Meth smoked in my AirBnB

[Jessica West-Walker]

Hi all,

I spent the past 6 months building and decorating an AirBnB apartment in my basement, and the third guests smoked meth in the unit.  :/  It is a long story of how we figured it out, but essentially bags over the smoke detectors and drug paraphernalia in the trash gave the situation away.  Needless to say, we were shocked and heart broken.

We decided to arrange proper testing (as this is our family home and we also want to be responsible hosts).  The results came back, with trace meth levels just over the state limits for 'contaminated' (.5 mcg) in the AirBnB and a couple rooms in our private residence (as we share HVAC).

My question is, does anyone have experience processing this sort of claim with AirBnB or their Home Owners / Umbrella insurance? 

AirBnB have been a bit cagey / slow to respond and have offered no advice on how to manage this process.  I am working through their resolution center, but I am concerned they are not going to pay when they see the whole bill.  So far they have said they will pay for extra cleaning and direct losses, but no indirect losses.  Like the testing, that cost $2,500.  

The cleaning is looking to cost around $10k alone - and this doesn't include replacing soft furnishings, or the HVAC system - as we have flexible ducting and Colorado meth regulations don't allow the cleaning of flexible ducting.

Not to mention we've had to move out and find other accommodation until this is resolved - which is looking to take 4-8 weeks.

My insurance have said they don't cover the cost to remediate meth contamination, but I've not pushed hard on them yet, as I was waiting for the test results.

Any help / advice would be much appreciated! 

Thank you.

[Mike Smith]

No one has mentioned this yet, but I would consider trying to clean it yourself.  The low amounts of meth wafting around in the air will give you enough energy to work for 24-36 hours straight, plenty of time to get the entire job done.

In all seriousness, I feel you should be able to do a thorough cleaning yourself, get it re-tested and fall under the legal limit.  I can't imagine there is that much meth left in the air or on surfaces after it's cleaned to be dangerous.  You might inhale more walking by the Sudafed at Wal-Greens. 

[Matt M.]

I can’t be certain of this as I’m surely no expert, but people smoke meth for years and live. A weekend of residue couldn’t possibly do that much harm to your home etc. 

everywhere we go we could be inhaling stuff we don’t want to be, it’s just part of life. Who knows what has gone on in any of the houses we have prior to us buying, or even while renting. Clean it and move on. Sorry this happened, but I wouldn’t consider it a big deal, and the police would do nothing as you can’t prove who was smoking it. 

[Greg R.]

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Having thought this over, are you sure you need to proceed with the over-the-top cleaning, duct replacement et. al....?

You could throw in a few air cleaners and run the AC for a few days and get rid of all the residue. End of problem. IF you choose to go ahead with the expense, that would be your choice I guess....

Completely agree Bruce. I would maybe hire a company to do a through cleaning, maybe some HEPA filters throughout the house, leave all the windows open for a day or two.

[Greg R.]

Regarding the STR insurance, I'm almost positive USAA doesn't cover STRs. I have two STRs with policies that specifically cover STR uses. One is Guard through Berkshire Hathaway, can't think of the other one. I would recommend calling a insurance broker in your area and tell them you're looking for a home insurance policy that covers STRs.