Blown panel box

[Mandy440]

Wondering what to do in this situation.

We had a renter booked for two months. Five days into her stay she called us to let us know the electricity was shorting throughout the house. The weather was below 0. If the furnace isnt running the pipes can freeze and same with the renter. We had to call both the city and an electrician ASAP. This happened on the weekend and the electrician charged us double since it was an emergency after hours. The bill was about $800. He had to come the following day as well too try and fix some wiring and the bill was $3000. The renter wanted to stay but eventually cut her stay short to a month. The electrician called the city and the city is requiring updated wiring and a bunch of other things to update the house. It’s going to cost about $20,000 to fix everything to code with the city now involved. They have confirmed the panel box has blown and we now need to move a bunch of electrical stuff due to the cities updated rules. On top of that, the day the renter left she let us know the dryer is now broken. After her departure we have checked the house. The electricity is working (it is still shorting every now and then - we can tell when our Google ring is down) but the dryer is definitely broken. Airbnb is asking that we send a dispute to the renter covering the costs (which is over $20,000). What do we do?

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Mandy440 If you are claiming under Aircover then Airbnb will send the request to the guest.

 I don't understand why you think Airbnb or the guest is responsible for this issue. It sounds more like the house's wiring was unsafe. As such you will need to pay for this yourself I am afraid.

[Mandy440]

We never had issues with the house shorting before. I’m just wondering if the renter was using lots of electricity and blew the fuse. The electrician said half the fuse box was blown and he was going to fix it. He said it was an easy fix that could be done in a day. He just had to call the city because our meter is inside (we bought it like this). The city mentioned that due to new codes the meter has to be moved outside (which has nothing to do with the issue of the box being blown). Moving the box is the entire issue. Anyways, I agree that the box being moved isn’t the renters issue, however, I’m just wondering if the fuse being blown and the emergency fee for the weekend is able to get covered. The electrical charged double in order for the renter to have electricity. 

As a side note, the renter was renting our place due to a house fire at her own place. It just seems a bit suspicious. 

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Mandy440 Hmmm.... I guess they may have overloaded the circuits but in the UK we have circuit breakers that shut off electricity in these situations. It is then a 10 second job to switch them back on. W explain how to do this in our house manual although no one has ever had to (touch wood)

We had a couple stay with us after their house burnt down - Within a week the fire alarms went off due to burning toast so I guess lightening may have struck twice.

[Mark116]

@Mandy440   It sounds like the  house had old wiring that wasn't up to code, in which case, you won't ever succeed with getting airbnb or the guest to pay for it.  

[Mandy440]

We never had issues with the house shorting before. I’m just wondering if the renter was using lots of electricity and blew the fuse. The electrician said half the fuse box was blown and he was going to fix it. He said it was an easy fix that could be done in a day. He just had to call the city because our meter is inside (we bought it like this). The city mentioned that due to new codes the place. It just seems a bit suspicious.  meter has to be moved outside (which has nothing to do with the issue of the box being blown). Moving the box is the entire issue. Anyways, I agree that the box being moved isn’t the renters issue, however, I’m just wondering if the fuse being blown and the emergency fee for the weekend is able to get covered. The electrical charged double in order for the renter to have electricity. 

As a side note, the renter was renting our place due to a house fire at her own place. It just seems a bit suspicious. 

[Mark116]

@Mandy440   I'm sure the guest blew the fuse by using too much electricity because that is what happens with old wiring.  I know from experience since we have paid a similar amount to have new wiring put in our house.  But, if the wiring wasn't up to code, which it appears it wasn 't, then you can't really blame the guest.  I also doubt you can get any compensation for the emergency extra fee because electricity is considered a basic amenity, so Airbnb would expect you to have it fixed ASAP.