Robbery in the middle of the night

[Andres1022]

I am a host and recently had a guest robbed of their valuable items in the middle of the night while they were asleep. My guest had left the door UNLOCKED and only realized their items were stolen the next morning. This person is asking me to file a claim with my insurance company but they dont cover in situations due to negligence. They are asking for me to personally compensate but I feel that this was not my fault and they should have locked the door. What else can I do in this situation?

[Christina163]

They need to file a claim w their own homeowner or renter insurance as it happened while they were traveling. Was nothing else stolen?

& how can they even prove they were robbed at your place?

[Andres1022]

All they have is a police report. Will their own homeowners insurance cover this if they are away from their own home?

[Helen3]

Hello @Andres1022 

The guest would need to check their homeowners insurance to see if they are covered or claim on their travel insurance.

However as they left the door unlocked I would have thought that this would mean that they are unlikely to be covered.

It's obviously not your liability and there would be no reason for you as the STR host to cover their losses or do anything in this situation.

[Mark116]

@Andres1022  Tell them to file on their own insurance.  I'm surprised they admitted they left the door unlocked, but I would guess this removes you from any liability.

[Andres1022]

Why surprised? There are honest people out there.

[Helen744]

Andres1022 Sorry but I find this difficult to believe. You should have notified the police and ,were any of your personal things missing ?Somethings not right here. Some peoples home insurance covers things they travel with ,and some home insurance for tenants covers theft of your belongings but not theft from visitors. Its their own fault basically but the thief seems very well informed,by whom ,would be the question ,or else its untrue.......H

[Andres1022]

Why is this difficult to believe? Why would I make up a story? There is a police report filed by my guest,  this actually happened. I am looking for advice on how to handle this situation because the guest wont stop contacting me. 

[Paul9020]

It sounds like he's trying to scam. It's terrible you offer a place at your residence to help people and have to deal with people like this

[Andres1022]

Nobody is scamming this was a real robbery situation.

[Jenny]

Hi @Andres1022 

I've had a look through the CC for any discussion posts about a similar situation and I found this one.

The consensus from the responses is much the same as the advice you've been given below - that the guests should file a police report and then claim the losses back on their travel insurance.

If the guest continues to contact you asking you to reimburse them, it might be worth contacting Airbnb Support to get some advice.  If for example the guest is asking you to reimburse them or they'll leave a negative review, that would definitely be against Airbnb rules.

Jenny

[Andres1022]

Thank you for the help! 

[Jennifer1897 · Accepted solution]

@Andres1022  No one is suggesting YOU fabricated the story, they are suggesting that the guest might have. 

Here is what I know personally from years of travel, renting, and home owning. Every insurance policy is different.  Typically travel insurance will cover theft of items, however negligence is a factor, so I am not sure if that will be considered when they process the claim.  The guest needs to deal directly with the company in which they purchased the policy from. Sometimes homeowners or renters' insurance also offers coverage of theft for individuals when they travel. I had my laptop stolen years ago while traveling and my renter's insurance at the time covered it. 

The first step is them filing a police report, which it sounds like they did. Then they need to contact their insurance (whatever it is, travel, home, other) and file a claim. While as a host, it is nice that you are sympathetic to their situation, ultimately there is nothing further for you to do at this point. It's not your responsibility nor obligation to compensate them. As far as YOU filing a claim goes, I will include what Aircover states below, but to sum it up, they will only cover the theft of guest item is you are found legally responsible for the theft. In this situation that is not the case.

Host liability insurance, part of AirCover for Hosts, protects you in the rare event that a guest is hurt or their belongings are damaged or stolen while staying at your place. People who help you host, like Co-Hosts and cleaners, are also included in this coverage.

Host liability insurance covers you if you’re found legally responsible for:

• Bodily injury to a guest (or others)
• Damage to or theft of property belonging to a guest (or others)
• Damage caused by a guest (or others) to common areas, like building lobbies and nearby properties

[Andres1022]

Thank you for the help!  Appreciate you

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Andres1022 key wording in @Jennifer1897 's reply above is hat the Host liability covers you if you're found legally responsible for, in this case, theft. As such it almost certainly will not help your guest but does give you comfort you won't end up on the hook.