Are hosts closing their reservations?

[Julie-Ann24]

Hi there! I am from the New York City area. Over here, most people are absolutely shaking and terrified by the threat of this virus. The coronavirus has made officials close several schools and places of business in the past few days. My question is, are there any hosts in the area who are still taking reservations? My reservations have been slow to begin with since the whole thing started. However, I'm wondering if it would be wise just to block off until further  notice because I don't know should anything happen, would Airbnb cover us? Any input is appreciated.

[Sarah977]

@Julie-Ann24  Would Airbnb cover you how? Pay for medical care? Reimburse you for cancelled reservations? No to both of those. Some hosts are snoozing their listings for now, concerned about keeping themselves and their families healthy, some are staying open- it's an individual choice.

[Julie-Ann21]

Thank you... but I was wondering if they would still insure me if someone tried to accuse my home of giving them the virus. That's what I meant. But I guess I should call them and ask. 

[Anonymous]

@Julie-Ann24   I think you're referring to the liability coverage under the Host Protection Insurance, as seen here: https://www.airbnb.com/host-protection-insurance

If you download the full terms, you'll see the list of exclusions. One of them is:

The HPI Program excludes:....

Communicable Disease - any bodily injury, property damage, or other
loss arising out of the actual or alleged transmission of a communicable
disease.

So no, Airbnb does not insure you if someone accuses you of giving them the virus. However, I don't see how such a person would have a winning case, as it would be impossible to prove that your home was where they were infected.

[Julie-Ann21]

You're right. Thanks for the info, Andrew. This situation has me totally paranoid. 

[Gordon0]

There are some countries (and their countrymen/women) who are a little more risk-averse to threats. Here in the UK (I'm in London), bookings are still coming in, albeit at a lower rate, and yes - I've had some cancelations.

But I don't see too many 'absolutely shaking and terrified' people, @Julie-Ann24 on the streets. Perhaps we're not as easily spooked, who knows. 

[Julie-Ann21]

Hello Gordon. I'm sure this seems very odd to most, and possibly like a case of mass hysteria,  but yes people are absolutely terrified here in New York City. We have very crowded Subway systems and cases of the virus have been found in Manhattan, Long Island, in the Bronx, and where I live on Staten Island. I don't expect people who do not live in such a massive city as New York to understand why everyone is so afraid. However I was just wondering if other people who are in my position have closed down there airbnb rentals. I personally choose not to live in fear. 

[Ange2]

@Julie-Ann24   I am not snoozing my listing,  yet! I am in the Big Apple.  I have had cancellations, which amount to no reservations this year.  Personally I am not spooked, you can only do the best you can do to stave off the virus (worrying is not on that list, at least not for me) and then it's a crap shoot. I doubt Airbnb would cover you if someone blamed you, but it would be nigh on impossible for them to prove it without some heavy duty, lengthy and costly research. And no doubt they would have come in contact with other people before you. 

In my opinion the most important thing is to do what's best for you,  if that means snoozing your listing, do it. (note: I have no idea how Airbnb interprets that and if it is seen by the almighty algorithm as a negative) but do you care relative to your worries?  No need to add stress on top of an already stressful situation. I doubt any people will be coming anyway now that a state of emergency has been declared. Streets here are eerily empty.

[Sandra856]

@Julie-Ann24  European countries are shoting down one after one. Denmark is more or less completely shot down. Tomorrow at noon borders will be closed down for all non-danes. It is scary and everything has happend incredible fast. Copenhagen is a ghost town. No one would have in their wildest imagination imagined this just a week ago.

It is not about fear - but elderly, sick people etc. will die of this. 

[Susan17]

@Julie-Ann24 

Hosts in many affected regions are having their reservations closed for them, through no choice of their own. Cancellations (most with full refunds) ramping up here in Dublin - as they are in innumerable other regions worldwide - and the situation is widely expected to further deteriorate in the coming days/weeks/months, as travel and local restrictions get tighter and tighter, and Airbnb's Extenuating Circumstances Policy gets looser and looser. 

That said, I'd fully support any and every host's right to cancel all upcoming bookings, no questions asked and without penalty of any type, should they wish to clear their calendars. It should be each individual host's decision as to what they, personally, feel they need to do to keep their homes and their families safe. The new "More Flexible Policy" of March 10 suggests that Airbnb will indeed give hosts (as well as guests) more flexibility in cancelling upcoming cv-related bookings, but what I'm hearing so far is that many are still finding the very opposite to be true when trying to cancel bookings that are causing them concern. 

[Julie-Ann21]

Oh my goodness!

[Gordon0]

Two weeks on, @Julie-Ann21, and things are clearly very different.

Like New York, London (slightly bigger than NYC), is in a similar lock-down situation now. Life is different, clearly, but nobody's 'terrified' from what I can gauge, and certainly not to the extent you mention.

100% of my bookings have cancelled, and it looks like we're country-mile away from normality returning.

Stay well. 

[Emily487]

@Julie-Ann24I am trying to convince my host to close up shop and just rent it to a long-term tenant. We've had 3 cancellations for this month. I am no longer cleaning it/doing all the laundry myself because as a single mom without health insurance, I  just can't risk it. 

[Kevin1322]

Bookings are still coming in, and no cancellations yet (We are in Cornwall, UK).

I don't have much to compare this time of year to with last year, as we only started hosting in August last summer.

At some point very soon we'll turn off instant booking. I think we have dodged some bullets this month with guests from China, France and Germany.

Sooner or later UK will lockdown, we seem to be using a different strategy than the other europen countries.

We are in a sort of mild social distancing phase now.

Luckily the UK Govt have just thrown small business and the self employed a small lifeline by picking up our sick pay bills for staff, and a bit of financial support in case of coronovirus disruption, so we have a  chance of hitting the ground running after it all dies down, or at least making it not as bad as it could have been. 

We take airbnb guest to help make ends meet.  Stone, hard place.

[Dawn81]

I just blocked my entire calendar through April 23rd. I'm just going to wait this out I can always unblock if things changed to a more positive direction regarding the pandemic.