Understanding Airbnb’s AirCover

AirCover is a hosting protection program that has been developed by Airbnb to replace its former service, Host Protection. Created especially for hosts and vacation rental management companies, AirCover provides coverage of up to $1,000,000 for damage that guests may cause to properties and up to $1,000,000 for personal injury claims.

Since the demand for vacation rentals continues to rise, having adequate protection is one of the most important aspects of vacation rental property management. Now, let’s find out what AirCover actually is and how your vacation rental management company can benefit from it.

What’s Included

In a nutshell, AirCover includes the following types of protection:

• Damage protection, which covers:
• damage caused by guests and/or their pets to the rental units themselves, their contents, and adjacent structures, like garages, porches, sheds, etc.
• any unexpected cleaning costs that you may incur for removing cigarette odor, persistent stains, etc.
• loss of income resulting from canceling confirmed bookings due to damage caused by a guest.
• Liability protection, which can help you avoid financial losses due to:
• potential claims filed by guests for injuries or damage to/theft of their belongings while staying at the properties you manage.
• damage caused by guests to nearby properties or common areas.

On a side note, AirCover offers 4 types of protection for guests as well. These are:

• Booking protection – If a host or vacation rental property manager needs to cancel a confirmed reservation within 30 days of check-in as a result of an unexpected event, Airbnb will offer the guest a comparable or better vacation rental for the length of the stay. If Airbnb cannot find the right type of property for the guest, they’ll issue a refund.
• Check-in guarantee – This guarantee comes in handy when a guest cannot check into the vacation rental that he or she booked, and the property manager isn’t able to solve the issue. In that case, Airbnb will find a replacement vacation rental for the guest or issue a refund.
• Listing inaccuracies – If a guest finds that the property description and/or the amenities/services included in the listing are inaccurate, he or she has 72 hours to report the issue. Assuming the complaint is valid, Airbnb will assist the guest with finding a similar or better accommodation option or provide a partial or full refund, depending on the circumstances.
• 24-hour safety line – The 24-hour safety line provides Airbnb guests direct access to trained safety agents and local emergency authorities.

How AirCover Works

AirCover is automatically added to every vacation rental property that you list on Airbnb. With AirCover, you have 14 days after the guest checks out to request reimbursement for damage to property and/or missing items. This 14-day filing window applies even if another guest has checked into the property during that time.

You can submit the reimbursement request via Airbnb’s Resolution Center, and Airbnb will notify the guest about it. Once notified, the guest has 24 hours to respond and pay the required amount. If the guest doesn’t respond or refuses to pay, Airbnb will step in.

What’s Excluded in AirCover

AirCover protects hosts and vacation rental management companies from paying for damage to properties, missing items, and/or injuries out of their own pocket. However, this program is not a substitute for vacation rental property insurance. That’s because AirCover was developed to offer free, supplemental protection in addition to traditional vacation rental insurance products. 

While AirCover reimburses vacation rental property owners and management companies for losses resulting from different covered events, it’s subject to a series of limitations and exclusions, such as:

• Ordinary wear and tear of the property.
• Property damage caused by guests after their booking period has ended.
• Financial loss resulting from faulty workmanship.
• Loss of income as a result of fraudulent or criminal activities, including identity theft.
• Property damage caused by natural disasters, such as flooding, hurricane, hail, windstorm, hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme cold, and earthquakes.
• Property damage or medical costs that exceed the coverage limit.
• Valuables, like fine art, jewelry, and cash.
• Additional structures that are located beyond 1,000 feet from the covered property.
• Assets in transit, like vehicles and boats.

One way to address all these coverage gaps is to consider specific insurance policies, such as vacation rental property insurance and business insurance. In addition, you could opt for supplementary insurance products that can protect your business from financial losses resulting from various causes. One such product is SUPERHOG, which combines advanced guest screening with damage protection to make protecting the vacation rental properties you manage hassle-free.

With a strong partner ecosystem, which includes SUPERHOG, JANIIS delivers an all-in-one lodging management solution to help you manage and automate different areas of your business, while also maximizing vacation rental damage protection. Even though each vacation rental and property management company have different characteristics and needs, our software can help you streamline your entire operation, from back-office to front-end. Whether you’re looking for your first property management software or you’re in need of switching out of a legacy system that’s slowing down your business’s growth, JANIIS could be the right solution for your company.