Do your stairs and railing meet code requirements?
Yes, my husband is very conscientious of that kind of stuff.
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That is in your favor! Sounds like there is no reason that first step should be considered “tricky.”
That wasn’t the point I was making @Brian_R170, I was asking whether the person who was injured was a paid guest in terms of whether Airbnb’s liability insurance would cover her.
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I cannot believe that in the USA, the landlord is “responsible” if the tenant falls in the stairway.
I hope your Airbnb house rules had strict rules about visitors and guests. If I were you I would update house rules and description to specify the “tricky” first step?
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Sharks don’t eat personal injury attorneys, it’s considered cannibalism.
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No, no, no admissions about tricky steps. And they’re just steps per you description, nothing tricky about them. I wonder was she drinking?
My tiny vacay rowhouse has a steep staircase perpendicular to the party walls and tops off with a 2 ft sq dropped landing (the house is that narrow the stairs couldn’t extend all the way up). I actually put in a swinging gate for guests to close at night because the dropped landing is between them and the bathroom. (Guest wakes up in the middle of the night, stumbles in direction of bathroom, disappears with a great crash.) Now, THOSE are tricky steps.
I’ve also bought letter stencils and glow in the dark paint and am going to put “Watch Your Step” right on the floor.
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did you put that in your Airbnb house rules? and in the “things to note” or whatever ?
My policy is to under promise and over deliver;
Put every possible problem in the house rules or listing.
People don’t read it anyway!
Put “there are outdoor staircases on the property, some with irregular aspects, all guests are responsible for their own safety” or some such nonsense pay a local attorney to write the text.
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Going to put up a sign in the porch to be careful when entering and exiting and use the handrail
Just wanted to give an update.
I was able to connect directly with the gal who injured her self. She said she was caring a duffel bag trying to get out the door. She still unsure as to what happened because it happened so fast.
Anyway, she said that she has no intention of going after us that it was not anyone’s fault but hers. She said she has health insurance that will cover her injury.
I still have to wait and see what her insurance is going to say because it’s an accident. Her insurance may still deny her claim and try to go after our Insurance to pay.
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This whole story is absolutely incredible to anyone with activity in Europe.
I mean, you fall on the stairs, even “tricky” stairs, too bad for you! Only in the US can you get rich from spilling your coffee in your lap or falling in somebody else’s stairs.
Absolutely nuts but I’m glad that she admitted her responsibility to the injury hope you got it in writing.
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A tenant has signed a lease. An Airbnb guest has not. An Airbnb guest’s visitor has not.
This is why we all need insurance. (There she goes again, but still…)
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Wish people would realize this. Can’t charge 40 euros a night with cleaning, sheets, welcome, etc and insurance.
I don’t quite understand that. Are you saying that you don’t have insurance?
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This happened to me once. My tenant slipped on the steps and fell, breaking her ankle. I was a bit freaked out when an insurance adjuster came to look at the steps and assess how much, if any, liability we had for the accident. It turned out fine; they saw that we had sand and salt available for the tenants to use and they verified that our snow removal guys had shoveled the stairs and sanded within a reasonable amount of time.
One bit of advice if you are in a similar situation: DO NOT volunteer any information. Answer their questions politely, but briefly. You’d be surprised how even innocent remarks can come back and bite you in the behind…
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Yes of course I am fully certified. And I can’t charge 40 euros per night with cleaning sheets electricity internet and insurance!
I have people telling me “similar properties to yours are charging much less”.
Also, outside of US and canada (don’t know where you are @jaquo), insurance situation and liabilities are much different.
no, i’m saying i can’t charge 40 euros a night!
Thank you for sharing your experience and for that advice.