Fire Damage from a Guest

[Jacob695]

Hi, Airbnb community!  Just wondering if anybody else has had the same experience that I have had having to deal with Airbnb Cover.

Earlier November 2022, we had a guest stay at our STR home, and they "accidentally" had a candle fire.  So what actually happened it unknown, but there is soot and ash everywhere in parts of the home.  The actual end table located next to a bed did catch on fire and there is clear evidence that is is destroyed.  The house reeks from smoke smell and there is soot damage on all of the furniture and ash lightly dusting the whole section of the home.  Thankfully, the house did not catch fire, but just the top of an end table which then left residue and soot damage everywhere.  

So, I tried contacting a couple of deep-cleaning companies and both turned me down for cleaning as they feared potential liability with it being fire damage and the odor remaining.  Because of this, I contacted a restoration company and they came out and gave a detailed report.  They estimated and quoted full restoration of the fire damage which included soot cleanup, odor removal, clean air filtration (out of fear there may be something harmful in the air from the items that burned), and floor replacement. The extent of their quote exceeds $20,000 USD of damages.  (I also got a second opinion from another restoration company and their report was very similar to the original scope of work).

Now for my question:  do any other hosts have experience dealing with issues like this?  I have followed Airbnb's process on filing a claim for reimbursement through aircover, but it has now been 3 weeks and nothing has been done.  I have followed up with Airbnb's support team on 4 different times to no avail.  They always respond with "We will escalated this case to a Senior associate."  

I am wondering if it is best to file through my own insurance or should I continue to follow Airbnb's processes?  Ideally, it seems reasonably to me to expect Aircover to handle this since it is a result of their guest.  I have dealt with Aircover before, but only for small instances less than $500 and it was no big deal.  The tough part is there are no representatives you can "call" or even chat with on Airbnb's platform which seems like a big miss to me.

[Lorna170]

@Jacob695   For damages of this magnitude I would contact my insurance company and a lawyer. 

[Helen744]

Many of us have little rules but one would definitely be 'no candles' . This claim should be addressed through your personal insurance. Only an assessor 'on the ground' can tell you the 'real damage ' amount. It is hazardous to rely sadly on 'online ' insurance . Only some companies in 'the real world 'offer Airbnb cover and this should be one of every new Airbnb owners priorities to source.The current backlog of cases and the lack of care by some owners to both insure and safeguard their 'own property ' because they assume 'insurance ' will pick up the pieces , flies in the face of what insurance is about and makes insurance virtually useless for those with genuine claims.  Good luck   H

[Lenore22]

So sorry this happened to you. I agree with the other posters here, use air cover for petty little things that your insurance company might not cover: A new end table, maybe a throw rug... And rely primarily on your insurance company for restoration.

We just had a claim for air cover having to do with smell and they did not approve it. They like to do easily documented issues like a photo of a charred end table. There isn't really a way to document that the window coverings smell of smoke and need to be replaced and honestly, I think it's just above the scope of Aircover, despite what they advertise.

Best of luck! I hope you are able to get this straightened out quickly!