How to charge an Airbnb guest for damage: the 14-day window and the evidence that gets paid

Picture a checkout where you find a white ring on a dark table, towels stained orange and a cracked control panel. Someone has to pay, and the clock has started.

An Airbnb damage claim starts with the guest. Within 14 days of checkout, send them a request in the Resolution Center that explains why they're responsible, with your proof attached. If they don't pay within 24 hours, Host Damage Protection, part of Airbnb's AirCover for Hosts, can step in. It pays only on evidence, with exclusions, and for most items no more than their depreciated value.

If the guest is asking you for money instead, see what I'd do when a guest asks for a refund.

RentalWe's editors, the "we" in this article, read every cited page on October 21, 2026. This is how Airbnb's terms and help pages read that day, not legal advice.

Key Takeaways

• On Airbnb, the guest is asked to pay first; Host Damage Protection pays only if they don't.
• Airbnb's terms give 14 days from checkout to ask the guest and 30 to file the payment form. Two help pages say 14 days, so day 14 is the safer deadline.
• Claims rest on three proofs: the item's condition before the stay, the damage after it, and the cost, in original files. None of it guarantees payment.
• Host Damage Protection excludes most stained linens and consumables, routine cleaning, wear and tear and unexplained missing items. For most items, it pays no more than their depreciated value.
• I'd send the request as soon as the evidence is together, not on day 13.

How does charging a guest for damage work on Airbnb?

In two stages: you ask the guest through the Resolution Center, and Airbnb steps in only if they don't pay.

Airbnb's host damage protection page gives the guest 24 hours to respond. If they decline, pay only part or stay silent, you can take it to Host Damage Protection. The 72 hours some guides mention is a different window: on Airbnb's Resolution Center page, it's for reporting problems under the rebooking and refund policy.

On desktop, Airbnb's request-money instructions give these steps:

1. Click Resolution Center, then Request money.
2. Select the reservation and click Choose.
3. Choose the reason that best describes the request.
4. Enter the amount you're requesting.
5. Upload attachments and add a note.
6. Click Next, then Request.

The form marks attachments optional. I'd attach everything, since the terms require evidence.

Airbnb's Host Damage Protection Terms call this a guarantee: Airbnb "will only compensate you for HDP Losses if the Responsible Guest fails to satisfy their primary obligation," and the terms "are not an insurance contract." Payment is capped at three million US dollars per stay, a ceiling rather than a typical payout; the pages we read publish no approval rates or average payouts.

Most hosts can't charge a security deposit (Airbnb's security deposits page), and any deposit or insurance money you do receive for the same loss reduces what Airbnb pays (terms).

For reservations booked on or after November 20, 2026, Airbnb's house rules policy generally bars hosts from imposing "fines or other penalties on guests" and points to AirCover instead. Fees for skipped checkout tasks are already banned under its ground rules for guests.

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What are the deadlines for an Airbnb damage claim?

Fourteen days from checkout to ask the guest and notify Airbnb, and 30 days to file the payment request form. I'd treat day 14 as the deadline for both.

The first clock in the Host Damage Protection Terms reads "Within fourteen (14) days of the Responsible Guest’s checkout date": ask the guest to pay, explaining why they're responsible, and notify Airbnb, which one Resolution Center request can do. The second clock is "Within thirty (30) days": file the payment request form.

The terms say 30 days; two help pages say 14. The host damage protection page wants "the supporting documentation of the damage within 14 days of the damage or loss," and the request-money page says damage claims "need to be filed 14 days within checkout." I'd meet the stricter one. The general 60-day Resolution Center window doesn't apply to damage.

Some guides add a second limit, filing before the next guest checks in. No Airbnb page we read sets one, but the next arrival is when your evidence gets cleaned away.

For theft or criminal damage, the terms require a police report "certified by you as true and correct." A May 2025 Scripps News story covered a case under the earlier terms. A Baltimore host sent a police report number, yet several items in a roughly $8,000 claim were declined for lacking the report, which could take a month or more, the story notes.

Airbnb said it doesn't contact police departments, and the host got an extension only after the newsroom asked Airbnb for comment. I'd file the report the same day and send the number, knowing that in this case the number alone wasn't enough.

The guest can't remove the booking's payment method until 14 days after checkout (longer while a damage report is open), the same 14 days you have (Airbnb's Payments Terms).

What evidence gets an Airbnb damage claim paid?

Three proofs: the item's condition before this stay, the damage after it, and the cost. The terms ask for the loss's "time, cause and origin" with photos, videos and receipts, and a dated before-stay record shows cause. Payment still isn't guaranteed.

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Before the stay: the turnover record

For damaged items, the terms want an inventory with make, model, purchase date, condition "at the time of the loss or damage," and receipts. No Airbnb page we read explains how to build one; the Insurance Information Institute's home inventory guide suggests labeling photos with the item's make or model and keeping receipts.

In a January 2026 thread, a host lost a $400 TV claim when Airbnb asked for proof the set was fine before the stay and their photos didn't fit. A host with a broken chair, posting in a July 2026 AirCover thread, was asked for a dated photo from just before the visit and told that photographing every item between stays "is one way to handle it." A host-operator in an October 2026 thread runs a fixed 15-shot list per unit and says reviewing it takes about 90 seconds.

My rule would be the same photos from the same angles at every turnover, filed by date, plus a receipt folder for anything worth more than a night's rate.

At checkout: capture it before anyone cleans

Photograph and film the damage before cleaning or repairs, close up and wide, and note the serial number and age of any electronics. Keep and protect the damaged item, since Airbnb may inspect. Keep messages on Airbnb too: under the terms, filing lets Airbnb review your messages with the guest and "any previous Guest," which by our reading would show whether an earlier guest reported the same damage.

Evidence must "not be doctored or falsified in any way, including by the use of artificial intelligence," a rule in the Host Damage Protection Terms since Airbnb's February 2026 terms update, and unverifiable evidence can lead Airbnb to "deny the request altogether." I'd send files straight from the phone, with no filters and no cropping that hides context.

Airbnb bans indoor cameras "even if these devices are turned off" and allows disclosed exterior ones (Airbnb's camera rules). No Airbnb page we read says whether footage counts as evidence. A host's footage of a guest sitting on a hot tub panel, from a camera the host says was disclosed and that caught part of the tub, set off a privacy argument in July 2026, with commenters on both sides. I'd rely only on disclosed devices that follow the rules.

Price it

For damage to the home itself, the terms ask for detailed repair estimates; for replacement or extra cleaning, attach the receipt or invoice. Smoke odor cleaning is covered only when the smoking was "in violation of a Host’s House Rules" and you can show the guest or someone they invited caused it. Evidence can include "photographs, professional assessments, smoke detector readings, or an admission," and Airbnb may require invoices from a third party it approves.

What won't Airbnb pay for?

Wear and tear, most stained linens, routine cleaning, most consumables, unexplained missing items, insects and anything you can't prove. For most items, payment won't exceed depreciated value.

• Stained sheets and towels. Airbnb's rule: Only if unauthorized extra guests or a rule-breaking pet caused it. What decides it: Proof of the extra guests or pet.
• Extra cleaning. Airbnb's rule: Only for stains, unapproved extra guests, pets or smoke, and only the part above your cleaning fee; never normal checkout tasks. What decides it: A cleaner's invoice.
• Smoke odor. Airbnb's rule: Only if the smoking broke your house rules. What decides it: Photos, assessments, detector readings or an admission.
• Missing items. Airbnb's rule: Not if unexplained. What decides it: Proof it was there at check-in; a police report for theft.
• Consumables. Airbnb's rule: Only if marked unavailable or locked away. What decides it: The sign or house rule.
• Pet damage. Airbnb's rule: Covered. What decides it: Photos and invoices.
• Wear and tear, insects. Airbnb's rule: Not covered. What decides it: The item's age and condition.

In the terms, linens don't include "upholstery fabric, mattresses, or carpeting," so guest stains on those fall under the general stain cover. The current terms never say wear and tear; they exclude degradation "over time due to use, age, lack of maintenance." Insect damage is excluded too; our guide to bed bug claims covers that case. If a service animal damages your place, Airbnb's pet fee page says you can still request payment under AirCover.

Under its terms, Airbnb pays "the lesser of" several measures, including Actual Cash Value, which deducts physical depreciation and obsolescence, and never more than you're entitled to recover from the guest. Fine arts and valuables are valued under a separate list. The Insurance Information Institute explains actual cash value as replacement cost minus depreciation: a claim on an eight-year-old washing machine pays only a percentage of a new one's price.

Repeat claims can backfire. The terms let Airbnb deny a request when the loss came from a lack of reasonable care, "as may be evidenced by multiple repeat requests for the same type of Eligible Loss in the same Listing." After a second similar claim, I'd fix the cause (a glass top, coasters, a different sofa bed) instead of filing a third.

Lost bookings are covered only when the damage makes the place "uninhabitable" and confirmed Airbnb bookings have to be canceled as a result (terms).

How much should you ask for, and when is a claim not worth it?

Ask for the real, documented figure, itemized: the invoice for repairs and cleaning, an age-adjusted value for anything replaced. Skip claims you can't prove or that cost more time than they recover.

Get it right first: you "can't edit the amount on a request after you've sent it," and only one request can be open per reservation (Airbnb's page on canceling a request). If Airbnb steps in, the reviewer judges whether the amount is "reasonable," says Airbnb's guest page on damage charges.

In an April 2026 thread, a new host with mud and beer damage and a canceled next booking was told to request the real invoiced amount, not a lowered one, and keep standard cleaning separate. Another host, in October 2026, asked for $150 of the $320 it would cost to replace towels and sheets stained with self-tanner. Under the linen rule, Host Damage Protection wouldn't cover those if the guest refused, unless unauthorized guests caused them.

I'd skip accidents in normal use: a guest contested a $400 request for a sofa bed with hidden legs and no instructions in an October 2026 thread. I'd skip stains that come out; in the tanner thread, a reply said an oxygen-bleach spray and cold soak got the same kind of stains out "looking brand new." And I'd skip small items and old ones worth little after depreciation.

Should you file before or after the review window closes?

The review window and your deadline to ask the guest both close 14 days after checkout, so waiting until day 13 leaves no room for a slow upload or a police report. Airbnb's review policy says a review discussing a claim "isn’t automatically considered retaliatory"; it's retaliatory only when the reviewer broke a policy, was notified, and then left a biased review because of it.

Hosts split. Two hosts in a June 2026 thread advise filing at "13 days, 23 hours, 1 minute," one adding that your own review should be ready to submit at the same moment. One host in a May 2026 thread waits because Airbnb "stopped removing retaliatory reviews," while two others there file at once, one because a late claim looks suspicious, the other because Airbnb is slow anyway. In guest threads over a toilet seat (a stay in Australia, posted October 2026) and a stove top (posted July 2026), commenters read the day-14 timing as waiting out the review.

Two lines in the review policy are firm: hosts "may not threaten a negative review as a means to obtain unwarranted compensation," and reviews can't be traded for "a promise not to take negative action against the reviewer." Pay and I'll review you well and drop your review and I'll drop the claim both break the policy.

My default would be to send the request once the evidence is complete, review the guest on the facts and never link the two in a message, the same line I'd hold in automated review requests. No Airbnb page we read tells hosts to wait.

What to write in the damage request

Keep it to facts, photos, the amount and how you got it, with no accusation of intent. The request must explain why the guest is responsible. If Airbnb steps in and the request isn't decided automatically, the reviewer reads your evidence and the guest's first reply, so write for that reader.

A template I'd adapt:

Template: Hi [name], after your checkout on [date], the turnover check found [item] was damaged during the stay: [what and where].

Photos from [date before your stay] show it intact, and photos from after checkout are attached.

The [repair quote, receipt or invoice] puts the cost at [amount], based on [how you got the figure].

I'm requesting [amount] here, and I'm happy to talk it through if anything looks off.

Guests get advance notice, can appeal before or after being charged, and have 60 days to appeal once charged (Airbnb's guest page on damage charges). In a July 2026 thread, a guest who stayed in Canada reported a leaking shower within a day of check-in, then got a claim 14 days after checkout for the shower, a counter and a window frame. The shower, which they reported on day one with photos and the host agreed needed replacing, was later dropped from the claim; the rest, about €1,158, was upheld. I'd treat anything a guest reported during the stay, or that looks like old wear, as a weak claim.

If the guest refuses or Airbnb says no

After 24 hours without payment, involve Airbnb. Some requests are decided automatically; if you don't accept the result, the host damage protection page lets you ask for human review with more evidence.

If Airbnb finds the guest responsible and they don't pay or lose an appeal, "your payment method will be charged," says the guest page. Under Airbnb's terms for European and Australian users, it may charge the card only "up to a maximum amount of $500 USD" and pursue the rest by other means. The cap is on what Airbnb can charge the guest's card. Nothing in the Host Damage Protection Terms ties your payout to it.

Before any payout, you sign an agreement "as a condition of payment"; no Airbnb page we read sets a dollar threshold for it. Under the 2025 version of the terms, that agreement released Airbnb from further liability and, if Airbnb asked, kept the amount confidential. Payouts come in US dollars unless Airbnb chooses otherwise.

A host whose guest hid a dog shared how their claim was paid in September 2026. They documented wet spots that smelled of urine with a UV light, a moisture meter and video, and paid a carpet cleaner approximately $500. They restated the whole case each time Airbnb asked for clarification and were paid after two weeks.

Airbnb's AirCover for Hosts page says payment typically takes two weeks from when you file with Airbnb. I'd answer every request completely and keep copies.

Airbnb's AirCover for Hosts help page suggests you "purchase personal insurance for any property damage caused by guests that we don't protect." The Insurance Information Institute's guide to renting out your home says standard homeowners policies don't cover business activities, and renting to guests regularly counts as one. In a 2023 release, the Insurance Council of Australia warned that platform host protection "may not cover all the potential damages you expect."

How do Vrbo and Booking.com handle guest damage?

Each has its own route and clock, but the same habits apply.

Vrbo's US help center says "you’ll have 14 days to assess your property and file a damage claim," though its guest refunds page says 7 or 14 days, depending on your deposit setting. A claim can't exceed the damage deposit and you get only one claim, but Vrbo says it covers valid claims up to that amount even if it can't collect from the guest. Property Damage Protection is insurance the guest buys.

Booking.com moved US vacation rentals to Host Property Insurance on November 10, 2025: up to $1,000,000 in coverage, claims handled by Generali, and a duty to "report it as soon as possible" (Booking.com's Host Property Insurance page). Elsewhere, including the UK and Australia, hosts use their own deposit or the damage program: request payment "within 14 days of the guest checking out," up to a maximum you set, and you're paid only "if the guest agrees to pay" (Booking.com's damage policy options). The program also bars camera footage of guests and chat screenshots as evidence.

Three habits before the next checkout

If I were setting this up, I'd keep a dated photo record at every turnover. On the day I found damage, I'd build the packet: photos before anyone cleans, receipts or quotes, and a same-day police report for theft. Then I'd send the request within days, not on day 13, and write it for the agent who may read it. None of it guarantees a payout. Our guide to a new listing's first ninety days covers the rest of a new host's setup.