Guest's car hit the garage door.

[Ihor22]

When entering parkade the guest hit accidentally the garage door. Even though the damage was minor and the door was fixed on the next day,  my condo board notified me that the door would have to be replaced in the future. Right after the incident I reported it to Airbnb customer support and sent them detailed pictures of the damage. Customer support suggested that I submit the host damage protection payment which I didn’t do because the door was not replaced at that time and I had no invoice for the the fix.

After 8 months since the incident the door got replaced  and I received the invoice which I submitted to Airbnb. Unfortunately they refused to pay it because I missed the 30 days submission window. The guest also refuses to pay for the door.  

The invoice amount is pretty big and my insurance only can cover 20% of it. Can I sue the gust for the garage door damage incurred? There is a video footage of the gust hitting the door.

Please help!

[Kate867]

@Ihor22  It is unfortunate that you have missed the opportunity to make a claim via Airbnb for this.  However, the guest is responsible and perhaps the first thing to do would be request them to pass on the details of their insurance company in order that you can make the claim from them.

[Gwen386]

@Ihor22 Since the damage was minor and fixed the next day, I personally would have a problem with the condo board telling me the garage door would have to be replaced. Since board said in the future, it appears that there may have been some damage already. How old was the door?  

I, as a guest, would have a problem with getting an invoice 8 months later for a brand new door for minor damage. It is very unfortunate you didn’t get an invoice at the time it was fixed and ask guest to pay for it while the cost was minimal compared to the cost of having to pay for a replacement.