4 ms·

I would like the blogger to post a follow up on how AirBnB will respond. I've heard of multiple incidents of damage to the property, but have never read about t

by jamra 13y ago

I would like the blogger to post a follow up on how AirBnB will respond. I've heard of multiple incidents of damage to the property, but have never read about the follow up. I suspect that a hush hush settlement was made. Is there a kind of insurance that AirBnB sets up or is it completely on the renter's dime?

argonaut 13y ago
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=airbnb+insurance http://lmgtfy.com/?q=airbnb+insurance tldr; Yes, there is insurance.
- jzwinck 13y ago
  Actually, "sort of." There is insurance in the US (where the article was written), but not everywhere. If I visit the page about their "guarantee," I am redirected to the airbnb domain for my country, where that page does not exist. Strangely they even explain at https://www.airbnb.com/help/question/279 https://www.airbnb.com/help/question/279 that the guarantee page will not be accessible if your computer is in a country where they do not offer the guarantee. This is bizarre, because what if I rented out my place, travelled to another country, and then want to read about my protections? If you want to read the legalese, this page seems to work from anywhere: https://www.airbnb.com/terms/host_guarantee https://www.airbnb.com/terms/host_guarantee
  - ZoF 13y ago
    Agreed, that is rather bizarre, especially considering the, "What Countries is this available in" section is quite difficult to miss.
- camus2 13y ago
  there is insurance if you own the appartement,if you rent it,well,there is zip...and the op rents...
huffman 13y ago
To be a little more helpful, they've partnered with Lloyd's of London to provide a nice insurance policy for all renters: https://www.airbnb.com/guarantee https://www.airbnb.com/guarantee
- greenyoda 13y ago
  But since this person is in violation of AirBnB's terms of service, he might have problems collecting on their insurance policy. Their TOS states[1]: ... you will not: ...offer, as a Host, any Accommodations that you do not yourself own or have permission to rent as a residential or other property... Clearly he does not own the property or have his landlord's permission to rent it. [1] https://www.airbnb.com/terms https://www.airbnb.com/terms
  - eropple 13y ago
    This is one of the things about AirBnB that bothers me. They know it's not legal for him to rent it because of NYC's Illegal Hotels Act. I can't shake the persistent feeling that they know their business model relies on people breaking the law and they just don't care. That bugs me.
    - 205guy 13y ago
      I poured myself a glass of wine and sat back to read these comments. This is exactly what I wanted to say myself. Facilitating breaking the law and the social compact of residential neighborhoods, that is their business model. It is because of this argument that I will be happy the day I see AirBnB go down in flames, though to be honest, I doubt I'll have that pleasure. Edited to add: I would change "don't care" to "have consciously decided that limiting their business to places where it is legal, while feasible, would limit their profits and their relevancy in ways they do not want to do."
      - 205guy 13y ago
        The buzz from the wine is wearing off, and I remembered that I do think the AirBnB model (but not modus operandi) has 2 legitimate purposes: 1) occasional subletting during occupant absence and 2) satisfying temporary demand. Case 1) is essentially making vacation home exchange totally fungible. By definition (at least for most people), a vacation is infrequent and has significant cost, in part due to paying for 2 dwellings concurrently (the vacant home, and the vacation accommodation). AirBnB solves this by having a large market of people who may want to pay you for your empty home. Examples of case 2) would be huge conventions and university graduations. These are cases where it would be inefficient to build hotels to satisfy peak demand, and sometimes it becomes impossible to find (conventional) lodging at any price. AirBnB solves this by providing elasticity in the form of non-conventional lodging only available during the peak. In both cases, the difference with the current situation is that these cases are limited in time. I think AirBnB would be a good thing if it limited the rental of any property to a maximum of 1 month per year, with a limit of 4 guests per year. That would eliminate people running residential businesses, which is my main objection (and probably the company's whole profit and growth strategy). In other words, AirBnB would be a great but small niche player.

by jamra 13y ago

argonaut 13y ago

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=airbnb+insurance http://lmgtfy.com/?q=airbnb+insurance tldr; Yes, there is insurance.

jzwinck 13y ago
Actually, "sort of." There is insurance in the US (where the article was written), but not everywhere. If I visit the page about their "guarantee," I am redirected to the airbnb domain for my country, where that page does not exist. Strangely they even explain at https://www.airbnb.com/help/question/279 https://www.airbnb.com/help/question/279 that the guarantee page will not be accessible if your computer is in a country where they do not offer the guarantee. This is bizarre, because what if I rented out my place, travelled to another country, and then want to read about my protections? If you want to read the legalese, this page seems to work from anywhere: https://www.airbnb.com/terms/host_guarantee https://www.airbnb.com/terms/host_guarantee
- ZoF 13y ago
  Agreed, that is rather bizarre, especially considering the, "What Countries is this available in" section is quite difficult to miss.
camus2 13y ago
there is insurance if you own the appartement,if you rent it,well,there is zip...and the op rents...

huffman 13y ago

To be a little more helpful, they've partnered with Lloyd's of London to provide a nice insurance policy for all renters: https://www.airbnb.com/guarantee https://www.airbnb.com/guarantee

greenyoda 13y ago
But since this person is in violation of AirBnB's terms of service, he might have problems collecting on their insurance policy. Their TOS states[1]: ... you will not: ...offer, as a Host, any Accommodations that you do not yourself own or have permission to rent as a residential or other property... Clearly he does not own the property or have his landlord's permission to rent it. [1] https://www.airbnb.com/terms https://www.airbnb.com/terms
- eropple 13y ago
  This is one of the things about AirBnB that bothers me. They know it's not legal for him to rent it because of NYC's Illegal Hotels Act. I can't shake the persistent feeling that they know their business model relies on people breaking the law and they just don't care. That bugs me.
  - 205guy 13y ago
    I poured myself a glass of wine and sat back to read these comments. This is exactly what I wanted to say myself. Facilitating breaking the law and the social compact of residential neighborhoods, that is their business model. It is because of this argument that I will be happy the day I see AirBnB go down in flames, though to be honest, I doubt I'll have that pleasure. Edited to add: I would change "don't care" to "have consciously decided that limiting their business to places where it is legal, while feasible, would limit their profits and their relevancy in ways they do not want to do."
    - 205guy 13y ago
      The buzz from the wine is wearing off, and I remembered that I do think the AirBnB model (but not modus operandi) has 2 legitimate purposes: 1) occasional subletting during occupant absence and 2) satisfying temporary demand. Case 1) is essentially making vacation home exchange totally fungible. By definition (at least for most people), a vacation is infrequent and has significant cost, in part due to paying for 2 dwellings concurrently (the vacant home, and the vacation accommodation). AirBnB solves this by having a large market of people who may want to pay you for your empty home. Examples of case 2) would be huge conventions and university graduations. These are cases where it would be inefficient to build hotels to satisfy peak demand, and sometimes it becomes impossible to find (conventional) lodging at any price. AirBnB solves this by providing elasticity in the form of non-conventional lodging only available during the peak. In both cases, the difference with the current situation is that these cases are limited in time. I think AirBnB would be a good thing if it limited the rental of any property to a maximum of 1 month per year, with a limit of 4 guests per year. That would eliminate people running residential businesses, which is my main objection (and probably the company's whole profit and growth strategy). In other words, AirBnB would be a great but small niche player.