Challenge Insurance Claims

[Chris19546]

I've been hosting my own places for a little over two years now, and never had any serious claims or issues, a few bad guests here and there, but nothing we couldn't resolve directly. I recently took on a listing to manage for an owner, and on the second booking, the guest literally trashed the place and caused considerable damage. My biggest problem has been the claims response. This department seems to be outside of standard support. I submitted all the pictures, receipts, and a full description, and we're getting less-than-adequate responses. After 4 weeks, I'm in contact with someone who is email-only and barely replies. I asked to speak with a claims specialist directly. I was called at a random time while driving, asked to schedule a call, and was told they are not in my time zone and are only available in EU time. Trying to set up a call during those hours and still no response. Any advice from the group here or experiences to share that might help?

Thanks in advance

Chris

[Joan2709]

@Chris19546 

My best advice for any Host is NOT to rely on Aircover (Host Damage Protection - not an insurance policy) to protect the Host in case of damage. It is basically a marketing scheme. Aircover only reimburses depreciated value, very difficult to process claims and has many exclusions and limitations. CS drags out the process and if you don't complete it by 30days after checkout you're told you "missed the deadline and case closed with no reimbursement".

Hosts should obtain their own short term rental insurance policy for catastrophic events (guest starts a fire and severely damages property or destorys it). The rest of the time I suggest Hosts add a few dollars to their cleaning fee and build a contingency fund to cover minor to moderate damage. Just to note, typical homeowners insurance will NOT cover operating an Airbnb on the property as it is considered a commercial activity. Landlord insurance is usually only for 30+nights.

The other big issue with trying to process a claim through the resolution center, is the guest inevitably leaves a retaliatory, negative review if the claim isn't timed right. The damage to the listing due to a negative review in search results is usually much higher than the actual damage claim itself. 

Aircover Limitations & Exclusions

https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/2869

[Helen3]

Unfortunately Aircover (which isn't insurance) is limited so hopefully as the cohost you advised the owner to take out home insurance for STR  @Chris19546 

As it sounds like a substantial claim it would be better for the owner to claim on their specialist insurance . 

[Chris19546]

Thanks, Helen. The owner has STR insurance, which is not necessarily the issue. If they need to submit a claim with their Insurance, we should at least have a conclusion to the claim we submitted within the Damage Protection Program purchased and pay into. This is more of a customer service issue I'm having with that dept. We're not getting the response that aligns with our expectations, similar to what we offer our guests as hosts.  I'm not here to complain, I was merely looking for a solution or advice. This seemed like a good forum for that..

[Mary1523]

Hi Chris

In my experience after 10 years hosting, expect nothing from Airbnb support. We will all tell you as airbnb got bigger, the support got worse. But we all have to remember, that we are suppliers to airbnb, not customers. The guests are the customers. Just like a marketplace, don't expect too much from the marketplace owners!

So my actions would be:

File with your own local insurance. Don't wait for whatever airbnb might give you.

Rate the guests badly on the 13th day to minimise any reminder to the guest to review you back in case you've already been in contact and expressed your dismay. (Hopefully not - you need to hold back until Day 13 otherwise you give them ammunition for a bad review if they haven't already).

More importantly, I would ask why did the guest trash, were they net new airbnb guests with 0 profile history? Were they last minute? Was there no other airbnb members join the booking in the airbnb app? I have learnt through bitter experience that if you answer Y to all three, its a warning sign. They don't care how they leave it, they will have a great time, even possibly give u a great rating, but don't want a booking history. Their profile is setup that won't be ever used again no matter what you rate them.

Hope this helps regs MK

[Robert9804]

Sorry you're dealing with this — a guest trashing the place on only your second booking as a co-host is a rough way to start, especially with someone else's property on the line.

A few things that have helped other hosts in similar spots: keep everything in writing from here on, even if that means summarizing phone calls in a follow-up message afterward ("per our call today...") so there's a timestamped record if this needs to escalate. If you haven't already, ask explicitly for a case/reference number and a stated resolution timeline a vague "someone will follow up" is hard to push back on, but a stated timeframe gives you something concrete to point to if it slips.

The EU-hours-only claims team is a known pain point; you're not the first to run into that wall. If the scheduling keeps stalling, it can help to send a few specific availability windows in writing and ask them to confirm one, rather than leaving it open-ended and to request status updates by message in between so the case doesn't go quiet.

Also worth doing if you haven't: loop the property owner in on what's been submitted and where things stand. It's their asset, and they may have their own landlord/homeowner coverage that could serve as a backstop if this claim keeps dragging.

Hope it moves fast from here, following this thread to see what's worked for others too.