Security Deposits

Haven security deposits are refundable authorization holds on the guest's card. No money moves at booking time — Stripe places the hold a few days before check-in and releases it automatically within 48 hours of checkout unless you file a damage claim from the reservation page.

This is independent of your pet policy. Many pet-friendly hosts enable both, but you can use either feature on its own.

How Holds Work

Haven uses Stripe's manual-capture PaymentIntent to authorize an amount on the guest's card without actually charging it. The hold appears as a pending charge in the guest's banking app but doesn't move money until the host decides to capture some or all of it.

If no claim is filed within your configured grace window (default 48 hours after checkout), the hold is automatically released. If a claim is filed, only the captured amount is charged — the remainder is released by Stripe automatically.

Stripe does not charge processing fees on released holds. You only pay Stripe fees on amounts you actually capture.

Enabling Security Deposits

From any property's Edit Listing → Pricing tab, scroll to the Security deposit section and:

1. Toggle on Require a security deposit.
2. Set the deposit amount (e.g. $250).
3. Optionally adjust:
   • Authorization lead time (default 72 hours before check-in).
   • Grace window (default 48 hours after checkout).
   • Long-stay policy for stays longer than ~6 nights.

Settings save automatically. Existing confirmed bookings keep the amount and policy that were in effect at the time of booking — your edits only affect new reservations.

The Guest Experience

• At checkout, the booking total does not include the deposit. Guests see a separate "Refundable hold" line item with a tooltip explaining when the hold is placed and released.
• A few days before check-in, the guest is notified that the hold has been authorized. If the authorization fails (rare), Haven retries before falling back to alerting the host.
• After checkout, the guest is notified again when:
  • The hold is released without a claim.
  • You file a partial or full claim. The guest sees the captured amount, your reason verbatim, and any photos you uploaded.
• Guests can see the live hold status on their reservation page at any time.

Filing a Damage Claim

Open the reservation page from your dashboard. The Security deposit card on the right shows the live status. While the hold is Authorized, you'll see four actions:

Action	What it does
Deduct from deposit	Capture a partial amount. Stripe charges the guest only that amount and releases the rest.
Keep full deposit	Capture the entire authorized amount.
Release now	Release the hold immediately with no charge.
Extend review (+48h)	One-time, pushes auto-release out by up to 48 hours.

The claim drawer requires a written reason (minimum 20 characters) and encourages you to attach photo evidence. Both are shown to the guest in the notification email and on their reservation page. If the guest disputes the charge with their bank, strong evidence dramatically improves your chances of winning the dispute.

Auto-Release and the Grace Window

If you do nothing, the hold is released automatically at the end of your configured grace window. You'll get reminder notifications:

• At checkout
• ~24 hours before auto-release
• ~2 hours before auto-release (final reminder)

If you need more time to inspect the property, use Extend review to push out the auto-release by up to 48 hours. After that, the card-network authorization window starts to expire and the deposit must be resolved.

Cancellations

If the booking is cancelled — by guest, host, admin, or refund-override — the deposit hold is always released, regardless of your cancellation policy. Hosts cannot keep a deposit on a cancelled stay.

Long Stays (Longer Than ~6 Nights)

Card-network authorizations typically expire after ~7 days. For stays longer than that, you can choose:

• Skip the hold on long stays (default) — the system waives the hold and shows it as such on the reservation card. You can still file a Truvi claim afterward (see below).
• Re-authorize daily as expiry approaches — Haven cancels and re-authorizes the hold automatically to extend coverage through the stay.

Security Deposits vs. Truvi Coverage

Security deposits and Truvi claims are independent and complementary:

	Security deposit	Truvi claim
Money source	Hold on guest's card	Truvi insurance pool
Limit	What you configured (e.g. $250)	Truvi coverage cap
Speed	Instant capture	Adjuster review
Best for	Small incidentals (cleaning, small breakage)	Major damage / theft beyond the deposit

A typical workflow for serious damage:

1. Capture the security deposit (covers part of the loss instantly).
2. File a Truvi claim from the same reservation card for the remainder.

Both UIs live in the Protection region of the reservation card, with disambiguated buttons (Deduct from deposit vs. File a Truvi claim). Haven never auto-files a Truvi claim when you capture a deposit, and vice versa — both decisions stay with the host.

Manual Bookings

For manual bookings (cash, off-platform, etc.) Haven cannot place a Stripe hold. The reservation card shows the deposit as Collect manually so you can keep track of it; collection happens out-of-band.

What Security Deposits Do Not Do

• They are not insurance. The amount is limited to whatever you configured.
• They do not cover theft or major damage beyond the configured amount — file a Truvi claim for that.
• They do not appear in the booking total. Haven payouts and tax calculations exclude the hold entirely.

For questions, reach out to support from your dashboard.