What if they wreck my flat? Deposits, insurance, damage and how you get paid

Short answer: in practice, serious damage is rare: managing many flats, in a year you can count the cases on one hand, and almost all are things under €200 (a glass, a frying pan, a stain). What prevents it is booking screening and minimum stays; what covers it is, in this order, the deposit, the platform's protection and the insurance. And what gets it paid is the cleaning photos on arrival and departure.

How is it prevented?

1. Minimum stay of 2-3 nights at weekends and in high season. Parties are organised on one-night bookings.
2. Guest profile: last-minute bookings, with no reviews, for the maximum number of people and at weekends are checked (a message, a call) or rejected.
3. Signed house rules with maximum number of people, quiet hours and a ban on parties, and the consequence: eviction without refund.
4. Lock with a code per booking: if someone has to be evicted, the code is changed.
5. Photos at the end of every cleaning: they are the proof of the flat's condition before each guest.

What does the deposit cover?

• Booking: two options, and you have to choose one. A damage deposit you manage yourself (the guest pays it or authorises it on a card and it is returned at check-out), or the damage programme managed by Booking without a prior deposit, with a cap of about €500 per stay. In both cases you claim through the extranet within 14 days of check-out, with evidence, and payment arrives in about 30 days. Booking also includes public liability insurance for home-type properties since 2022.
• Airbnb: there is no deposit (most hosts cannot require one); there is AirCover, which covers damage caused by guests up to 3 million dollars and public liability insurance of 1 million, with a claim within 14 days of check-out, photos and invoices; the guest has 24 hours to respond before Airbnb steps in.
• Vrbo: security deposit held on a card or damage protection paid by the guest at booking (tiers of 1,500, 3,000 or 5,000 dollars); claim within 14 days.
• Direct booking: deposit collected by bank transfer or held on a card, with a signed document saying when it is returned.

Usual amount: €150-300 for a 4-place flat.

What does insurance cover?

Normal home insurance does not cover tourist use well if it is not declared: in a claim they can deny cover for "use other than declared". You need:

• Home insurance that declares holiday rental use (specific policies exist), with buildings, contents and public liability (a guest who falls, a leak that floods the neighbour).
• Cover for tenant damage or vandalism if the policy offers it.
• Cost: between €200 and €400 a year for a normal flat, somewhat more than a conventional home.

We explain it in Insurance for a tourist home.

How do you claim for damage?

1. Photos before (those from the check-in cleaning) and photos after (at check-out), dated.
2. Quote or invoice for the repair or replacement.
3. Claim on the platform within the deadline (Airbnb, 14 days; Booking, according to the deposit configured) or charge against the deposit with notice to the guest.
4. If it is serious (thousands of euros), police report and a claim to the insurer.

Without before photos, the claim is almost always lost: the guest will say it was already like that.

And a party?

It is stopped at the time: a call to the guest, warning of eviction, and if they do not respond, Local Police and a code change. Airbnb and Booking have protocols for cancelling the booking without refund for breach of rules. The next day, photos, damage claim and extra cleaning charged to the guest. And a note to the neighbour who called: what we cover in A neighbour complains.

What is the reality?

Most Costa del Sol guests are families and couples. What breaks most are glasses, remote controls, shower curtains and blinds. With reasonable screening and a deposit, "they'll wreck it" goes from fear to a budget line: about €100-200 a year in small replacements.