Here’s the catch: Airbnb’s host liability insurance only covers stolen property if the host is found legally responsible. The theft alone isn’t enough.<\/p>\n
According to Airbnb, an adjuster appointed by the third-party insurer investigates host liability insurance claims with the parties involved. In this case, they say the adjuster had tried to contact this guest and didn’t hear back. Host liability insurance, part of “AirCover for Hosts<\/a>,” is insurance for hosts and provides up to $1 million in coverage if a guest’s belongings are stolen or damaged during a stay and the host is found liable.<\/p>\n This coverage is available for the more than 5 million listings on Airbnb’s platform.<\/p>\n Liability-based insurance coverage is standard across travel lodging, not specific to Airbnb. Liability claims also aren’t decided by Airbnb: as is standard in the insurance industry, they are investigated with the parties involved by an adjuster appointed by its third-party insurer.<\/p>\n If a burglary occurs during a stay, guests should contact local authorities as well as Airbnb.<\/p>\n In Delaware, Davis Mitchell booked a special holiday trip for his family of four. They drove three and a half hours, only to realize…<\/p>\n “Minutes away from our destination, I messaged the unit owner, only to find out in a response that there was someone living in our unit,” Mitchell said.<\/p>\n MORE: San Francisco offers Airbnb gift cards for ‘squatters’ to leave public housing units<\/a><\/p>\n Oops! Airbnb says guests get a full refund if the host cancels due to a double booking, and in some cases, will help you rebook.<\/p>\n “Why would it even be listed?” 7 On Your Side’s Stephanie Sierra asked.<\/p>\n “We couldn’t understand why it would be listed,” Mitchell said.<\/p>\n All bookings on Airbnb are covered by “AirCover for Guests<\/a>” at no extra cost. This means in the rare event a guest experiences an eligible travel issue at check-in, or one comes up during a stay, the company promises to refund the guest or help rebook them into a new place.<\/p>\n In Louisiana, Ying Wong says Airbnb denied her a refund after three tornadoes touched down in New Orleans. Roads were closed. Schools were closed. Except, she says Airbnb told her:<\/p>\n “‘Maybe you can reach out to your credit card company to get your money back. But, from our standpoint, the place, the property is still habitable,'” Wong said. “‘You just don’t want to pay!'”<\/p>\n According to Airbnb: “Our Major Disruptive Events policy was not in effect for New Orleans as Tropical Storm Arthur did not result in restrictions preventing or legally prohibiting completion of a reservation. At the time, we provided the guest a goodwill partial refund.”<\/p>\n MORE: Airbnb updates cancellation policy to cover ‘unforeseen events’<\/a><\/p>\n Same story for Meghan Swanton. She booked an Airbnb in Colorado. Then a massive wildfire erupted right before her stay.<\/p>\n “You can see the fire is two miles away from where our Airbnb is,” Swanton said.<\/p>\n Airbnb told 7 On Your Side the listing was outside the area covered under its policy. A policy which the company says takes into account mandatory travel restrictions, evacuation orders and fire activity.<\/p>\n But Swanton says emergency crews were telling her: “‘It’s not contained.’ She was like, ‘You could end up waking up at 3 a.m. and having to evacuate,'” she said.<\/p>\n Swanton says her host pressured her not to cancel, then Airbnb refused to honor a refund, saying the wildfire didn’t qualify under its Major Disruptive Events Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Airbnb’s enforcement of this policy appears to be inconsistent. 7 On Your Side pressed the tech giant on why some cases appear to qualify and others don’t. We didn’t receive a direct answer to our question, but were told: “Our Major Disruptive Events Policy helps support guests when unforeseeable events, like natural disasters, affect their reservation location and allows eligible guests to cancel their reservation without penalty and receive a refund for the impacted nights.”<\/p>\n The key word being “eligible.”<\/p>\n MORE: Airbnb squatter? California homeowner says guest refused to leave after reservation ended<\/a><\/p>\n Airbnb added: “Each day, an average of more than one million guests put their trust in Airbnb as they check into a stay. Rare issues don’t represent the typical positive experiences guests have, but when they do happen, we take that seriously and work to address them. Every stay is backed with protections like AirCover for guests and hosts and our Major Disruptive Events Policy, along with 24\/7 customer support. We’ve continued to invest in that support based on community feedback and have seen customer satisfaction scores consistently increase.”<\/p>\n “It makes me lose my trust in Airbnb… because you expect this major corporation would actually stick to the policies that they’ve created,” Swanton said.<\/p>\n After 7 On Your Side intervened, Airbnb issued Meghan Swanton a full refund.<\/p>\n According to Airbnb, the application of the Major Disruptive Events Policy is determined by defined criteria, “such as government or other official declarations, and decisions are guided by standardized processes to help ensure consistent outcomes across similar events. This policy is overseen by our dedicated disaster response team, who monitor real-time intelligence to identify and classify qualifying events.”<\/p>\n The company says when this policy is in effect for an area, it allows guests to cancel and receive a refund for their reservation, regardless of the host’s cancellation policy. It also allows hosts to cancel reservations without fees and other related consequences.<\/p>\n The tech giant added travelers can also consider travel insurance, whether during the booking process on Airbnb or through a third party: “Our community support team is also on hand 24\/7 to help.”<\/p>\n Keep in mind, if a host messages you requesting you cancel, don’t do it yourself until you’ve talked to Airbnb support. Instead, have the host cancel so it’s processed correctly and you don’t inadvertently lose protections.<\/p>\n Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.<\/a><\/p>\n 7OYS’s consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord\/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. Please review our FAQ here<\/a>. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company \/ agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. If we are able to assist you, we will reach back out.<\/p>\n
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