Crazy Vacation Rental Insurance Claims: Accidental Elevator Operator 

Manic Monday – The Ups & Downs of Vacation

I know I’m constantly talking about how people behave differently when they are in a home that isn’t their own, and while this story supports that sentiment, it’s slightly different. 

Our last Manic Monday we talked about how teenagers act when they’re staying at a rental, but what happens when you trade out the booze for apple juice and cigarettes for crayons? This claim story we’re swapping a teenage rager for a curious kid that decided to take an elevator ride that didn’t end the way they planned.

Talk About Pushing The Wrong Buttons

Like any other day, the claim comes in, and it’s $593 for damage to the rental property. I didn’t even blink; this was no $22,000 worth of water damage, after all, so there was no need for major concern. The claim said: 

“The guest called into our office stating their young child rode the elevator with no adult supervision and repeatedly kept pushing the buttons which resulted in the elevator getting stuck. One of our maintenance techs went over and tried to get the elevator working, but he was unable to. He ended up having to call 911 to have the fire department come out. They ended up having to pry open the doors in order to get the child out.” 

Think: this scene. 

Coverage That Won’t Let You Down

Let’s start with the fact that because the elevator got stuck as a result of the child pressing multiple buttons, the damage done to pry the doors open would fall under “guest-caused damage,” so the claim was approved and paid out. 

However, this claim is not as straightforward as some of the others that we’ve looked at. For example, if the elevator had a history of getting stuck and the homeowner did nothing to fix it, would this still be covered? Or, what would have happened if the child had been injured? Who would be responsible for the medical bills? With so many outcomes to be considered, it’s important to have short-term rental insurance coverage that works the best for your business, and having a provider that you trust. 

Every Level of Protection

The best way to protect your property, your business, and your guests is with the right protection. With liability coverage from Safely, something like medical bills from injury due to negligence by the homeowner or the property manager (i.e. not maintaining the elevator properly) would likely be covered. On the flip side of this, any damage done to the elevator as a result of improper maintenance by the homeowner or property manager, would not be covered. 

Other things that should be considered with an incident like this is normal wear and tear, such as an elevator that stops working simply because it’s old. Repairs due to wear and tear would not be covered. 

The Steps We Can Take To Avoid This

The obvious steps that can be taken to avoid this in the future are, in fact, the steps themselves. But, avoiding elevators entirely is not only unrealistic, it’s not a real solution (and let’s not even start on the long list of vulnerabilities that comes with taking the stairs). The point is, there’s no way to completely avoid things like this from happening, but you can make sure that you have the best protection for when they do.

Just remember that elevators may let you down, but Safely won’t.