Damage at an AirBnB

[ItalianLemon]

I don’t usually post on MN so hopefully I do this correctly, but I could do with some collective advice!

I stayed at an AirBnB property with a group of friends at the weekend - gorgeous house with an open plan living space and beautiful kitchen.

The owners were understandably clear before hand that it is their family home and they didn't want to let it out to rowdy groups. We were respectful of this and mindful of the space we were in. We weren't drunk, silly or reckless.

Unfortunately, as I was drying some water from the bottom of a bowl, it slipped from my hand and hit the edge of the induction hob. It wasn't from a height at all so I must have just got incredibly unlucky with how it fell, but nonetheless it chipped the edge of the glass hob 😢

I was a genuine accident and not caused by carelessness but I was mortified and spent the rest of the weekend fretting about it.

We obviously let them know what had happened, but have now had contact from the management agent with a request that we pay (within 24 hours) £1000 for a replacement induction. I'm gutted.

The friend who made the booking has gone back to them saying we wouldn’t expect to pay the full cost and asked about their insurance. They have now referred us back to AirBnB.

Does anyone know what the usual damage process is? Are the owners likely to have cover through AirBnB? Would there be an excess to pay?
I genuinely don’t know what’s normal or a reasonable expectation in this situation.

I completely appreciate how upsetting it must be for the owners to come back to damage, particularly when it’s their home rather than a buy-to-let, but things are a real struggle financially at the moment and I don’t know how I’ll even begin to find the cash to sort it if we’re expected to pay £1k.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts or advice, particularly from anyone who hosts AirBnB and knows how it works from that side.

Not your problem- they should be properly insured for things like this. This is the risk you take when you AirBnB your home - and insurance should be in place to mitigate the risk.

I would just let them know that they need to claim on their insurance, which should be comprehensive.

Oh dear, I take that back. Looks as though they have a fairly iron clad process - have a read of this

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/help/article/1415

I think you’re going to end up paying

Christ alive, another reason to stick with hotels.

Would your group of friends split the costs ( or some if it) with you?

If I were in the group and were all being really sensible and this was pure accident , I would contribute. If there were 10 of you, it would be a more manageable £100 each.

Or do you have any insurance yourself that might cover you? Your home insurance ( mine covers accident and loss away from home) or travel/holiday insurance. Excess charge to think about though.

What about your travel insurance op? Would that cover it?

Those things are so fragile. They really shouldn’t be in holiday rentals.

as someone mentioned above though, I believe the Airbnb terms are not very balanced in this circumstance.

It might be worth checking your own house / contents policy xx

Wow £1,000 is a huge amount to charge

Induction hobs can be repaired I would so some research on chip repair

There was a similar thread with someone who damaged an induction stove top. I'm sorry but I can't link, but here's a screenshot so you can google.

I hadn't considered checking my own insurance, so that's definitely something to look into.

I don't have any travel insurance as it was a UK trip so I didn't even consider it... perhaps I should have! I'll have to dig out our home insurance documents in case there is anything relevant in there.

I don’t really think they can make you pay, if you must, just close the account down after paying them a nominal admin fee.

They need to go via AirBnb resolution centre rather than a management agent, and it will be your friend who made the booking/AirBnb account who is picked up on this.

My only experience of this is different in that a claim was made against me for “permanent marker” on walls and cushions which they raised 5 weeks after we checked out?! Having had other guests in the meantime (clear from dates of reviews). They knew we had kids at our stay and tried it on I think.

I appealed/declined the request stating these facts (and the fact I have loads of positive guest reviews for leaving places in good condition!) - it took weeks but AirBnb closed the resolution request. So I don’t think they always rule in favour of the host and hope someone reasonable somewhere will read about it and you would think they have provision for accidental damage to high cost items.

It seems that you’ve done the right thing in mentioning it straight away, so see what the process brings. I wouldn’t have thought it is easy for them to claim an amount more than the damage deposit (?), what was that? £1000 seems like an awful lot.

If ultimately they rule that you are liable they will deduct it from the payment method, presumably your friends? So make sure you all agree what is fair and bag they are prepared for this. They can actually remove the payment method from their Airbnb account / close the card and alert the bank if they wish I suppose!

As pp said, if it’s a genuine accident I would hope that it can be split between everyone and chalk it down to bad luck. That’s what my friends offered to do with the AirBnb claim against me (which granted was less - £275) as they knew the damage wasn’t us and/or even if it was one of our kids it certainly wasn’t permanent pen!!!! Crayola at worst and nothing a bit of Cif wouldn’t shift. Not that this is the point of course….

I think it's essentially them charging for a brand new, like-for-like replacement of the one that was damaged. Obviously wasn't cheap!

A frinf of mine lets out her place on Airbnb and has got host damage protection through Airbnb (not in the UK).

Airbnb however always puts a lot of pressure on trying to get the damage paid by the guests rather than claim on the policy.

I’d want to see a quote with a full breakdown of cost
£1000 seem very steep
mat best it’s a good mornings work if they have to remove the oven below

This is useful - I'll find the thread. Thank you!

I didn't realise that there was some very onerous terms in terms of damage payments at Airbnbs until I saw them in black and white in the 'House Rules' book when I stayed in the Outer Hebrides this year. Made be wary of booking them in the future. I suspect you will be liable.

I don’t have any sympathy with people renting out their family home to make a quick buck, without having comprehensive insurance to cover breakages like this. It should be one of Air BnB’s conditions that people using the site have insurance. What if the house had burned down through a candle being left lit? Would they have tried to claim that from the renters?

Air BnB is entirely unregulated. DH and DD stayed in one in Edinburgh where the electrics were unsafe (he’s a qualified electrician). He pointed this out to the people renting the place and they weren’t remotely interested.

Our induction hob cracked recently, rendering the hob completely unusable.

We booked a "repair including parts" through the manufacturer. I want to say it cost £160 and included the replacement glass. It might have been a bit more. But not only was it a lot less than a new hob, it was cheaper (fitted) than I could buy the replacement part for, online, to DIY.

It took the engineer about 5 mins to fit. He was happy, we were happy.

I think if they insist on a new hob they need to claim in their insurance, but I would consider pricing up a repair personally.

The one and only time we stayed in an airbnb, was in a flat in Edinburgh. My daughter noticed that the handle of the bread bin was broken and she made a joke about it letting the flat down. There were also dirty towels handing on the bathroom room and the previous occupants shampoo/shower gel still in the shower cubicle. Apart from that the flat was lovely.
We stayed there 2 nights and didn't use anything in the kitchen apart from the fridge for drinks (as we ate out).
The day we returned home, we got an email to say they noticed we'd broken the bread bin and wanted us to pay £50 for a replacement (£50?! - 1. It was a basic bread bin & 2. We didn't touch it let alone break it).
We disputed it (explained about dirty towels and toiletries and suggested perhaps it was the previous renters since the flat obviously hadn't been checked properly) and said we would not be paying. Airbnb tried again to get us to pay and we refused. Finally we got a response to say their insurance would cover it but they would leave a comment against our account (a black mark essentially). We never used Airbnb since.
So long story short, they DO cover damage if you refuse to (or can't) pay, and they always seem to side with the landlord.
Good Luck, £1,000 is a ridiculous amount to expect you to pay and I just wouldn't.

Thats awful. I am a host and have insurance.

I wouldn't dream of trying to recoup the cost from guests. That's why you have insurance!

(And I have replaced a shattered hob too - a new one)

That article goes through to a link about "aircover" which suggests they first ask the guest to pay, but if the guest doesn't (or pays partially), the host can claim from airbnb.

So stay firm - it was an accident and you're not willing or able to pay £1,000 for their new hob.

I’ve just smashed my own induction hob, a replacement was £1200. It’s a big 5 zone one. You can’t repair them so basically any damage you need a replacement. I just cracked the very edge of mine!

I did claim on my house insurance though. Their house insurance is likely invalid as they were using it as a holiday let at the time (nor your problem though). I’d go through airs resolution centre.