Who is responsible if you have an accident in an Airbnb rental?

What happens if you have an accident and die in an Airbnb rental?

American man Zac Stone’s harrowing account of his father’s death at a rented cottage in Texas has prompted many to ask themselves that question.

Mr Stone’s father died after falling from a rope swing and hitting his head while staying at the property they found on the popular online home-sharing platform touted as an alternative to traditional hotels.

"When my father decided to give it a try on Thanksgiving morning, the trunk it was tied to broke in half and fell on his head, immediately ending most of his brain activity," Mr Stone wrote for online magazine Matter.

"I knelt down and pulled him up by the shoulders. We were face-to-face, but his head hung limply, his right eye dislodged, his mouth full of blood, his tongue swirling around with each raspy breath."

He said Airbnb sent a "thoughtful note" to his family three days after his father's death, offering condolences and the company's support.

But he noted that companies often contact accident victims "before they've had a chance to lawyer up ... knowing that victims tend to lowball the price put on wrongful death or injury".

Mr Stone's family did not take legal action against Airbnb and ended up settling for an undisclosed amount through the hosts' insurance company.

He noted this was likely "an exception to the rule" as many home insurance policies make exclusions for any commercial activity taking place — such as making money by renting through Airbnb.

What if the same thing happened in Australia?

Law expert Neil Foster from the University of Newcastle said Mr Stone's case raised important questions about who would be liable if the same accident happened in Australia, where more than 40,000 homes are up for rent on Airbnb.

He said if Mr Stone's case was repeated in Australia, both the host and Airbnb could be sued.

He said anyone renting their home on Airbnb must take steps to reduce foreseeable dangers, or they could be found liable.

"This is a situation where arguably the tree branch was dangerous — and it certainly seems to be dangerous for an adult to swing on it, maybe only children had swung on it before," he told the ABC.

"It seems to me that if you know you're letting your premises be occupied by a group of strange adults ... you should be aware that you've got a swing out the back."

He said a good way to reduce danger would be putting a sign up "saying 'branch dodgy' or 'only for children'".

Airbnb disclaims all liability for accidents in the US, but Associate Professor Foster said it was not quite the same in Australia.

"Generally speaking you can't exclude liability for reasonable care," he said.

"So that means it's possible that someone could try and sue Airbnb in these circumstances.

"However, you have to ask what would be reasonable for a company like this to do when setting up short-term leasing arrangements like this? That's untested as far as I'm aware."

He predicted Airbnb would argue it was impossible to personally inspect every listed property for potential hazards.

Call for mandatory public liability insurance

Associate Professor Foster said victims could also look to sue the property hosts, but warned it could be possible that the owner of the home was not insured, or that their insurance did not cover commercial enterprises like Airbnb.

In that case, the payout would be capped at the $US1 million provided by Airbnb's insurance program for hosts "in the event of third party claims of bodily injury or property damage".

He suggested Airbnb make it mandatory for all hosts to have public liability insurance.

"They could impose a condition of insurance on people whose properties are leased out... so they have some control over whether people who have liability insurance to cover people who may come to harm in their properties," he said.

But he noted that "doesn't deal with preventing personal injury, it just deals with the consequences".

"So it is an open question for people in Australia about whether Airbnb might have to do something about the safety of the homes," he said.

Mr Stone also reported details of a Canadian woman's death inside an Airbnb rental in Taiwan, after the apartment filled with carbon monoxide from a leaking water heater.

The woman's family was later offered $US2 million "for humanitarian reasons" by Airbnb, according to a legal paper cited by the Matter article.

In a statement to the ABC, Airbnb said nothing was more important than safety.

"We were shocked and heartbroken when we learned about these incidents and we continue to keep these guests and their families in our thoughts," the company said.

"Nothing is more important to us than safety. Over 60 million guests have stayed in an Airbnb and we are proud that accidents are incredibly rare.

"We know that every industry, every community, and every city grapples with safety issues and no one has an absolutely perfect record, but that's what we strive for and we'll keep working as hard as we know how to make our community safer for everyone."

This post originally appeared on the ABC and was republished here with full permission. 

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