Help! New host and one of my guests just burned a hole in the counter top...

[Michaela23]

Hi everyone, 

I am renting an apartment from a friend, and renting it out on Airbnb. We have an agreement that I can host people there for the summer months. 

Everything has been going amazingly well until last week when a guest put a scoulding hot pan on the counter top and burned a hole in it. They thought it was "burn proof". They have said they will pay for the damage, but now I have to have the entire counter top and possibly sink replaced since it was one large seemless counter top. Being that this is in Norway and things are very pricey here, this will cost a small fortune.. It's nearly 3 meters long. 

I am confused as the next best step as I was under the impression that I should try to resolve this with the guest first then involve Airbnb if needed, but when I looked into the Host guarentee program earlier today it appears I'm supposed to have submitted my claim before the next guest arrived which was about 4 hours after this guest left about a week ago. Is this true?

Any information would be really helpful. I'm in the process of getting quotes, etc on the fix price, but I'm nervous I will do something wrong in this process and will be out several hundreds of dollars if not a $1000 personally. 

[Allison2]

Airbnb requires that you submit any damage claims within 48 hours of your guest's checkout.

Hopefully the guest is good to their word. I'm not sure what happens if they refuse additional payment.  You may want to get in touch with Airbnb to see if there's anything else you can do.

[Sara455]

why does it say you have 14 days or before next guest checks in which ever is sooner, if you have someone checking in right after the guest that did the damage checks-out, that gives you zero time. I have the same problem with guest burning hole in counter top, everyone I have asked so far said the whole counter top needs to be replaced, which means refitting the existing sink and it is an L shaped counter top along two walls, it will come to well over $1,000 according to everyone I have talked to, yet the security is only $500. I do not want to be stuck with a screwed up counter top. What should I do? Haven't done anything yet except ask around.

[Donna15]

@Michaela23, you should contact AirBnB immediately and explain the situation.

You can reach them via the Help link at bottom of this page.

Or via Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/airbnb/?fref=ts

Or – if you have a Twitter account - try twitter@airbnbhelp. It’s said there’s a quick response.

More essential reading for hosts. Contains a link with several international phone numbers (‘How to contact AirBnB’).

https://community.airbnb.com/t5/General-Hosting/Community-Help-Guides/m-p/23100#U23100

Regarding Contact numbers in the above link, I've twice recently had quick responses via the Netherlands phone number.

(Though oddly enough, the person to whom I spoke was actually in the US.)

[Marit-Anne0]

@Michaela23

There is a slight chance that your home insurance (innboforsikring) will cover such damage. What does your landlord say ?

[Kyrre-Evan0]

Sorry, but the homeinsurance(innboforsikring) will not cover such damage. I did try It my self! 
but the Airbnb insurance, did cover when a drug guest, damaged some stuff in my flat!

it took abpot 3-4 weeks