If you list on Airbnb and Furnished Finder, you’ve probably counted on AirCover to have your back. Since we launched our Damage Protection Plan, landlords keep asking us the same question: what’s the actual difference? Fair question. Here’s how the two compare, where each one stops, and how to think about coverage for your next booking.
Airbnb’s AirCover gives hosts free damage protection up to $3M, but it only applies to Airbnb bookings, pays depreciated value, and requires guest admission before Airbnb will consider a claim. The Damage Protection Plan covers every booking channel, pays replacement cost, and approves 90 to 95 percent of claims in about two days.
What Airbnb’s AirCover actually covers
AirCover for Hosts is Airbnb’s built-in protection package. It comes with every Airbnb booking and bundles up to $3M in host damage protection, up to $1M in host liability insurance, guest identity verification, reservation screening, and a 24-hour safety line.
The damage protection piece reimburses you when a guest damages your home or belongings during a stay. The liability piece responds if you’re found legally responsible for a guest’s injury or property damage. Only the liability piece is insurance. Damage protection is an Airbnb program, and that difference shows up when you file a claim.
What AirCover actually costs
AirCover isn’t free. It’s paid for through the fee Airbnb takes on every booking, which is now 15.5% for US hosts (opens in a new tab). Even on Airbnb’s lowest-fee option, we estimate AirCover works out to about $60 on a $2,400 booking.
Where the coverage gap shows up
The catch is what AirCover’s damage protection is built around: Airbnb bookings only, and Airbnb’s own process for getting paid.
Get paid what it costs to replace it, not what it’s worth on paper. AirCover pays depreciated value on approved damage claims. The Damage Protection Plan pays replacement cost. Say a guest breaks a TV you bought a few years ago for $1,000. Under a depreciated value model, your reimbursement may be reduced based on the TV’s age and expected useful life. Under a replacement cost model, reimbursement is meant to cover a comparable new TV, subject to the program’s terms.
Airbnb makes you have the awkward conversation first. We don’t. With AirCover, you first send your guest a reimbursement request. The guest has 24 hours to respond. Only if they don’t respond, pay part, or decline can you take the claim to Airbnb. The Damage Protection Plan doesn’t require you to go to your guest first.
AirCover only counts Airbnb bookings. We cover all of them. AirCover applies to Airbnb bookings only. The Damage Protection Plan applies to all of them, direct bookings included.
Who decides on damage claims. Host damage protection is a discretionary Airbnb program, not an insurance policy, and Airbnb alone determines the outcome. Damage Protection Plan claims are reviewed by licensed professionals at Sedgwick, an independent third party.
Coverage side by side
Coverage details | AirCover | Damage Protection Plan |
|---|---|---|
Cost | Included in Airbnb’s fee (est. $60 on a $2,400 booking) | Starts at $54.99/mo |
Payout basis | Depreciated value | Replacement cost |
Before you can claim | Request reimbursement from guest; 24-hour response window | No guest request required |
Booking channels | Airbnb bookings only | All booking channels |
Property/damage coverage | Up to $3M host damage protection | Up to $1M real property liability |
Contents coverage | Included within the $3M limit | $10K |
Host liability | $1M | Up to $1M |
Bed bug protection | Not covered | $15K |
Income loss from guest damage | Included (Airbnb bookings only) | Included |
Claim review time | Not published by Airbnb | 1 to 2 business days once documents are in* |
Payment after approval | Not published by Airbnb | Typically 7 to 14 business days* |
Damage claims decision | Airbnb | Structured damage protection program |
*Damage Protection Plan figures reflect Rental Guardian’s internal claims data. Every claim is reviewed individually.
Where AirCover holds its own
To be fair to it, a couple of AirCover’s pieces are strong.
The host liability coverage is real insurance, underwritten by Zurich Insurance Company Ltd, not a discretionary Airbnb program. That puts it on different footing than the damage protection piece.
On the damage side, AirCover’s $3M ceiling is three times the Damage Protection Plan’s $1M limit. But a coverage limit only matters if your property is worth that much. A $3M ceiling protects a $3M home. For most mid-term rental landlords, the realistic cost of a bad stay is a damaged sofa, a stained mattress, or a broken TV, not a total loss.
Both programs cover income lost to guest damage, though the fine print differs. AirCover’s version only applies when the damage forces you to cancel a confirmed Airbnb booking, so it only replaces income Airbnb itself would have delivered. The Damage Protection Plan’s version isn’t tied to a single channel.
The Damage Protection Plan also adds two protections of its own. Contents get a dedicated $10K limit, while AirCover counts your belongings toward the same $3M cap as your home. And the Damage Protection Plan includes $15K in bed bug protection, which AirCover doesn’t cover. If you’ve never dealt with a bed bug claim, ask a landlord who has. It’s its own kind of expensive.
Which coverage fits your business
If you only host on Airbnb, AirCover’s damage protection already applies to those stays, and we don’t think you need the Damage Protection Plan for your Airbnb bookings. AirCover’s liability insurance is worth keeping too.
But if any of your bookings come from another channel, or come direct, AirCover isn’t covering those stays at all. That’s the job the Damage Protection Plan is built for: damage protection on every booking outside Airbnb, with a historical 90 to 95 percent approval rate and claims reviewed in 1 to 2 business days once your documents are in.
Next steps
Most landlords don’t find out where AirCover’s damage protection stops until they’re mid-claim. Check what the Damage Protection Plan covers on your listings before that happens.