Waivo

Waivo is an insurance company that offers an ideal damage protection product for vacation rental managers. Basically, it acts like a piggy bank that lets you access recovery funds in case you ever find yourself in a pickle with one of your guests.

How it Works:

• You add a per-booking surcharge that guests pay for (you can set it at whatever cost you choose)
• You submit a bookings report each month indicating the total number of bookings
• Waivo invoices you for $X times the # of bookings (depends on the plan you choose)
• You must include all properties (vs select ones) as this is their way of spreading risk across your portfolio
• Fees start at a pre-set amount and may be updated depending on the # of claims you're filing (basically the look at your utilization ratio of payments you've made to them vs payouts they've made to you)

If and when something happens at one of your properties, everything's very straightforward. You can still go through the 3rd party resolution center (i.e. Airbnb) if you want but you don't really have to in most circumstances when you have Waivo.

The Benefits:

• Easy online claims process (takes 2 minutes)
• Claim decisions in 24-48 hours
• Instant payouts via ACH

If you don't have sufficient evidence for the claim, instead of denying it altogether they will offer a "quick settlement" at a lesser amount so you get something instead of nothing (for example, if you don't have original receipts from when you bought that one thing years ago). The alternative in these situations is a "standard settlement" which gives you a chance to connect with them explaining the situation and provide more details with the hopes that you

The Model:

• Guests win - you're not chasing them for money for small accidents
• Owners win - the recovery costs aren't taken from their
• Managers win - you create a new stream of revenue while adding value to guests and owners

They've been slowly rolling this out and I was a part of their beta program. Now that we've been with them for about a year, I can fully recommend them as an add-on to your VRM company. In my research, there were only 2-3 alternatives but none of them came close to the simplicity and efficacy that Waivo's product offers. Their current minimum is 5 properties.

Feel free to reach out with any questions, or if you'd like an intro with the team. Always happy to help!