Has anyone ever had an accident at an AirBNB? If so, did AirBNB or the host offer support?

[HangerLaneGyratorySystem]

Tripped over an uneven step on first day, covered in massive bruises; I was really worried I'd done some real damage (nothing broken though). The apartment was managed by a company - told them what had happened and they seemed very confused as to why I was telling them. What would you have expected to happen next?

I thought it might be a box of chocolates or £50 off the cost, send a handyman round to look at the step (just needed a door threshold bar added) and a message saying gosh I hope this hasn't spoilt your holiday. Obviously I was wrong. AirBNB have now passed my details to a legal firm and I've had a solicitors' letter demanding proof of my "claim" and asking for my National Insurance number?! I think its just scare tactics. Any thoughts or experience?

Pretty stupid to do that when there is the possibility you are legally liable.

I'm with you op. I fell over in a shop once, going to the till. I told the bloke on the till (who just stood watching me get up,) that the floor was wet and he just shrugged and said it was probably off some plants the customer before me bought. I suggested he clean it up and he said 'yeah, I'll do it in a minute'
Im still annoyed i didn't even get a fiver off my shopping 😂

I part manage a few properties.. We had a death!
And a cf who tried to scam us saying he fell. He actually forgot he had already told me he fell pissed down the town hall steps!

It’s very different in the US. If you need medical treatment for a fall your health insurance company will ask you to fill out a form explaining how the accident happened and then the health insurance company will try and claim the health care costs back from the property owner. The NHS doesn’t do that, except with car accidents, and so we do not have nearly as many civil claims for accidents.

No bones broken so you need to pull yourself together here.

This 🤔

Not Airbnb but similar company - something badly maintained in the cottage I was staying in broke and directly caused me a nasty injury requiring stitches. I rang the hosts to find out where the nearest hospital was (google maps not working). Not only did they not offer any assistance, the next day when they texted me I thought they were texting to see if I was ok. They were actually trying to charge me several hundred pounds for the broken item. I just ignored them in the end - the holiday company wouldn’t get involved in the dispute between the two parties. Ended up costing me quite a bit of money too in new accommodation etc. don’t expect any help op

You need to apologize to yourself for tripping over! Strange to even contact them. It's not their problem you tripped. Put it behind you and enjoy the rest of your holiday

That would be very foolish of you. Your insurers would be deeply unimpressed that that was your sole reaction to a trip hazard on your property.

Of course it's their bloody problem. What if the next person who trips is seriously injured and they end up on the wrong side of a claim for tens of thousands of pounds? Particularly if the insurance company finds out they knew all about the hazard because it had happened before, and did fuck all about it.

Why do you think it's scare tactics? Aren't they looking into it?

Sounds like they are taking it seriously. Write a wel-worded letter with a description of what happened. Take photos of your injuries and the step and send them. I wouldn't provide NI number. Then wait and see...

Wait and see as in they may compensate you properly.

Well-worded*

I was staying at an air b&b over 2 years ago now and my nephew fell over in the garden because of some loose paving slabs. He went down pretty hard and ended up needing a small stitch. I did message the owners mainly so they could get it fixed but wasnt expecting anything more. We were still there for another week and decided to stay as little one was fine and bravely showing off his war wounds! The owner actually came over the next day, had arranged to fix the paving and gave my nephew a lego set as a gift. They also did offer us a part refund as the garden was out of use for a few days because of it and that was a big draw for the property. We declined as felt they'd dealt with it well and appreciated the gesture. We've actually stayed at the same air b&b a few times since and always nice to see the owners and they always ask after him. I think you are right to report it as can stop anyone else getting hurt. Hope you're not feeling too sore.

How did you tell the company what had happened? They may have thought you were notifying them to make a claim. You have said you expected them to do something, whether come out, give you a discount or send you chocolates, so it quite possibly came across as if you were going to start a claim.

I agree this is what you should do.

However, I'm wondering what's happening at the other end for the owner. Hopefully Airbnb aren't charging them for use of their legal team.... it really does seem to have it all sewn up as a company!

I think people stopped reading at the £50. I assume AirBnB think you're going to try and sue them or something similar so I'd just advise them that you were just informing them to repair the step so it didn't happen again and not taking it any further.

We own an Airbnb and have had guests hurt themselves in our property. We haven’t sent anyone out when the guest is still there, just looked after they left to see if the guest was being a bit daft or it actually needed attention (neither time required action - two separate ‘issues’, both times just bad luck).

In your case, I suspect they’ve got your message and just forwarded it immediately to Airbnb to sort out with a proper paper trail. Rather than scaring you off, I think they’re just trying to do everything by the book in case you come back to them later and want compensation. It might seem obvious to you to just send an apology and get someone out to fix it, but if they start doing stuff like that and you then decide they did the wrong thing and escalate it with Airbnb, Airbnb won’t support the host if they’ve gone off and done their own thing rather than following the procedures they have in place for hosts.

Good job this didn’t happen to OP. They would probably expect AirBnb to compensate them for being hit by the car 🤣🤣

Two things happened in one ( expensive) holiday home. First our dog jumped over a terraced wall and fell about 2 metres down and was quite badly hurt albeit not seriously. I mentioned this in case they might be able to prevent it happening again.

Same place the outdoor furniture was wooden and really quite old with repairs etc. one night my husband’s chair fell to bits with him landing on the paving. He wasn’t hurt but I was upset because we had my lovely dad with us and he had extensive bone cancer.

I phrased it nicely and certainly wasn’t after compensation but they didn’t even reply.