A Guest Damaged My Short-Let. What to Do (2026)
A Guest Damaged My Short-Let. What to Do
Touch nothing before you have documented it, then report within 14 days.
Whether you are compensated almost always turns on whether you can prove the damage was not there before. A photo after checkout shows that damage exists, not when it arose.
Airbnb Help Center, Host damage protection (AirCover)In 60 seconds
The commonest mistake is to clean first out of annoyance or time pressure and only then think about how to claim, that destroys the evidence.
Two things decide the outcome: that you record the condition immediately and dated, and that you meet the deadline.
A photo after checkout shows that damage exists, not when it arose. That gap is exactly what contested cases exploit.
Once the next guest has checked in the attribution is lost: the damage could come from any of the recent bookings.
Successful claimants have one thing in common: consistent capture of the condition before every stay. Then each stay sits between two documented states.
Why preparation matters more than reaction
You cannot undo damage once it has happened, but you can make sure the next one is provable. When every stay sits between two documented states, whatever is new carries the name of exactly one booking.
The reporting process in detail is in Reporting damage to AirCover, the technical side in Proving damage in a holiday let. Landlords know the same logic from the handover record.
Common mistakes
Tidying up out of annoyance or time pressure before documenting destroys the evidence.
"It was already like that" is the one sentence from a guest that decides more cases than any other, and without a before-record you cannot refute it.
Once the next guest has checked in, the damage can no longer be attributed to a single booking.
What to do next
Document before you change anything: dated, unalterable images of the affected areas. Do it with BildProof, about two minutes a room →
Establish scope and cost: get a repair quote or estimate, keep the invoices.
Report in the Resolution Center within 14 days of checkout or before the next check-in.
If the guest does not pay, escalate to Host damage protection.
Frequently asked questions
What do I do first when a guest has damaged something?
Capture the condition before you change anything. Before cleaning, repairing or rearranging. Dated, tamper-evident images of the affected areas are the basis of any later reimbursement. Only then deal with cleaning and repair.
Can I just deduct the damage from the deposit?
Airbnb has no classic deposit you hold yourself. You request reimbursement from the guest through the Resolution Center and escalate to Host damage protection if they decline. Booking.com and Vrbo have their own rules. In every case you need proof the damage occurred during the stay.
How do I prove the guest caused the damage?
By comparing two points in time: the documented condition before the stay and the one after it. If a finding isn't visible on the before capture but is on the after, it appeared during the stay. Without the before state, it's one word against another.
How long do I have to report the damage?
With Airbnb, 14 days after the guest's checkout or until the next guest checks in, whichever comes first. Don't wait: once a new guest has been in the property, the damage can no longer be reliably tied to a single booking.
The guest says the damage was already there, now what?
That's the most common dispute, and it can only be resolved with evidence of the condition before the stay. If you have it, the matter is clear; if you don't, the platform resolves the doubt against you. That's why documentation before every stay matters so much.
This page gives general information as at the date shown. It does not replace legal advice on an individual case.