Airbnb Confirms Insurance (in Case Your Pad Gets Trashed)

In the wake of an Airbnb renter's home being trashed, the company mentioned insurance in its plans for improving safety and security. LAUNCH confirmed today that Airbnb has an insurance offering in the works but is not ready to disclose details.

Airbnb spoksesperson Emily Joffrion told LAUNCH by email that the company is "actively working with underwriters to develop a suitable policy for this collaborative consumption model."

She did not give a timeline as to when the insurance would become available.

An enterprising marketer not affiliated with Airbnb is seeking to capitalize on the incident's publicity. He has set up airbnbinsurance.com claiming to offer insurance to those renting their apartments/homes on Airbnb.

The site does not give any specifics but says "We will be up-and-running shortly" and asks people to submit their email address.



An anonymous person registered the domain on GoDaddy last night using the Domains by Proxy Service in Scottsdale, Arizona.

In regards to the alleged insurance site, Emily writes, "it looks like they are still in the structuring phase of their offering. We'll be interested to see what they come up with and how it compares."

Airbnb just raised $112M in a Series B led by Andreesen Horowitz, bringing total funding to nearly $120M.

Editor's note (July 29, 2011): We have clarified that airbnbinsurance.com is not owned by Airbnb or affiliated with the company.