Claims for guest damage

[Kerry26]

Have any other hosts had experience of making a claim against the Airbnb host assurance policy? 
I have experience delay, rejection, obstruction & the claim to be recycled around the system for over 4 months now. 
I have not been offered even the guests deposit! 
It appears to me that Airbnb always favour the guest not the host in a very prejudice way on every occasion! 
the nature of Airbnb booking & communication procedures make it impossible to obtain guests address & other details to take the guest to a small claims court, and the host assurance procedure blocks matters up so long that the guest gets off Scot free while a host is potentially left in crippling debt, exhausted trying to rectify the guest damage & with an overwhelming sense of aloneness, distress, anxiety & impotence as all correspondence with a guest is difficult when they constantly refer to the host protection assurance & Airbnb constantly block any resolution!  
I am beyond disappointed.. I am now so frustrated I am going to take to social media & local press to discover who else might have experienced the same level of procrastination and obstruction. 
can any other hosts help me understand why this situation is allowed to occur? Is the only solution to have huge deposits or to leave Airbnb? Where does the community sit on these matters? 
Even a personal insurance claim is blocked by the lack of information given by Airbnb. They haven’t returned copies of all of our correspondence or theirs with the guests & they won’t offer any deadline to their processing my claim. Obstruction appears to be the fall back position in dealing with my claim.. why? They stand to lose hosts & public credibility... 

[Kerry26]

Apology for bad grammar.. I’m stressed & frustrated 

[Helen3]

Hi @Kerry26 

Rather difficult to offer you any advice as you haven't actually said what your situation is 😁

take a deep breadth and start again

1. What damage did your guests do?

2. presumably you submitted your claim in line with their T&C for being considered under the guarantee?

3. what happened next? 

[Kerry26]

Helen3 

Before new tier restrictions in Uk  I was approached by guests via Airbnb  who wanted to book both my buildings as they wished to book in all their crew for accommodation who were in a work bubble to finish off an independent film they were doing. They asked if they could film around the area, and my property, use rooms for accommodation & a make up room space for actors & set some scenes. Very nice people. I asked for proof of insurance & met them to agree terms. 
offered them local knowledge, land owners details, a cater & local contacts in general. All very buddy buddy.. I even agreed a bit of a discount. The first I knew of the extend of abuse of my property was when my cleaner/housekeeper arrived on guests departure. The place was trashed. Seems bad weather & deadlines meant they used inside for much filming & lived like pigs. We found piles of left over food piled into flimsy boxes.. leaking, piles & piles of about 20 + bags of rubbish, doors & windows left open, counters, walls & floors damaged, much burnt & or stained bedding, burnt blankets, broken crockery, glasses, missing items, beds piled up on the side, front door hinge badly damaged, lights broken, curtain off or put up badly, sheets taped to windows & paint ripped off, all my guest wood stock used & multiple light bulbs removed. I had contents between buildings all muddled up, big & small items all over the place, wall & bedside lamps broken, dents in walls & floors. 
We have re decorated & refurnished both buildings just prior to the bookings. 
I am still doing re decoration now! Yet I had to hire a team for a full 10 days after the guests checked out just to get everywhere clean again. 
I had countless costs for replacing items & repairs, still doing floors & counters. 
The guests insisted on my going through Airbnb for reparation as they did some investigating & discovered the host assurance policy. They refused to offer any details for me to make an insurance claim. 
Im still waiting for Airbnb claim decision, it keeps being sent round and round with no final decision. I began submitting evidence ASAP within the deadline & continued to offer any more as I found further losses & damage back in Oct. 

Seems a very long process which is not being attended to with any consistency or schedule? 

[Yvonne41]

As a former film location manager, the film company should always have insurance and name you loss payee in their insurance rider. Also, my locations always asked for a check damage deposit they could hold until I the production and crew was out. I can go on and on as to what should be done to protect property for the purpose of filming, but I won’t here.

In your case, if the film company did not have insurance and or their policy didn’t cover you for some reason, you will need to take the Production Company to court if Airbnb won’t on your behalf.

Good Luck!

Yvonne

[Helen350]

Oh dear @Kerry26 !  I don't want to sound unsympathetic, but it seems you took a booking outside the terms and conditions for Airbnb, which may be why they are not covering you? (Though it would be good if they would explain this!)

1) Third party bookings are not allowed. - That is to say, well you CAN choose who you let into your house, but the Host Guarantee does not cover you unless the person who made the booking/holds the Airbnb account is present on the trip. 

2) Airbnbs are for RESIDENTIAL stays, not commercial.

It's easy to be wise after the event, but savvy hosts tend to DECLINE requests such as you got, from a large group from a film company. Many hosts see such requests as a 'red flag'.

Sadly, many hosts naively think any Airbnb booking is somehow 'safe' because Airbnb has allowed it... That is not true, Airbnb allow anyone to book, with the possible exception of those who appear on a database for the worst kinds of crimes, but an allowed booking is never a guarantee that a guest or their party will not trash your house, sadly. Hosts have to be proactive in screening guests themselves, and checking the property with webcams or visits.

This CC is chock-a-block with stories just like yours..... type words like 'party' or 'trashed' or 'damage' & 'host guarantee' into the search feature up top.  

[Kerry26]

Helen before you run away with this idea you are entirely wrong! I never ever take bookings outside Airbnb ok? 

[Helen350]

I didn't think you were taking bookings outside Airbnb @Kerry26 ! - I just meant that just because you booked through Airbnb does not mean the guests are respectable & well behaved! - Your story is sadly very common, EVEN when booked through Airbnb. In fact, Airbnb is getting a reputation for an avenue to behave as badly as you like & get away with it! 

When I wrote 'outside terms & conditions' I meant a) shooting a film b) a booking for workmen (OK, if the booker was present, then it was not a third party booking - except in  the second house I guess it was as the booker could not reside in both = grey area)

The 'deposit' doesn't actually exist, btw...  

[Kerry26]

Hi Helen 

the guest booking was booking both properties for his work mates & himself, all were listed & beds were apportioned as with any other booking. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Kerry26 If you have contact details for these people then I suggest you take them to the small claims court. Just threatening this will probably get their attention but if not then its a cheap and simple process.

I would certainly not rely on Airbnb's insurance.....

[Helen3]

So sorry this happened to you @Kerry26 what a terrible situation.

If I take bookings from filming companies I would only do so with a direct contract , charging them commercial rates far in excess of what I charge for a domestic booking and with having a copy of their liability /professional indemnity insurance.

airbnb T&C's just don't give you the cover you need for commercial bookings.

I also do regular checks to see they are using my place in line with how this has been agreed in the contract.

sadly for you you may find Airbnb won't accept your claim as this was a commercial booking. 

I agree with @Mike-And-Jane0  as you will have the details of the production company who booked with you I would collect all the photo and video evidence you took of damages and estimates for repairs and use these to submit a claim through the small claims court.

in your situation as the guest who booked is not responding to the claim you put through airbnb I would be tempted to contact them via their social media to publicly request they pay for the damages. 

It goes without saying do leave an honest review but don't mention the claim or it might invalidate the review . 

[Sarah977]

@Kerry26 Increasing the security deposit you have listed won't solve anything. Airbnb's so-called security deposit is a joke- they do not actually charge and hold this when a guest books. It is only there as a warning that it could be charged. The host has to request the guest to pay for the damages, which the majority of guests who are this disrespectful will decline to pay, andonky then can you ask Airbnb to cover it under the host guarantee.

It's a good idea to tell them you are going to the media with this. They hate their dirty dealings aired in public and the negative publicity and this approach has worked to get compensated for some hosts.

[Helen3]

Normally I would agree @Sarah977  but in this case they have a get out of jail card for not considering the claim as commercial bookings are against their T&C .

[Sarah977]

@Helen3 I'll have a look to see where it states that in the T&C, unless you have it handy to post here.

I wasn't aware it was against the policies, just thought hosts would be foolish to accept a booking like this without charging more. Usually when hosts ask Airbnb about accepting bookings that go against policy, they are told it's up to the host to decide, as with 3rd party bookings.

[Kerry26]

Sarah 

I feel the issue I had come against is when asked by me to pay for the damage the guests had read about the Airbnb host assurance policy & actually were quite abrupt when I said they should pay via their insurance.. they insisted hosts had cover via Airbnb! If Airbnb advertise this policy then guests can take advantage, be less considerate as assuming there is cover for hosts to claim against!