I have a wonderful guest, a kid from Poland. He’s 18 and so well behaved I cannot believe it. He’s here for a tennis tournament. I came home from work today and he told me my bike is totaled because a car hit him. I asked him if he was OK. I asked him several times, as he was explaining this to me. I was speechless, remembering accidents like this where people got crippled or lost their lives and I was furious at myself for allowing this to happen. so the boy said yes, he was fine, basically his backpack saved him from hitting his back flat on the road. And his tennis racket was fine too. So basically, a high school girl hit him. He has a few scratches on his leg and he’s complaining about sharp pain on his foot. Being from Poland and so young he didn’t know what to do in such situations and he didn’t write down the license plate nor he requested the car insurance. He wrote down the girls name and phone number. The name seems to be real, because he found her on Facebook. I called the cops. They came, took his declaration and they said they will try to find her. They also asked if the boy wanted to go to the hospital. he said no. He’s leaving tomorrow morning to New York and then to Warsaw, Poland.
My question to you is: if the cops can’t find the girl - perhaps she deletes her profile or something - should I involve Airbnb? The boy is not guilty of anything, he’s a victim and he’s the sweetest guest ever. But, don’t get me wrong, I want to be compensated for my bike. If the girl’s insurance doesn’t pay then Airbnb should. This was an expensive bike and I just can’t and don’t want to absorb this cost. I only rode it twice!
Needless to say this was the first and last time I offer a bike to a guest. What shall I do? I don’t want the boy to be affected.
I’ve contemplated similar for my guests BUT came to the conclusion that if something happened, that I might be liable for their accident. In this case, you could have be subject to his lawsuit.
I don’t see how this would be ABNB responsibility, and why you’d expect compensation from them.
From my perspective, you have two options:
- File a claim with your homeowners insurance
- Contact the girl directly and advise them of the damage to the bike (and guest) and ask for payment. if the girl refuses to pay, file a small claims court suit against the girl who damaged your bike … I’d suggest that you get a copy of the police report taken, as well as a deposition / accounting from your guest (before he leaves). Be prepared with documentation of the value of a USED bike (search on CraigsList and other sales forums to find similar).
Also, be prepared for a completely different set of facts (coming from the girl) than you were provided by your guest. Maybe it was actually his fault; if so, are you willing to file suit against him?
Check to see if your homeowners insurance will cover the bike. We checked with our company before we started lending our bike and they said they would cover use of it. (This is assuming your homeowners company knows you are doing STRs!
thanks. @hh_az he’s not going to sue me. he’s a kid from Poland. But for my education only,for future guests, how can I be sued in a situation like this?
What can I be accused of? I had all my good intentions here: the kiddo wanted a bike to go to the tennis tournament, which is like 2 miles away. When the accident happened he was on a busy street going to the bank to cash his winning check.
Unfortunately my insurance doesn’t know I do STR, so I can’t file a claim with them. And the girl, how can I contact her? I’m sure she gave a faulty number. That’s why I called the police, to take the kiddo’s deposition and have the police find her for me.
I was thinking about Airbnb because it is a damage that happened while a guest was here. If I didn’t have the guest, I would still have my bike. But I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you good people here.
Edit: Based on the last name she’s related to a family that owns a very well known and appreciated Italian restaurant in my city. She already took down her FB profile.
You loaned someone unfamiliar with the area a bike he had an accident on. If you had not loaned him the bike, one can surmise he would not have had the accident. You even state he was riding it on a busy street, so you’ve demonstrated that you had knowledge of a dangerous situation that you subjected him to. If he had been injured (or worse), you would probably be sued. A jury would decide your fate.
I’m not suggesting that you weren’t a kind soul to this guest; I am suggesting that it was a naive thing to do. I’m not beating up on you, I’m giving you reality.
it sounds like you already have enough information to track the girl down. But let the police do what they do, and see what they determine. If she has already removed her social media account, that’s telling; and you should document that as part of your potential case. BUT as stated earlier, my guess is that she tells a very different story (truthful or not), and without your guest available, you may have an uphill battle. The ideal situation would be if there had been witnesses. If its a busy area, maybe there are some storefronts or locals that saw what happened … you might ask your guest and visit those places to inquire.
if you are so focused on getting compensation for your bike, your first point should be getting it from the person who you loaned it to. That is ultimately who is responsible.
OR, you can take a deap breadth and put it behind you and just count your blessings that your guest is not injured, and that all you’ve lost is a bike.
@HH_AZ I believe in karma. let’s see what happens. After all I am thankful the kiddo is fine. He is really a fine young lad. I believe his story. The bike is just secondary. I am not sure if there were witnesses. I will ask him. there are no business where this happened. It is a busy street, but on one side there’s a cemetery and the other just houses.
I’m happy that this after all, was a very happy incident, if I think about the lady who was crushed between two cars a couple of years ago in front of the university of pittsburgh. she did nothing wrong. she was stopped at a red light and the car behind her was speeding and just crushed her. she died on the spot. and the other horrible incident, a surgeon at the children’s hospital who got injured by a truck. he’s in a wheel chair and could never recover after the bike accident. So it’s true, i’m counting my blessings. thank you
It’s been a lesson for me. I’ll keep you posted. Thanks for your advice.
I am so sorry this happened to your guest @adrienne12, but personally, I would never have loaned a guest my bike.
There is too much risk of any accident letting a very young man unfamiliar with the roads drive your new bike, particularly when you knew he wouldn’t be covered by your insurance.
Was there no public transport he could have used? Or he could have hired a bike. Or an Uber wouldn’t have cost too much. At the end of the day it is his responsibility not yours to ensure he could get from yours to the tournament he was playing in.
Personally, if his foot was hurting I would have insisted he get it checked out at your local hospital, rather than letting him travel with an unknown injury.
I am not quite sure why you think Airbnb should be liable for a guest using your bike outside of the home?
Please use this lesson to make sure you update your home insurance to cover STRs. It’s a tax deductable expense (here in the UK anyway) that you can claim as a business expense when doing the taxes for your Airbnb.
@adrienne12 - you’ve now realiased, I know, that you were a bit naive to let the guy ride the bike. I appreciate that he was a lovely bloke and all that, but it was a few years ago now that my lawyer insisted that I shouldn’t offer extras such as bikes, kayaks, etc.
Another lesson you’ve learned is that you should have STR insurance! (Although depending on where you are, they might not cover items such as bikes without an extra premium OR your liability for guests who have accidents when using them).
I agree with others and don’t understand what this has to do with Airbnb.
You know that’s pretty naive. You might as well ask the bike manufacturers because the damage happened because you had their bike. Or the local council for providing the road. Or the bank because he was going there. Or the tennis tournement because he wouldn’t have been going to the bank if he hadn’t got the cheque…
WHY oh why would you think Airbnb should pay for your broken bike???
They are nothing more than your advertising agency – they are NOT your insurer (and if you think that that $1m guest guarantee is worth $1USD then you are oh so sadly mistaken). Air will just laugh in your face, and rightfully so.
Just to play devils advocate… what if the story is untrue and it was the guests fault the bike was damaged? IMO- HE should he responsible for its replacement as he is the one who was entrusted with it. He can go after the girl for costs if he chooses and that it was indeed her fault.
My short term rental insurance company asked if I offered boats/kayaks, scooters/bicycles, etc., So three is a liability aspect, at least in the US.
I don’t think I would ask the guest to pay for the bike, but… I’m in the camp with @MissSwan and think that it being the guest’s fault is not only possible, but likely.
I actually wasnt trying to say it was his fault… just that its a possibility. This girl may not “be found” and he is leaving the country… and you’re left without any real recourse. He was allowed use of your property… he should be responsible for it.
Maybe some beach vacation owners who provide bikes will weigh in.
I guess in the normal legal course, with no insurer for your STR equipment, you would go after the guest, who would in turn go after the driver, for compensation. You are a human being who is being kind to your guest, so that is not happening.
Why not call Airbnb? Doesn’t hurt to ask. You might get a sympathetic CS agent who will reimburse you! Say that you provided the bicycle as an amenity for your guests to increase the quality of their Airbnb experience. Say that when the guest was hit by a car, as a good host you provided first aid and offered to get the guest medical attention, and helped the guest file a police report. Say that you don’t want the guest writing in the review or tweeting about their horrible Airbnb biking experience where some crazy driver in X town ran into them, or any media attention.
Great presence of mind to get the police report. If you decide to approach the girls’ parents for compensation, talk your attorney first (hopefully you have an “in-house” friend or family lawyer). If the gal lied about her number, she’s probably told her parents some story that the bicyclist ran a red light, cut her off, whatever.
yes I do, also an airbnb host. wow, i’m blown away by your responses. i honestly don’t know what to do. they boy left. i didnt think about this today, being 4th of july. I’ll deal with it tomorrow. thanks for all of your responses
I would be careful about telling Airbnb. I had a guest break their leg while skiing this year (I do not provide skis) & it turned into a fiasco when this was mentioned while trying to find the guest somewhere to stay longer. The safety/security team started an investigation and canceled my next guest. It took a full day to sort out that this did not happen on my property, I was in no way involved or liable for the injury.
Oooh, never thought of that. Good point re unpredictability of Airbnb response. They are probably still cringing over that death caused by use of a swing on tree that fell, that was so widely publicized.
Another reason to get STR insurance.
That’s obvious it didn’t happen on my property. It was on a public road, 3 miles from my house, according to the boy’s declaration to the police, which I will get a copy of and could present to Airbnb.
I’m sorry to hear about your guest (glad this happened after his tournament!). And I’m sorry your new bike is ruined. Unfortunately the bike isn’t covered by Airbnb any more than your car would be if you loaned a guest the keys.
If you loan bikes in the future consider a service like Spinlister, which has liability insurance built into the program.
I’m a bit confused. I thought the consensus was to avoid informing Airbnb?
I didn’t inform Airbnb. Now the guest got home and he is mad that he couldn’t cash his winning check he was given because of the accident. He was on his way to the bank to cash the check when the accident happened. So after the accident the girl got him an uber that took him straight to my house and he couldn’t go to the bank afterward, having no bike.
When I got home in the evening I took him to walmart but he couldn’t cash it there either. they said he has to cash it at that bank (Huntington).
SO I’m not sure why he can’t cash the check in Poland but he was saying something along the line of wanting the girl pay him the value of that check he couldn’t cash. Told him I cant help him and gave him the number of the cop. I need the police report not for Airbnb but for taxes next year. How else can I prove the bike was totalled and this is business loss, right? Even if 50% because I was using it too.