Agreed! We hosts should not be penalized in these situation, especially if we have Strict Cancellation policies and are even going the extra mile to suggest in advance that guests look into purchasing travel insurance.
Airbnb extenuating circumstances give guests a lot of protection and almost no protection to hosts. Travel insurance is very affordable and airbnb should definitely offer it to guests, as their competitors do.
Someone above mentioned that hotels cancel for refund. Well, not all hotels and also we are not hotels....Airbnb business model is very different from hotels. Also most airbnb properties' night rate are a small fraction of what hotels of the same size/location would charge and that's one of the mains reasons guests decide to book through airbnb. Most of us hosts don't benefit from economies of scale that hotels benefit from and every cancellation translates into substantial financial loss for us. For hosts in locations prone to storms, cancellations can simply make our business unsustainable. A lot of people want to cancel due to storms (not just for actual hurricanes) and that's understandable but with the high frequency of storms in some areas, these cancellations happen way too often and it's impossible for those of us hosts with just a few properties to survive. Airbnb should find a Travel Insurance solution asap! That way all parties in these rental transaction are protected.
In case of Hurricanes (not storms but real hurricanes) of course we don't want any guest to risk their lives by staying at our properties but the same way the hurricane wasn't their fault, it wasn't ours so we should at least share the financial burden in these situations. We don't stop paying the bills when the property is vacant due to guests' cancellations for bookings they voluntarily made.
Moreover, if Airbnb can not offer Travel insurance, they should at least allow hosts to elect exactly which circumstances they would refund guests and let hosts decide if hosts want to completely deny extenuating circumstances. As far as I understand, airbnb team are not claim adjusters so how can we guarantee they know how to correctly evaluate and validate claims/documentations for extenuating circumstances?
Hosts should have the ability to decide if they can afford flexible cancellation policies or not and for those hosts that can't afford and so they elect strict policies, no refund should be given to guests who (voluntarily!) booked those specific properties with strict policies, after all no one is forcing a guest to book our property. They are adults and have to understand their risk. We elect strict policy for a property exactly because we have to match it to our risk tolerance. We can't survive in this business if guests cancel for every storm that happens in our area. It's up to the Guest to read the clear cancellation policy and decide whether they want to take the risks associated with that booking or not.
My family often rent properties with very strict policies and we understand the reasons behind those policies (many are in areas with volatile weather conditions) and before booking we have to decide if we will just absorb the loss should we have to cancel or if we will be buying travel insurance to mitigate the risk. Plain simple decision to make and it's up to us (who are guests in this scenario). We book the property if we want to take the risk.
Whoever suggested above the "loss of use" clause on hosts insurance policies is probably not very familiar with what that means and for which situations it is applicable.Please read your policy carefully to better understand what you are covered for.
