I think this is about the third time this story has got to the front page and I find it interesting that most comments seem to focus on the personal responsibility angle rather than the duty of care. The question is whether AirBnB and the homeowner can be seen to be providing a service much like a hotel. You have a reasonable expectation that hotels have procedures and systems in place to ensure the accommodation they provide is safe.
There was a recent inquest in the UK (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/corfu-carbon-...) where the liability of a package holiday company in the deaths of children caused by a faulty boiler was examined, and where the hotel may have taken shortcuts in repairing the boiler. If this was an AirBnB property would we put the blame for the faulty boiler on the customer or the service provider?
There was a recent inquest in the UK (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/corfu-carbon-...) where the liability of a package holiday company in the deaths of children caused by a faulty boiler was examined, and where the hotel may have taken shortcuts in repairing the boiler. If this was an AirBnB property would we put the blame for the faulty boiler on the customer or the service provider?