help, you should come here first. I wish I had done that after my first bad experience 😮

 

Just pay attention and you'll be fine. You'll probably have a bad experience or two, but overall, it's fun and rewarding, even if a lot of work at times. 

 

Quality over quantity. It'll comes around. 

Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Elizabeth2194 As already said - preparation is key.

We don't have anything of sentimental value in our listings

We have antique furniture  and whilst it looks good is not pristine so the odd ring from a cup is not a disaster. Antique furniture is also quite cheap - Cheaper than Ikea for a Georgian table that is over 200 years old!

Finally we have spares of all crockery so it is easy to replace the odd breakage.

 

Be warned the Airbnb guarantees do not provide new for old cover. So if our Georgian table was trashed we would get the written down value over 200 years which would probably be Zero.