What do you think about offering BIKE RENTALS with your airbnb?

As it turns out I didn’t get insurance through them. They don’t cover Canadians. So I followed @jaquo 's advice and found a local company who will rent and deliver kayaks to my guests. If Boatsetter doen’t rent dinghies then I’m afraid you’re out of luck for liability insurance too. Hopefully someone out there will fill this void.

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How do we set up a bike rental through airbnb though? Additional charges section???

I am new to this forum, so I haven’t read much about liability. But that’s an excellent point.

Had to laugh out loud at that one - classic :joy:

There are several bike rental places already in place in my neighborhood. Guests can use them. No liability for me!

I point others to the city rental bikes on offer about a mile from the house.

Like others, it’s a risk not worth taking. I feel bad though because I’d say 20% of my guests are looking to get around on foot and my city seems to be public transport-phobic, unfortunately.

We have two bicycles that we let guests use for free. They are a popular perk.

I would never provide bikes and am not sure a liability waiver would protect you. Those hosts providing bikes really should visit a lawyer or check their insurance policies to see if this sort of thing is covered. You should also provide helmets if you provide bikes.

I used to offer boogie boards but removed that perk. I offer snorkel gear free but they have to sign a waiver. My waiver was reviewed by a lawyer who gave it the all clear.

Guests could only successfully sue if they could prove gross negligence against the host. Also, unless they were badly injured; no attorney would take their case on contingency. Add to that, most guests are not local and can’t upend their lives to stay in town for a lawsuit. As I’ve pointed out previously, Americans litigiousness is largely a myth. We have the right to sue in almost every circumstance, but most people don’t regularly exercise that right.

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I don’t have insurance. I don’t worry about getting sued. People worry about the strangest things and most have little idea what actual dangers are. It’s like my guest who just left. She likes driving instead of flying because she feels like she is in control and she trusts herself. She’s in her late 70’s and is taking lots of medications. She becomes disoriented trying to find her way around. Yet she is still driving across country.

Anyone worried about being sued probably shouldn’t have stairs or bathtubs or stoves much less bicycles or kayaks.

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I’m wondering about the stats … how many air owner hosts get sued. I agree, I don’t usually bother having guests who aren’t Americans sign the snorkel waiver. It would be an ordeal for someone who isn’t American to initiate a lawsuit. But it is your biggest asset we are talking about. Your home. Even if they fell and broke their arm and made a claim and your homeowners caught wind of it and denied you that could,be an issue.

We’re seeing an attorney today to put our house in a trust. Even so, unless the guest was injured badly and the host committed gross negligence no reputable attorney would take the lawsuit. As an example, we are close friends with a woman who’s husband was indisputably killed by two medical errors committed by staff at Cedars Sinai. She is suing for malpractice. Her attorney took weeks reviewing the records to see if, in fact, Cedars had been at fault and that the errors were egregious enough to merit a lawsuit. If a guest broke his or her arm because of a fall it wouldn’t be the bicycle owner’s fault unless, for example, the wheel fell off the bicycle because the owner hadn’t maintained it. Many of our guests crash our bicycles. We always take them to the bike shop to be looked over when they’ve been crashed. I believe that Americans curtail their behavior way too often because it is a common belief that we sue each other all the time. The facts lay that myth to rest.

… or even a chair to sit on. Suppose a leg breaks of and someone slams his head against the wall. The liability discussions always puzzle me :astonished:.

@EllenN, your arguments sound reasonable and logical. That being said, when my husband and I purchased a pair of bicycles from a big box sporting goods retailer last summer, we were not allowed to take them off the premises before we initialed waivers stating all sorts of crap, from promising to read the entire bike manual from cover to cover, to promising to always wear a helmet and so on.

I can only assume they made us do this because it’s fairly easy to prove gross negligence. After all, this is a big company with resources and lawyers, and they are clearly worried about little ol’ me with neither of those things suing them.

A person who is found guilty of gross negligence usually knows, or should have known of the danger involved in the conduct they performed. Shouldn’t a bicycle owner have known that letting someone ride off on a bicycle could be dangerous? Heck, I’ll bet a talented personal injury lawyer could argue and win a case where Airbnb renters just decided to take the 2 bikes leaning against the side of your house without asking, subsequently seriously hurting themselves, calling the bicycles an attractive nuisance!

While I’m not saying this is totally wrong, I am saying that there is solid reason for caution.

You know, I’ve been asked often enough if I offer bike rentals, but I have never tried to do this. I feel like it would just be a liability of dealing with the bikes. I work a day job and if the guests have issues with them, I may not be available.

There are bike rental places in my city, so I just recommend they go rent from one of them.

We are starting to do offer bike rental as it’s not possible to rent bikes in our city.

There is a looong history of includes boats and bike and kayaks with rentals in the Adirondacks.

My friends offer kayak use with their rental and I think they are nuts. Time and time and time again people visiting Hawaii drown taking stupid risks. They have no idea of the power of the ocean here. We are an island and don’t have the long continental shelves like California or other places to slow waves. Most of the power is under the surface. Like an iceberg. So they don’t see it. All they see is a beach with palm trees so it has to be tranquil.

I’m always amazed when I see tourists out swimming or kayaking during high surf advisories. They just don’t get it. Last week some tourist at our beach took a kayak out in waters that looked like victory at sea. Luckily there were people about to help rescue them, although they were putting their own lives at risk.

I’ve been a water/ ocean enthusiast for 25 years and I would never venture into unsafe water. When in doubt, don’t go out. Hawaii is the drowning capital of the US for a reason. And 90 percent of our drownings are tourists.

Offering a kayak to renters is asking for trouble.

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What about offering bikes on www.spinlister.com yourself and giving special deal to your tenants that way. it’ll give you some protection, as they seem to cover for up to $ 10,000

How much does they charge for the rental? (fees for the platform)