Severe water damage!!!

Answered!
Fran-And-Ken0
Level 1
Bothell, WA

Severe water damage!!!

Our guests (they are leaving today) apparently left the house the other day with a plugged toilet on the second floor. We don't know if they knew that or not. They returned after a long day of sight seeing (1am) and discovered the toilet had overflowed and water was now dripping down from various places from the ceiling on the main floor!

 

So now, we have MAJOR repairs that will take a month to resolve. Ceilings, walls, carpeting, flooring ripped out in our family room and two bath rooms! We have had to cancel a months worth of guests, causing them to scurry to find another place. We are left with a huge loss of revenue. Our home insurance covers some of it, minus a $500 deductible.

 

Oh...another thing...our kitchen disposal no longer works. Our home was in pristine shape when we welcomed these guests into our home. Now we have a this huge problem. We have been hosting for two years, and before that doing rentals privately for 20 years. Never have we experienced this, and have proudly defened our ability to rent with very little worries.  Of course, there's always the threat of human error when you are opening up your property for others to use.

 

We had only $251 security deposit as part of our agreement. Airbnb said that we can request more.  Any sharings, feedback, suggestions, or commiserations are welcome.  

1 Best Answer
Clare0
Level 10
Templeton, CA

@Fran-And-Ken0 my guess is that your homeowner's insurance is your best bet since it's unclear whether the damage was caused by negligence on the part of the guests.  Of course you should try to collect on your Security Deposit, but if the guest refuses to pay, it will be left up to Airbnb to decide.  If that happens Airbnb just might decide that the guest wasn't at fault and would consider the malfunction of the toilet and the disposal to be the result of normal wear and tear.  

So sorry this happened to you! I wish you the best of luck in recouping your expenses.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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5 Replies 5
Clare0
Level 10
Templeton, CA

@Fran-And-Ken0 my guess is that your homeowner's insurance is your best bet since it's unclear whether the damage was caused by negligence on the part of the guests.  Of course you should try to collect on your Security Deposit, but if the guest refuses to pay, it will be left up to Airbnb to decide.  If that happens Airbnb just might decide that the guest wasn't at fault and would consider the malfunction of the toilet and the disposal to be the result of normal wear and tear.  

So sorry this happened to you! I wish you the best of luck in recouping your expenses.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fran and Ken: this sounds like a hosts worst nightmare. I am so sorry to hear you are going through this.

If you file a damage claim through Airbnb, their host guarantee may also help you recover some of the cost from the damages done to your home by your guests' negligent behavior. Go through the Airbnb resolution center to file your claim with the guests first and you can get Airbnb involved after 72 hrs. All the best to you as you recover from this horrific situation. We feel your pain. Mina

Fran & Ken : This sounds like worst nightmare. You are going through this. It is very difficult. If you want to file a insurance claim. Firstly Hire a good public adjuster. It is always better to hire a public adjuster before filing an insurance claim because these are experts and will know all the insurance policies and hence will deal with all the policies by themselves. There is no need for you to deal with any documentation process. The public adjuster will handle the whole process from organizing to managing it.

9/13 water coming from air B and B above me.  Early 9/14 informed owner.   Late 9/14 water still coming air b b guest still there.  Late 9/14 went up to condo told guest she was unaware.  How can you do this to your neighbor?

Laurel150
Level 2
Stafford, VA

Same.  Severe damage from guests.  It appears they left the water on for hours in the tub while

Partying.  And let it sit for hours and “soak” in to figure out their story.  Severe damages.   We are shut down and airbnb says they are not going to help.  Not ok.