Due to damage caused by a guest, the usual order is: first the protection system of the platform that entered the reservation (AirCover at Airbnb), at Booking, claim from the extranet and bailout, without protection equivalent to AirCover), then the bail if you requested it, and finally your home insurance - as long as you have contracted the tourist cover, that many regular policies do not include -. Documenting damage with photos and date from the first moment is what decides whether or not the claim succeeds. The exact amounts and deadlines of each platform change often: always check the current official page before claiming.
What Airbnb cover and how soon
Airbnb offers hosts a system of protection from damage caused by guests within their Aircover program. In practice, activating that cover requires documenting the damage - photos, date, description - and submitting the claim within a time frame that sets the platform at each time: these deadlines and amounts covered change with time, so we should always consult the official Aircover page before giving up a figure. What's consistent is that small and ill-documented claims - a photo-free break and a clear date-free spot - have far more difficulties in resolving them in favor of the owner.
What does Booking (and what doesn't)
Booking does not have an equivalent protection to Aircover and allows to claim damage from the extranet and to secure. Check the conditions. That means that if you also operate at Booking, document every incident well and have clear collection procedure become even more important than at Airbnb.
Loan or Deposit: When Retirement
Retiring a secure gives a more direct and prompt collection path to await resolution of a platform claim and makes sense in more valuable housing with delicate equipment or expensive furniture. The cost is that it can reduce the conversion of reserves to nonbail ads, especially in shorter urban stays with more occasional guest profile. It's a decision that should be made by looking at the type of housing and regular guest, and not by an automatic means.
Your home insurance with guest damage
Many standard home policies expressly exclude the use of tourism or housing, precisely because they change the risk profile with respect to regular housing. Before operating as a tourist housing, confirm with your insurer that your policy explicitly cover that use - or contracts specific coverage -: without that, any great damage can be completely out of cover, regardless of what the platforms say.
Proof and deadlines to claim
Documents damage as soon as you have been found: photos with date, the part of the cleaning equipment or of who's making the check-out, and if possible an valuation or an invoice for repair or replacement. The more time it goes between the guest's leave and his claim, the more difficult it is to prove that the damage happened during his stay and not before or after. It submits the claim within the current time frame of the related platform: "To see if necessary" is the most common way to lose a claim that, documented in time, would have been solved without problem.
What does the manager do for you?
In a comprehensive management, this process - documenting damage, submitting a claim on a platform, coordinating the repair and keeping you posted - should be included, and not an extra. Can you see how we compare Airbnb and Booking at this point, with more details, at Airbnb vs. Booking: What more rent.
Serious damage to minor damage
Not every damage's treated the same. A minor malfunction - a broken cup, a stain on a cushion - usually resolves quickly with a bail or a simple claim, and many managers do not even demand small amounts because the cost of managing it outweighs the value of the item. A serious damage - an unused electrodomestic, a broken furniture, a maluse malfunction - does have to be fully documented from the first minute: photos from several angles, repair or replacement budget and formal claim within a term. The line between them signifies the cost of re-establishing them, and not the feeling of outrage at the moment.
What to do but detect damage
Before you clear or move anything, make photos of the state as the guest did, put an exact date and time, and if the cleanup team spotted them, ask them to confirm them in writing. That immediate registration was what distinguished a claim that was settled on a week-long one with insufficient evidence.
FAQ
Do Airbnb always pay for damage caused by a guest?
Not always and not automatically. Airbnb has a host protection system (AirCover) that can cover damage caused by guests but the claim process requires documentation - photos, date, valuation of the object or malfunction - and small claims without clear evidence are not always resolved in favor of the owner. Check the conditions currently in place at the official Airbnb page as they change with time.
Do Booking cover damage as well as Airbnb?
Booking does not have an equivalent protection to Aircover and allows to claim damage from the extranet and to secure. Check the conditions.
Is it worth billing the guests?
It depends on the type of housing and regular guest: in more valuable or sensitive housing, a retention bail gives a faster collection track to await resolution of a platform claim. In low-risk urban short-term care, many managers do not care about them because they can reduce the rate of conversion of reserves.
My regular home insurance cover damage from a tourist guest?
Not necessarily. Many standard home policies expressly exclude the use of housing for tourist or lodging activity. Before operating, check with your insurer that your policy explicitly cover that use and if it does not, contract dedicated cover before first booking.
What evidence do I need to claim damage?
Photos of the malfunction with date, part or check-out message of the cleaning equipment or of the host describing what happened and if an valuation or invoice of the object or repair is possible. The sooner it's documented after the guest's leave, the more force his claim has.
What does the manager do if there's damage?
In an integrated management, the manager should document the incident with photos, file the claim at the appropriate platform and coordinate the repair, keeping you information about the result even if it's solved at no cost to you.
Do we talk about your place?
We give you an estimate with information about real housing that we already manage, not an invented number. Free and free.