Guest Damaged My Turo Car — Claim Steps & Host Deductibles

Turo’s detailed US earnings-plan page is written for trips booked on or after January 7, 2026. On that live table, damage responsibility per physical-damage claim is:

• More peace of mind — $250 (70% host share)
• Balanced — $1,500 (80% host share)
• More earnings — $2,750 (90% host share)

Turo’s definition, same page: the amount you are responsible for before you are eligible for reimbursement. Turo says those amounts apply to all types of physical-damage claims, including exterior, interior, flat or damaged tires, glass, and mechanical. If Turo manages the claim, you are not refunded that slice. Turo also says hosts may not seek extra recovery from the guest on a claim Turo is handling.

Turo’s US file-a-claim page repeats the same idea: Turo pays damage costs above your plan’s damage responsibility. Your number and the guest’s out-of-pocket are separate — you can both owe something on the same scrape. If Turo charged the guest a security deposit, that hold is applied to post-trip damage, invoices, or roadside — not a host setting, and not the host plan number: Turo security deposit.

Turo can change these numbers — check your listing. Plans move. The 70 / 80 / 90 table and New York liability notes are on Plans.

Resolve directly. Turo’s resolve-directly page: stay in Turo messages. Get a repair estimate within 72 hours of choosing that path — for the new damage only. Invoice the guest from the claims dashboard. Unless you are using the guest’s personal insurance, Turo says the most you can request is the guest’s protection-plan out-of-pocket maximum. If it stalls — no agreement, three-plus days of silence, a partial payment, or you change your mind — you can usually escalate to Turo within 20 days of trip end (later if you can show you have been working with the guest’s insurer). Turo says if you then file, and you have a plan damage responsibility, you will owe that amount. Unpaid invoices above your damage responsibility can auto-escalate after 20 days.

File a claim for Turo to manage. Same 24-hour report. Turo’s US filing page: a claims associate will be in touch within 24 business hours. Turo’s contacting-claims page says a Claims associate will contact you within two to three business days. Those two live pages do not match. We are not picking a winner. Confirm the live pages when you file. Turo says they take up to three business days to decide eligibility (trip damage vs wear, Terms issues, prohibited use). Then a third-party appraiser — often a photo estimate in under a day; a field inspection can take five to seven days. Payment, when issued, is for costs above your damage responsibility. Turo currently says that money typically reaches the designated account within four business days.

Turo’s reporting-damage page also says: submit the rest of the relevant documentation within 15 days of reporting the claim. Cooperate when they ask. Failure can close or deny the claim.

Do not take a Venmo “to keep it off Turo.” You can void the protection you wanted. Do not threaten a review. The tone note is on Claims.

Physical-damage reimbursement is a contract with Turo, not an insurance policy on the car. Turo’s earnings-plan page says that in those words. Eligible reimbursement is repair cost or actual cash value up to $200,000, less your damage responsibility, subject to exclusions. A short list from that live page:

• Damage that was already there. Turo’s prior-damage page: they estimate old vs new and pay the difference. A 6-inch scrape that was $350 to fix and is now $500 is a $150 conversation, not a new bumper.
• Exterior wear — dings, dents, cracks, or scratches 3 inches or less (separate small hits that add up past 3 inches still count as wear). Interior wear. Deterioration.
• Many mechanical failures, unless Turo’s filing page says the guest’s negligence or intentional misuse is clear — and even then they may want a signed diagnostic on shop letterhead, not just an estimate.
• Underside scrapes. Personal items left in the car. Tires that were bald, 6+ years old, under 4/32 tread, or not inflated.
• Loss of hosting income and a replacement-car rental while it sits — Turo says available US earnings plans do not include those.

Turo says some repair facilities are ineligible for reimbursement. Confirm the shop with your claims specialist before you drop the car. That list changes.

A 2-inch door ding is usually wear, not a claim Turo will treat as bad faith if you file it as a total. File what is actually new and over the wear line. Invalid or altered claims can draw a fee — Turo points at their host violation-fee list. We are not reprinting that fee table here; look it up if you are about to file something thin.