Pro Checklist

Guest Damage First-Response Checklist

The first 24 hours decide whether you win or lose. The hour-by-hour protocol from the moment you open the door and see the damage.

38 checkpoints6 pagesOngoing across the first 24 hoursFor hosts and property managers
One-time payment. All 4 checklists. Lifetime access.

Why this beats every free checklist

  • An hour-by-hour timeline, not a topic list: what to do at hour 0, hours 0 to 4, 4 to 12, and 12 to 24.

  • Specialized branches free checklists skip entirely: the water damage protocol and the theft protocol with the police report threshold.

  • A decision table that tells you when a claim is worth filing at all, by dollar amount.

  • The mistakes table: six specific behaviors that get real claims dismissed, with the reason each one is fatal.

  • The incoming-guest trap: why your filing window can collapse from 14 days to NOW, and the guest message to send when it does.

What is inside

  • 1The two rules that protect your claim before you do anything
  • 2Hour 0: the first 15 minutes, scripted
  • 3Hours 0 to 4: the documentation phase, plus water and theft branches
  • 4Hours 4 to 12: assessment and the file-or-not decision table
  • 5Hours 12 to 24: guest contact and parallel preparation
  • 6The six mistakes that kill claims

Read first

The two rules before anything else

Rule 1: Do not clean, repair, or touch anything until it is fully documented. Not even a small cleanup. Not even straightening a pillow. Every modification to the scene weakens the claim.

Rule 2: Do not contact the guest while you are emotional. A hostile or threatening message becomes a tool the guest and the platform can use against you. Wait, breathe, then use the approved template.

Do not skip this

The single most common claim-killer is cleaning before documenting. It removes evidence and makes real damage look fabricated after the fact.

Hour 0 · the first 15 minutes

Discovery

  • Stop. Do not walk further into the space until you are recording.
  • Open voice memos and state: "I am [name], at [property], the time is [time], the date is [date]. I am about to document damage found after [guest name]'s checkout."
  • Write down the exact time of discovery
  • Write down who is present with you as witnesses
  • Do NOT call anyone who is not physically present
  • Do NOT post anything to social media
  • Do NOT message the guest yet

Locked in the full checklist

  • Hours 0 to 4 · documentation

    Document the scene

  • Hours 4 to 12 · assessment

    Assess and decide

  • Hours 12 to 24 · communication

    Contact the guest and prepare in parallel

  • Reference · keep this visible

    The six mistakes that kill claims

Unlock all 6 phases, plus 3 more checklists

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