You have a new guest coming to stay at your rental home. You’ve got everything prepared for their arrival, the beds made, floors swept, and counters dusted. You’ve also researched your guests and read every Airbnb review that was left about them, but a little part in the back of your mind still worries about the status of your house after the stay.
It’s hard to guarantee that a guest will treat your house as their own or respect your rules, no matter how good their reviews are. And even if they do, accidents can still happen: a glass of wine can get knocked over, or a curtain rod can fall.
Now with Airbnb, you don’t have to worry about fixing guest damages done to your property with their new insurance protection program, AirCover. Insurance is very important to have when running any business, and your vacation rental business is no exception to this rule.
What is Airbnb AirCover for hosts?
Airbnb AirCover provides hosts with up to $1 million in damage protection and up to $1 million in liability protection. Previously, Airbnb’s Host Protection policy only covered $1 million in damage and liability protection together, so this new program is quite the upgrade.
AirCover automatically applies to all Airbnb hosts, even if you already have a different form of insurance. You also don’t need to sign up for anything in order to qualify. It’s completely free and comes with your host profile. It can also be applied to every night your home is booked.
This new coverage also comes with expanded protection compared to the previous Host Protection policy. AirCover now provides more coverage for pet damage, deep cleaning and more. Also, hosts of Airbnb Experiences will now receive liability insurance under this new policy.
What’s covered by the new AirCover protection?
As we mentioned before, AirCover gives hosts an expanded repertoire of coverage. It provides insurance for damages made by guests and their pets during their stay. The time period for damage starts at check-in and ends at check-out. If any damage happens outside of the timeframe of the stay, then AirCover does not apply.
The expanded coverage includes:
- Pet damage protection: Any damage done by pets, with or without your permission to stay.
- Deep cleaning protection: Unexpected cleaning costs, such as removing cigarette odor or wine stains.
- Income loss protection: Reimbursement of lost income if you have to cancel confirmed Airbnb bookings due to guest damage.
- 14-day filing window: If guests cause damage, you now have 14 days after their check-out to request reimbursement, even if the next guest has already checked in.
- Quick reimbursements: Reimbursements for guest damages happen quickly, usually within two weeks.
- Faster track for Superhosts: Superhosts get priority routing and faster reimbursements.
Liability coverage
AirCover now gives hosts $1 million in liability coverage. Liability coverage comes into play on the odd chance that a guest gets hurt during an Airbnb stay or experience or their belongings get damaged or stolen while they are staying in your home.
People who help you run your vacation rental business, such as co-hosts and cleaners, are also included in this coverage.
Host liability insurance covers you if you are found legally responsible for bodily injury to a guest, damage or theft of guest property, or damage caused by a guest to common areas, such as a building lobby or nearby properties.
This coverage does not include damage or injury from something done unintentionally, damage done to your property (covered by damage protection), and other exclusions.
Damage protection
With AirCover, Airbnb will provide you with $1 million in coverage in the event that your property or your belongings get damaged by a guest during their stay.
Besides property damage, this also covers unexpected cleaning costs due to the behavior of the guest and loss of income if you need to cancel due to damages sustained during a stay.
This coverage remains true even if you offer up your property for an emergency stay through Airbnb.
However, damage protection does not include damage from everyday wear and tear, loss due to natural events (earthquakes, hurricanes, etc.), injury or property damage to guests and others (covered in liability protection), and other exclusions.
Pet damage
If you choose to open up your home to pets, then you can already charge a pet cleaning fee when booking in order to compensate you for vacuuming fur or cleaning paw prints off windows. This fee gets included in your price at checkout.
AirCover comes into play when there are unexpected costs or damages from pets during a stay. This can mean scratches on furniture or stains on the floor or carpets. If you do not allow pets in your home and a guest brings one anyway, this coverage also applies.
Deep cleaning protection
AirCover’s deep cleaning protection goes beyond the everyday cleaning fees that get charged when making a booking. This insurance won’t cover the normal laundry or floor cleaning, but it is there if a guest stinks up the property from smoking indoors, for example, or from other such instances.
Income loss protection
As a host, you are now covered for any type of income lost if you have to cancel a reservation due to necessary repairs or deep cleaning. If a guest destroys your furniture and you need to cancel a booking to repair it before your next stay, then Airbnb will make sure you don’t get punished through a loss of income due to this unpredictable circumstance.
What has changed with the new AirCover for hosts?
As you probably already know, Airbnb created its Host Guarantee program 10 years ago, which provided hosts with up to $1 million in coverage. Airbnb has now scratched that program and replaced it with an expanded version under the name AirCover. The new additions to this program include liability coverage, expanded support for deep cleaning costs, pet coverage, income loss protection, and a bigger filing window.
We all know that guests prefer lower fees, so these protections work to encourage hosts to lower excessive cleaning and pet fees in order to get higher bookings and revenue. Also, as work from home becomes increasingly popular, pet-friendly places are in higher demand, so Airbnb hopes to encourage hosts to allow animals on their listings.
One thing that hasn’t changed with AirCover is you must go through the Resolution Center in order to make a claim. The Resolution Center is where you communicate with your guests and try to get them to pay for the damages done. If this proves unfruitful, only then will Airbnb step in and decide how much coverage you should receive for damages. We’ll walk you through the steps of filing a complaint in the next section.
How to file a claim with Airbnb AirCover?
If you come into your home after a stay and realize that the place is damaged or dirty beyond the normal amount, then you have the right to file a claim with Airbnb as long as it falls under the covered categories of the AirCover program.
- Collect evidence of the damage caused. You can take pictures or videos of the damages in order to submit them to Airbnb. Make sure to include estimates and or receipts of repairs needed.
- Notify both the guest and Airbnb of the damages through the Airbnb Resolution Center. Send a message through the platform stating the damages and your request for reimbursement. The guest then has 72 hours to respond to this request.
- If your guest responds and agrees to pay the full amount, then they will send the payment through the app. Once Airbnb receives it, they will process it and send it to you.
- If your guest refuses to pay the full amount or if they do not respond to your request, then you will be eligible for AirCover reimbursement. You must then submit the Host Damage Protection Payment Request form or the Liability Insurance Intake Form and send it with your collected damage evidence. This form must be filed within 30 days of when the damage happened.
- After your form is submitted, an Airbnb Support Ambassador will contact you with a resolution of your claim according to the Host Damage Protection terms and conditions.
It’s important to note that the process must be started no later than 14 days after the guest’s check-out in order to qualify under the AirCover plan. If you get approved for reimbursement, then the money will be returned to you after about 9-11 working days. SuperHosts get a fast track to payouts and can expect to receive money sooner.
Airbnb AirCover for hosts — a step in the right direction
AirCover is Airbnb’s newest expansion of reimbursement coverage, which is available to every host on Airbnb for free. Under this plan, hosts qualify for up to $1 million in damages and $1 million in liability on top of pet damage protection, deep cleaning protection, and income loss protection. They also extended the filing window, which gives hosts more time to discover and take care of damages.
These new changes expand the possibility of receiving compensation. It’s important to note that AirCover does not include every home protection out there, even if it comes pretty close, so outside insurance options are also available to you as you please.
Airbnb’s goal is to encourage new hosts to join the platform as well as take care of their existing hosts. Expanding reimbursement coverage is a big step in the right direction of making sure that hosts feel confident about allowing guests to stay at their homes. Even if a guest does not behave at their best, your home will still be protected.
It’s hard to guarantee that your home will be 100% safe when a stranger is staying in it. Of course, normal wear and tear are expected, but on the rare occasion that there is unforeseen harm done to your property, Airbnb’s AirCover will have your back.
Disclaimer: Lodgify is an Airbnb Preferred Software Partner. This post, including any claims or statements within, is solely from Lodgify and is not endorsed by, directly affiliated with, authorized, or sponsored by Airbnb in any way.
