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The Moment Of Truth For Airbnb As User’s Home Is Utterly Trashed

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Re: The Moment Of Truth For Airbnb As User’s Home Is Utterly Trashed

#221

Post by Confusion »

mbesto wrote: post #220
chailatte wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AirBnb is illegal in some of the states (and when states/hotel industry/cities get a wind of this story, it will probably be illegal in all the states), so I doubt any legitimate insurance companies will be handling this affair.

legitimate insurance companies Sounds like an oxymoron to me...

No, most insurance companies are perfectly legitimate. You are confusing 'legitimate' with 'morally sound'.

Which is not to say I agree that that would be an oxymoron. A 'morally sound free market' or 'morally sound unregulated capitalism': those are oxymorons, because there is no imperative that causes unbridled competition in free markets to lead to companies doing 'the right thing'. Which is why we need a government to regulate stuff. How much of a government is a different question: there's a difference between supporting libertarianism and supporting anarchism and not even the most staunch libertarian disagrees we need a government for some things.

Re: The Moment Of Truth For Airbnb As User’s Home Is Utterly Trashed

#222

Post by ubernostrum »

jdminhbg wrote: post #125
lr wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Airbnb is a brokerage for what is probably an illegal activity in a lot of places. The hotel industry is regulated for the same reason taxis are regulated. I love the concept of Airbnb, but I just can't see how it can really make it in the long run. In this case, and in all others, Airbnb can not be responsible for this kind of stuff. Also, I highly doubt a homeowners policy is going to cover it because the person wa…

"The hotel industry is regulated for the same reason taxis are regulated." Yes -- to drive up prices for the cartels who control entry into the market.

Yes, I'm quite sure that's the sole reason any regulations have ever been enacted covering either industry.

Re: The Moment Of Truth For Airbnb As User’s Home Is Utterly Trashed

#224

Post by hessenwolf »

wheels wrote: post #105
tc wrote: post #21

> I spoke to Airbnb about EJ’s situation. They won’t reimburse her for damages This is bad news. They're going to backtrack on this. The sooner they do it, the better for them politically. I understand the problems of setting a precedent. And there really is no getting around the fact that the hosts do have the final responsibility for screening travelers (and travelers for screening hosts). But rightly or wrongly, t…

I understand the problems of setting a precedent. I don't, actually. If the financial industry has taught us one thing, it's that you can insure anything . Let's assume that this is a very rare occurrence and that the total cost of making this right (say, tops $100k?) can be amortized over the profit being generated. I have a hard time understanding how it'd be rocket surgery to get something in place to handle these…

Seconded... have a basic excess so it is not worth claiming for your tv, price in a certain amount of fraud, and investigate large claims. It's just the usual insurance.

There would be plenty of large insurers happy to insure AirBnB (and the reinsurance would end up down the corridor from me).

Re: The Moment Of Truth For Airbnb As User’s Home Is Utterly Trashed

#225

Post by EdiX »

lliiffee wrote: post #163
Lewisham wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was just thinking this. Presuming most AirBnB users rent regularly, you could quite easily swipe some jewelry (stuff at the bottom of the box) before anyone notices. Even if they do notice, they might go "I wonder where they went...?" and not even figure it was theft for a long time, if ever. Even if theft was presumed, not only would multiple users have been in and out by that time, but you'd have no way of provin…

In this case, wasn't a door broken in order to steal the jewelry? I'd assume most people take at least this level of precaution...

In-house door locks aren't very secure, usually.

Re: The Moment Of Truth For Airbnb As User’s Home Is Utterly Trashed

#226

Post by farrel »

If you're going to rent out a fully furnished apartment full of valuables to strangers who you can't vet beforehand the insurance costs will be significant.

I have a feeling AirBnB don't offer insurance because the premiums required (and the cost passed on to hosts) would make the entire thing unprofitable.

Hotels have insurance but it is probably much much lower than what AirBnB could provide to hosts because hotels already have a) security infrastructure in place b) your credit card details and c) your agreement to be held liable for damages.

Re: The Moment Of Truth For Airbnb As User’s Home Is Utterly Trashed

#227

Post by arethuza »

AndyJPartridge wrote: post #151
djb_hackernews wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would imagine this would be a situation that homeowners insurance is for. But I bet homeowners insurance won't cover damage caused by running your home as a hotel. If not, then Airbnb should have some sort of insurance for these situations. Can't have all of the upside and none of the downside. Not to mention if this happens a few more times, Airbnb's business model will be legislated away.

In the UK one needs specific landlord insurance for this situation. I expect that unless you rented out your space a lot in a given policy year, it may render it unprofitable to do so.

Most mortgages in the UK have the condition that you need to inform the lender if you are letting the property and there may also be requirements for electrical and fire safety.

I hate to think of the potential liabilities if someone got injured in your home and you didn't have the right insurance.

Re: The Moment Of Truth For Airbnb As User’s Home Is Utterly Trashed

#228

Post by Robin_Message »

mapgrep wrote: post #116

Sorry, but the moment of truth has already passed because the moment of truth was when Airbnb didn't bake effective safeguards against this sort of behavior into the very heart of their website for lending your home to complete strangers . Honestly, if you explain the business model of Airbnb to any ordinary run of the mill US citizen not residing in Silicon Valley, their very first question is going to be, "Why woul…

Renting your home remotely seems different to how I saw AirBnb in the past, where you would be renting a spare room and living with your guests. I think that would be more supported, especially given 76% of the US population is Christian, and hospitality is a Christian virtue (in particular, Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.)

Lending your home as a holiday home already has well-established range of estate agents, cleaners and so on, (like Gîtes in France) so it can be done but relies on a more active role of the company organising the rentals.

Re: The Moment Of Truth For Airbnb As User’s Home Is Utterly Trashed

#229

Post by earbitscom »

I'll go out on a limb here and point out that this is just a broken window and some unobservant neighbors away from having nothing at all to do with AirBnB or the concept of short term rentals. These people are criminals and should be treated as such.

Just like you can meet a violent person while dating through Match.com, you can rent out your place to a terrible person using any number of services. The service is something people want and can only do so much to make the marketplace safe. Anytime you connect with strangers, whether it's through AirBnB, the newspaper, a dating service, or by meeting them at a grocery store, there are risks to letting them into your lives. AirBnB is doing the right thing now, and if anything, it's good that this incident will make users of the service more careful. You can't expect companies to perfectly guard every user against every edge case when human elements are involved.

Re: The Moment Of Truth For Airbnb As User’s Home Is Utterly Trashed

#230

Post by aab1d »

This may sound whacky, but maybe airbnb can get into deal with the insurance guys. Maybe a little bit of extra premium but at-least all users who subscribe to a monthly insurance at airbnb are safe. Stupid as it sounds, may just work. This would be a new means for insurers to sell as well.
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