Damage Protection — Waivers & Deposits

Protect your properties from accidents, broken TVs, stained rugs, and the occasional party without making every guest feel like a suspect. Vanio supports two models — security deposits and damage waivers — and you can choose either one per property.

Security deposits

A refundable hold placed on the guest's card before arrival. If nothing is damaged, it's released automatically after checkout. If something is damaged, you can deduct the repair cost directly from the hold.

To enable:

1. Open the property and go to Settings → Damage Protection
2. Pick Security Deposit
3. Set the amount (e.g. $250)
4. Choose when to place the hold (24h or 48h before arrival)
5. Save

Guests get a clear pre-arrival email explaining the hold, when it's placed, and when it's released. They see it on their statement as a pending charge, never as a completed payment.

Damage waivers

A small non-refundable fee (e.g. $29) added to every booking that covers accidental damage up to a set limit (e.g. $1,500). Guests pay once, you're covered, no deposit drama.

To enable:

1. Open the property and go to Settings → Damage Protection
2. Pick Damage Waiver
3. Set the fee and coverage limit
4. Save

Waivers are great for short stays and families — they remove friction at booking while still giving you protection.

How deposit renewal works

For longer stays, Vanio automatically renews deposit authorizations every 6 days to keep them active throughout the guest's visit. This happens behind the scenes — guests typically see a small temporary charge that disappears once the new authorization is confirmed.

Vanio now only attempts renewals while guests are actively staying at your property. Once a guest checks out or cancels their reservation, the system stops trying to renew their deposit and focuses on releasing it instead — no more unnecessary renewal attempts for departed guests.

If a renewal fails (expired card, insufficient funds), the system automatically retries within 24 hours. After multiple failed attempts, you'll receive an alert so you can reach out to the guest directly.

Filing a claim

If you or your cleaner finds damage:

1. Open the reservation
2. Click Report Damage
3. Upload photos (before and after, if you have them)
4. Describe what happened and the repair cost
5. Submit

For deposits, Vanio deducts the approved amount from the hold and refunds the remainder. For waivers, the claim is submitted to the coverage provider and you're reimbursed directly.

What guests see

Guests get a receipt for any deposit or waiver at booking, a reminder email before arrival, and a final summary after checkout showing exactly what was charged or refunded. Transparent, professional, no surprises.

When damage protection is required, guests must complete payment before they can access check-in information — including the access code for the property. Vanio now confirms payment directly with your payment processor before unlocking that step. Guests who simply completed the payment form without a confirmed charge will not be able to proceed until payment has actually settled.

If payment is still being processed — for example, because a guest's bank triggered an additional verification step, or because the guest closed their browser before the page fully reloaded — the guest will see a message letting them know their payment hasn't been confirmed yet and that the step will update on its own once it clears. They don't need to pay again or contact you. As soon as payment is confirmed, the check-in step completes automatically and they can continue.

If damage protection is optional or has not been enabled for a property, guests can still skip that step as before.

Payment processing alerts

Vanio now provides clearer feedback when payment issues occur, so you're never left wondering why a deposit failed:

Payment account issues: If you see "Stripe account access denied" in your failed deposits list, check your payment processing connection first. This message appears when Vanio can't access your payment account — which could mean the connection was revoked, or there's a temporary issue with account selection. Go to Settings → Payments to verify your connection is healthy and reconnect if needed.

Failed renewals: When a guest's card can't be reauthorized during a long stay, you'll get an alert with the guest's details so you can collect a new payment method.

System issues: Any technical problems with deposit processing trigger automatic notifications rather than silent failures.

You'll find all failed deposits under Damage Protection → Failed Deposits with clear explanations and suggested next steps.

[Screenshot: Dashboard notification showing payment account disconnection with reconnect button]

[Screenshot: Failed deposits list showing various failure reasons and suggested actions]

Common questions

Can I use both? Yes — some hosts charge a waiver on short stays and a deposit on long ones. Set the rule per property or per length of stay.

What if the card is declined for the hold? Vanio retries automatically, notifies you immediately, and can optionally block check-in access until the hold clears.

What happens if my payment connection breaks? You'll see "Stripe account access denied" errors for any affected deposits. Check Settings → Payments to verify your connection is healthy — the issue might be temporary account selection problems rather than a revoked connection. Reconnect if needed, and any pending deposits will resume processing.

Do guests get charged multiple times for long stays? No — deposit renewals are reauthorizations of the same amount, not additional charges. Guests may see temporary holds that disappear once the new authorization confirms. Renewals only happen while guests are actively staying at your property, never after checkout.

What if a guest pays the waiver but sees a message saying their payment hasn't come through yet? This is a temporary state and resolves on its own. When a guest completes payment, there's occasionally a short delay before it's confirmed — most often when a bank requires an extra verification step or the guest closed their browser mid-payment. Vanio checks with the payment processor directly, and the moment payment is confirmed, the check-in step completes automatically. The guest does not need to pay again. If a guest tells you they're seeing this message well after completing a successful payment, ask them to refresh the page. If it still hasn't updated, contact support with the reservation number and we'll look into it.

Can a guest unlock the access code without actually paying? No. Vanio now verifies every damage protection payment directly with the payment processor before allowing a guest to complete that check-in step. A guest cannot bypass or self-confirm this step — payment must be settled before the step is marked complete and the access code is released.

Does Airbnb support this? Airbnb bookings use Airbnb's own AirCover. Vanio deposits and waivers apply to direct, Booking.com, and VRBO reservations.