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I don't get it. They require you to file a police report, just like insurance companies do. In fact, since they know the identity of the renter, they can requir

by Cushman 15y ago

I don't get it. They require you to file a police report, just like insurance companies do. In fact, since they know the identity of the renter, they can require that the renter's name appears in the police report, and Airbnb can call the police station themselves to follow up with more information. A claim against the fund necessarily means pressing criminal charges against another individual. So as the owner, it's my word against the renter with the cops involved. They're going to figure it out eventually. Maybe I'd be able to float a few grand for a while before it caught up with me, but surely there are easier ways for me to turn false testimony to my advantage than screwing over the web site that's earning me money?

alex_c 15y ago
I'll freely admit I don't know that much about insurance fraud. But I suspect the majority of people attempting fraud wouldn't be loyal Airbnb customers, but rather people of questionable ethics who hear that if you go to such-and-such website, and file a claim, you may end up getting some money. If there's any weakness in Airbnb's insurance system, given the scale at which Airbnb wants to operate, people WILL find and exploit it. It is, of course, very possible to set up insurance so it has few loopholes - insurance companies do it! My point is simply that it's not trivial, and Airbnb would have to invest significant resources to make it work well - while still potentially failing to gain the goodwill they need (few people actually LIKE insurance companies).