Fire in our house (!) and still no reply from Airbnb

Stephen-and-Eugenie0
Level 2
Cambridge, United Kingdom

Fire in our house (!) and still no reply from Airbnb

Any advice from the community re how to get a response from Airbnb? Two weeks ago, a guest accidentally set a fire in our house 😞 We called Airbnb straight away and kept calling. We've called numerous time and we speak to lovely staff on the phone who keep telling us that we've been escalated to the Claims team and that they'll be in contact ASAP. We still haven't heard anything from the Claims team. The damage is extensive. Super frustrating and stressful. Any tips, help, advice would be greatly appreciated!

11 Replies 11
Mike-And-Jane0
Top Contributor
England, United Kingdom

@Stephen-and-Eugenie0 I hope you have informed your insurance company. It would be unfortunate to rely on Airbnband then be too ate to claim on your insurance

Absolutely correct! Get your own insurance. Airbnb aren't equipped to help in cases like these.

Emiel1
Level 10
Leeuwarden, The Netherlands

@Stephen-and-Eugenie0 

What happened ? And how did the guest respond to the incident ?

Hi Emie1,

The guest left a wooden chopping board on the hob and left the hob turned on a low heat. Over the next 36 hours it presumably heated up and eventually ignited. Airbnb's limited communications so far have simply tried to wash their hands and said we are not even eligible for the Host Guarantee because the fire occurred after the booking period! I find that quite outrageous!!! Also also just plain wrong according to their own T's and C's.  But we'll see what happens there. 

I called the guest on the morning when we found the fire and of course they were shocked to hear what they had caused but they haven't responded to any communications since. As @Mike-And-Jane0 have said get your own insurance. Now that I've read through Airbnb's Host Guarantee's pages of T's and C's that are so full of exclusions and limits that it is unlikely to be of much use unless in very specific cases and you have to document everything. Also  there is no appeals process if Airbnb make a decision to suit themselves (a least the insurance industry is regulated) and the process can take 3 months. I don't think anyone should be relying on the Host Guarantee. For a large amount of damage like we have you need professional loss assessors to itemise the damage, basically the entire contents of the house in our case, damaged walls, ceiling, floors, furniture, electrics, plumbing, cleaning costs, restoration costs etc etc etc. Trying to do this through Airbnb would be impossible and take forever... 

Nick
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
London, United Kingdom

Hi @Stephen-and-Eugenie0 

 

I'm one of the Community Managers here on the CC. Let me start by saying how sorry I am you are experiencing this. I contacted the CS on your behalf after reading your post and was told they would get back to you very soon as this is already assigned and now flagged due to the urgency of the situation.

 

I was hoping that they might already have? It would be great to give us an update when you have one.

 

Thanks
Nick

Marsha-And-Bill0
Level 2
California, United States

@Stephen-and-Eugenie0  This is so horrible.  We had a guest catch a house on fire that I manage and we get the same responses.  They only want to communicate by email and sometimes by the time you see it it's too late and they close the ticket!  For big issues like this Airbnb should reach out by phone only and help and direct on what to do.  They say to open a claim but the claim amount has a cap on it so I won't even able to do a claim.  I am still waiting for instruction on what to do.  It's been months!!

Hi

dont hood your breath 

Airbnb will carry on throwing bones at you , as they did with us for three years 

 

please view the website we created 

**

you will see the video 

our miseries 

please like and share ..

 

we are taking them to court after three years, on a criminal case 

we are working hard to get them sanctioned for criminal activities ..

if you want to reach our **

**[Link and Contact details removed - Community Center Guidelines : Please know that it is not allowed to share contact details , personal information and third-party website links as per the Community Center Guidelines

 

keep strong 

regards 

The entire system created with Airbnb is to give you hope 

the video you can hear the loss adjuster Crawford and co 

caught in a massive lie, during a call communication 

indicating disappearance of a central fireplace 

 

that far they go ..direct collusion between Airbnb and the loss Adjustor ..

who Could  believe that ???

 

Bob297
Level 10
Bilthoven, Netherlands

@Michel8303 

I am completely blown away by what I see on your website.

It means a lot to me your words 

airbnb is a criminal company

 

chesky the founder , **[Inappropriate tone removed - Community Center Guidelinesstayed in my house in 2010 when they were nothing 

 

they thought that I would go away 

but we are now in France 

no messe around here 

we are à république 

uk system sucks 

 

if you don’t submit court papers 

then again they changed the Host guarantee for their protection 

 

with me back in 2021, based on host guarantee , I must be covered for all my losses 

 

 

You have my email 

 

**[Contact details removed - Community Center Guidelines : Please know that it is not allowed to share contact details or personal information as per the Community Center Guidelines and due to user's safety reasons] 

any statement from you will help both of our cases