How to claim damages on Booking.com

August 2025

What can you do if a guest has damaged your holiday home, or if a guest has been injured whilst staying in your property? A lot depends on which booking platform guests use to rent your holiday home. If you advertise on Booking.com, here’s what you need to know about their deposit and insurance policies, as well as how to make a deposit or insurance claim with Booking.com.

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Booking.com’s insurance policies

Before we get into Booking.com’s deposit policies and how to claim for guest damages, let’s first cover its insurance policies and how you can make a claim.

Unfortunately, Booking.com does not have an insurance option for protecting your property from damages. But, you can always choose your own short term rental insurance from an external provider.

However, Booking.com does have a partnership with Zurich Plc where you can purchase Partner Liability Insurance through them. Pubic Liability Insurance is designed to protect hosts against lawsuits brought on by guests who have been injured during a stay at their properties. It can cover associated legal costs and any compensation you may be required to pay.

How to make an Partner Liability Insurance claim on Booking.com

If a guest suffers an injury whilst staying in your property home, you should make a claim as soon as possible on Booking.com’s Partner Liability Insurance page.

You will need to select the reservation where the injury took place and add as much information as you can about the injury. Zurich Plc will then handle your claim – not Booking.com.

Booking.com’s damage deposit policy

If you want to protect your property against damage, the best way to do this is through a deposit. Without one, there is not much you or Booking.com can do to get financial compensation – unless of course, you have property insurance.

Booking.com has two different policies regarding withholding deposits in cases of damage. You can either choose to deal with it yourself, or utilise their optional damage programme.

Dealing with the deposit yourself

If you deal with it yourself, it’s your responsibility to set the deposit amount, collect the deposit from the guest, and refund the deposit at the end of the stay. This means that you get to choose how much money to withdraw if damages occur – but this has to reasonable of course.

If a guest complains, you should be able to back up why you deducted this amount. You should also have on hand before and after pictures of the damages and evidence of repair costs (receipts of repairs).

If you decide to ask guests for a damage deposit, there are a few things to keep in mind:

• Check local guidelines on storing the deposit. Some areas require holiday rental landlords to protect the deposit through a specific scheme.
• Act quickly. When their holiday is over, your guests will want their money back. Inspect your property and return it to them, with or without deductions, as promptly as you can.
• Keep a photographic record of the property before and after your guests’ stay to avoid ongoing disputes.
• Keep a printed, updated list of inventory within the property. Your guests should be able to inspect it when they choose to rent your holiday flat.
• Remember that some guests will vote with their feet and decide not to stay with you. If you’re the only landlord in the area demanding a security deposit, then your property will need to be very special in order to attract guests.
• Be prepared for guests to raise disputes. Don’t be unfair — if there has been a flood in the area, you can’t blame guests for water damage!

Using Booking.com’s damage programme

Alternatively, you can sign up for Booking.com’s damage programme. With this option you will not be involved in collecting and refunding the deposits to guests. Instead, you will have to set a maximum amount for potential damages.

If a guest damages your property, you will have to claim damages from Booking.com after check-out by submitting a damage report online – including a description and pictures of the damage. Booking.com will contact the guest on your behalf requesting payment – but only up to the maximum amount you set.

How to claim compensation from Booking.com using its damage programme

The Booking.com damage programme is opt-in. As mentioned, if you sign up for this option, you will not collect a deposit from guests in advance. Instead, you will need to take action after the damage has occurred. Here’s what you need to know about how to claim damages from Booking.com:

• You have up to 14 days after checkout to report damages, so be sure to inspect your property promptly.
• Fill in a report on Booking.com. Make this as thorough as possible and include before and after photos for the best results.
• Booking.com will now ask the guest to pay. If guests accept that they caused damages, they will be asked to pay.
• You’ll receive the money in your next Booking.com payout. The damage payment is capped at 250 euros, or local equivalent.

The pros and cons of the Booking damage programme

Now you know how to collect from Booking, and it seems straightforward, but not all landlords like it. Before you sign up for the Booking.com damage programme, consider these advantages and disadvantages. First, the good news:

• You may see more bookings if you sign up for the damage programme versus collecting your own damage deposit. This is because when given the choice of a property that requires a deposit and one that doesn’t, many guests will go for the rental home that doesn’t.
• You’ll outsource your disputes. If you don’t want to enter into a direct conflict with guests, this is handy.
• There’s less room for human error on your side. As you’re not collecting a deposit, you won’t need to worry about storing deposit money, releasing it, and so on.

Here are the disadvantages:

• Booking.com collects no money from guests in advance. This means that guests can simply refuse to pay, leaving you to cover the damage yourself.
• Guests must accept that they caused the damage before paying. If they deny it, the situation can quickly become a “he said, she said” scenario.
• As Booking.com handles the dispute, there’s no room for compromise or reaching a deal that both you and the guest are happy with.

What can I do if I don’t have a damage policy and a guest damages my property?

Every option for claiming damages on Booking.com is opt-in. If you don’t tick the relevant box, you are leaving yourself with no protection. So, what can you do when a guest causes damage?

Sadly, there are not many actions that you can take. The most proactive is to report the guest’s misconduct through the Booking.com website. This alerts Booking.com to the guest’s bad behaviour. The guest will be blocked from ever booking your property again, and if they are repeatedly flagged, they may have their account suspended. However, you will still be left in the position of having to pay for the damage.

All in all, having some kind of damage policy is a must for any serious holiday rental landlord. You may never have to use it, but in an emergency situation, you’ll be very grateful that you have one. Whether you opt to use the Booking.com damage programme or make your own security deposit scheme, be sure that you’re safe and protected. In the unlikely event that guests damage your property, you’ll be able to bounce back.

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