Safety is of paramount importance to Airbnb and, therefore, they have put in place a couple of safety measures such as the Airbnb Host Guarantee and cancellation policy to help protect hosts. Neither hosts nor guests should be having any sleepless nights. Therefore, hosts should set time aside to study everything insurance-related carefully to ensure that they are completely protected.
What is the Airbnb Host Guarantee?
In short, it offers protection for as much as $1 000 000 to hosts in every single country in the unfortunate event of property getting damaged. What makes it so great is that you do not have to apply for it or pay expensive installments. Hosts are protected automatically by the Airbnb Host Guarantee every time that they receive a booking. Plus, it is completely free!
Though, this policy does not mean that guests can do as they please because, in the event that Airbnb decides that the guest was in fact to blame, the guest can still face some financial responsibility for the damage that the host claims.
What does the Airbnb Host Guarantee exclude?
Just like with the majority of policies, there are certain exclusions. The following are some of the things that are excluded: cash, collectibles, artwork, jewelry and damage caused by normal wear and tear. In addition, this host guarantee program only offers protection to the areas of your building that you have included in your listing. Therefore, if you only rent out a room where your kitchen is off limits, you cannot claim any damage caused to that area. Hosts who allow pets should also take note that any damage caused by guests’ four-legged furry friends will also be excluded. Lastly, any property damage claims or personal injury from a third-party is not covered (though, these claims are included in their Host Protection Insurance).
How does it work?
As mentioned earlier, there are a couple of limitations and conditions to the Airbnb Host Guarantee. If you have a claim that meets the requirements, you will need to be able to share photos of the damage and receipts during the resolution process.
Although the Airbnb Host Protection is available to all hosts irrespective of the other short-term insurance policies that they have in place, it will only apply to those incidents covered by the Airbnb renter guarantee that relate to Airbnb bookings.
Should you still get your own insurance?
Since the Airbnb Host Guarantee has quite a number of exclusions, it is important that hosts take note that it is not a sufficient insurance policy and hosts should still take out their own insurance specifically for short-term rentals. However, not every insurance policy will pay out the damage that was caused by renting out your place to guests because of the standard “business pursuit exclusion”.
In other words, any claim that relates to your short-term vacation rental properties will get rejected if they discover that you have been renting out your property on Airbnb or other short-term vacation rental sites such as TripAdvisor, HomeAway etc. So, it is crucial that hosts double-check the terms and conditions of their insurance policy and, just as important, ensure that they actually understand what it means.
What can hosts do to keep their properties safe?
The first prize is still preventing any damage to your property. Luckily there are some practical steps that you can take to reduce the likelihood of unfortunate events.
For example, it is good practice to remove any valuable items whenever you are hosting guests. Therefore, instead of decorating your place with rare artwork, opt for a print that can be easily replaced. Also, it is wise to add a security deposit too. Most of the time guests will not have an issue to pay a security deposit.
At the end of the day, you are now a host as well as an investor and need to stay on top of Airbnb guarantee policies such as the Airbnb Host Guarantee that will help to protect your assets. One of the biggest risks that your Airbnb investment faces is that there is always the probability that your guests can cause damage to your property.