How Airbnb protects Hosts

Whether you’re new to hosting or just starting to explore the idea, you might have questions about protecting your space and belongings with people you don’t know staying in your home. Damage and safety incidents are extremely rare, but it might help you to know Airbnb has a number of protections in place for both Hosts and guests.

“We had reservations about letting strangers into the house,” Host Guy from San Francisco says about his pre-hosting jitters. “But the protection Airbnb provides gave us the confidence to list the house and try it out.” And his leap of faith paid off—he’s hosted over 120 guests, and he’s never had an incident.

Guests provide their full name, date of birth, phone number, email address, and payment information to Airbnb before booking. Hosts also have the option of requiring guests to provide Airbnb with a government ID before they can book.

You’re encouraged to set your own house rules—for example, note any restrictions on pets and the number of guests. All guests are required to agree to your house rules before booking. If your listing was booked instantly, remember that you can take advantage of penalty-free cancellations if the need arises.

Beyond the peace of mind that identification verification provides, Airbnb helps you get to know guests before they book. You can check out their profiles and read reviews from past Hosts.

And since Hosts and guests can only review each other after a reservation is complete, you can be sure that the feedback you’re reading is based on actual experiences. You can also use Airbnb’s secure messaging tool to ask questions and set expectations at any point before a guest’s stay.

In the rare event your place or belongings are damaged by a guest, there’s AirCover for Hosts. AirCover for Hosts provides you with $1 million in damage protection so you can feel confident hosting on Airbnb.

Get more details about AirCover for Hosts

Airbnb takes a number of measures to safeguard your account, like requiring extra authentication when a login is attempted from a new phone or computer, and sending you account alerts when changes are made. As long as you stay on the platform throughout the entire process—from communication, to booking, to payment—you’re protected by Airbnb’s policies and protections.

Airbnb’s global team is standing by 24/7 in 11 different languages to help with:

• Rebooking assistance
• Refunds
• Host damage protection reimbursement requests
• Mediation

With these protections in place and some basic safety measures on your part, you can begin hosting with confidence. For more details about the important ways Airbnb keeps Hosts and guests safe, visit Airbnb’s Trust and Safety page.

Host damage protection isn’t an insurance policy. It doesn’t cover Hosts who offer stays through Airbnb Travel, LLC, or Hosts in mainland China or Japan. Keep in mind that all coverage limits are shown in USD, and that there are other terms, conditions, and exclusions.

Information contained in this article may have changed since publication.