*Please help! Need insurance advice for unexpected injury & guest threatens to write negative review

Angela46
Level 2
Redondo Beach, CA

*Please help! Need insurance advice for unexpected injury & guest threatens to write negative review

Hello my fellow beautiful hosts! 

 

 

I rented out my room and had an incident that happened that was not under my control, nor anything I did, and she was injured, and the guest was unhappy but stayed the whole time. I did everything I could from giving her gift cards, after she told me she was unhappy on her last day, and  I paid for a partial refund because she mentioned she would write a bad review.

 

That said, I worked with her to help her and I reached out to my Lemonade Insurance (which they do not cover airbnb) to help with the costs. I had to refund her in full to prevent a negative review and I was denied the insurance claim. 

 

Is there a policy that helps in these situations? Airbnb will only cover property damage.  

 

Any advice will be much appreciated! 

7 Replies 7
Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Angela46 

Never refund a guest who is threatening you with a negative review !

In such case be sure the threatening is in the message system and contact Airbnb.

Not clear to me what "incident" happened, but i assume guest has her own medical inssurance ?

What else must be paid for ?

Best regards,

Emiel

 

Lisa723
Level 10
Quilcene, WA

@Angela46 all hosts should have their own liability insurance covering the STR business.

Hi Lisa, I have Lemonade insurance and thought it was covered but they said they don't cover airbnb. If you have any recommendations for insurance for hosts,  I would appreciate any recommendations.

Slice offers insurance for Airbnbs on a by-the-day basis. You activate it before the guests check in and pay as needed. For my 4 bedroom house it’s about $7 per day.

 

I don’t host that often, so it works out. I’m not sure if it would be cost effective for someone with constant occupancy.

 

I haven’t had to make a claim yet, so I can’t comment on how that goes.

As someone else said NEVER EVER refund a guest under those circumstances. If they come back and sue you it could look like you were admitting guilt.

Plus - that is how scammers are getting a lot of hosts. They stay and then suddenly "something" happens and they threaten the host with a bad review or call Airbnb with some bogus complaint to get a refund. DO NOT EVER fall for this. Document every thing with photos, etc. And immediately contact Airbnb if the guest threatens you.

No gift cards. No partial refunds. No nothing. Let them give you a bad review if they want and then post a public response that other guests can see if that happens. But if you start a case with Airbnb they'll consider the negative review to be retaliatory.

If you plan to run your Airbnb you've got to start thinking like a business person. You need to find insurance for your STR with a large liability umbrella.

Merlyn5
Level 4
Montesano, WA

I  too use Slice for individual stay  insurance coverage.  I do a complete video recording of the entire house - inside and out prior to check in of each guest. Stating names of guests and date of stay.  If I notice any damage after a stay, I take a new video documenting the damage. If I need to make a claim, I have the ability to screen shot individual photos. So far so good and there has not been the need to file.  Better to be safe than sorry than to not have the proof.

Michele863
Level 2
Los Angeles, CA

Hi, I cannot find ONE person on any of these posts who has filed a claim with SLICE. Does anyone know of a post that I'm overlooking? Thanks!