Pour Decisions: When Stays Go Sideways, with Amanda Martins of Safely

Welcome And Series Kickoff

Alex Husner 0:01

Welcome to Alex and Annie, the real women of Vacation Reynolds. With more than 35 years combined industry experience, Alex Heuter and Annie Holcomb have teamed up to connect the dots between inspiration and opportunity. Seeking to find the one story, idea, strategy, or decision that led to their guests' big aha moment. Join them as they highlight the real stories behind the people and brands that have built vacation rentals into the$100 billion industry it is today. And now, it's time to get real and have some fun with your hosts, Alex and Annie. Not every stay goes as planned. Sometimes it's a small issue, and sometimes it's the kind of situation that turns a story into one you'll never forget. This is poor decisions when stays go sideways, presented by Safely, where we talk about the moments that no one puts in the highlight reel, but what actually went wrong and what operators can do to handle it better next time. Join Annie and I and the Safely team for cocktails and commiseration as we swap jaw-dropping tales of the good, the bad, and the downright outrageous. And trust me, there are plenty of them. Laugh, learn, and pick up a few instar tips to help you handle and hopefully prevent future poor decisions. Come for the cocktails, stay for the stories. Welcome to Alex Danny, the real woman of vacation rentals. I'm Alex, and I'm Annie. And we are here for the mid-month edition of a very special series that we're launching called Poor Decisions When Stays Go Sideways, presented by Safely. And for today's kickoff episode, we've got Amanda with Safely here today. Amanda, so good to see you.

Annie Holcombe 1:41

Hi, nice to see you. Amanda, we're so excited about this. So, this is gonna be a special series that we're doing. Um, so we're not it's not gonna normal episode, but it'll be a lot of fun. But before we get started, we do want to have a little introduction of you and Safely, and then we're gonna get into what this whole series is gonna be about.

Meet Safely And The Mission

SPEAKER_01 1:57

Thank you. My name's Amanda Martins. I am the vice president of business development at Safely. I've been with Safely for a little over six and a half years and kind of I've kind of run through um the entire customer life cycle. So I've I've ran with onboarding, customer happiness, sales, product, and um, now partnerships is kind of my primary focus, even though I kind of dabble in the rest a little bit here and there. I have this like interesting perspective, right? So I have been in the trenches with you guys as property managers. Um, I've also worked with all the partners and everything, but our team has basically seen it all. You're here to listen to probably like the least exciting um topic in the industry, which is insurance. Um so, you know, we for a while we were struggling with how do we who's in insurance is really boring. Like it's not an exciting topic. But then when you really dig into it, just like you guys, just like just like your the property managers, you guys, we've seen it all, right? As an insurance company, we've seen all kinds of crazy things happen. We'll get into that in a little bit. But um, for context, Safely is covering guest-cause damage and guest-related liability. So as these claims come through, we've been documenting them, we've been looking at the pictures, documenting the stories. It's been a little nuts. Um, but that's what Safely does. We um at our core, we're here to enhance your business and help reduce your risk. We're here to help um reduce the headaches with your guest and with your home. And that's safely.

Alex Husner 3:35

Oh, it's a great, great mission. And I mean, you hit the nail on the head. And when we were in the pre-recording earlier this week, I mentioned, and I've said this on the show many times, you know, selling vacations, selling like memories to people. It's not the worst job in the world. You know, I could be selling insurance, but then I think of people like you and of uh Jamie from Tint and you know, some of the other people that I know that sell insurance that are like so positive and like they just they love what they do. And at the end of the day, I think it doesn't matter what you're selling to a certain extent, it's about the passion that you have about the mission and what it's solving for people. And it's very clear that that's at the forefront of what safely does. So um, but before I take a sip of my cocktail, I want to introduce something. So, because this is poor decisions, this is uh going to be part of our series, that this is like a happy hour. And this stemmed because you guys have been doing your bad stays and bourbons at the conferences, and that's a great late afternoon event that I think anybody who's been to them, you know this is so fun and you're just crazy stories, right? And but it's about education too. It's entertainment and education to help people figure out how they can avoid that in the future. And so that's kind of the premise of the show right now in this series is how do we we're gonna have some fun, but we're also gonna talk about some crazy stories and then how we help you get get better in your own business. And we would absolutely love for our listeners to share your worst guest stories for a chance to come on the show. Amanda's heard a lot of them, so make them good, and you'll probably get picked. Um, and stay tuned for it, should be in this in the show notes, actually, by the time this goes out, where to submit your stories. But we're excited to hear from the audience. And I know you've got a great probably binder full of people and stories too, Amanda.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I'd say um a database full for sure. Um we've got, I don't know if this is appropriate now, but we've got anything from just to tease a little bit, we've got things that are related to seafood. Um, we have things related to lots of cooking situations, um, a lot of large gatherings, um, biohazard cleanups, and even folding fares.

Alex Husner 5:58

Oh, wow. Goodness.

Annie Holcombe 6:03

Well, I think um before we get started on like testing out a story to see how it lands, um, you were gonna introduce. So, again, poor decisions. We have a drink, we have a signature drink, and so this month's signature drink is yours. Why don't you tell us about it real quick and then we'll all take a sip?

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Yeah. Um, so I was a bartender in a former life, so I hope that this um drink is tasty for you guys. Um, one of my things that I delighted in was to kind of work with people to figure out, okay, what what what mood are you in? And um, so what flavors do you like? And so I thought about property managers with this, and I was like, okay, we need something a little tropical. Who doesn't like a good margarita? But wait a minute, what about a little twist on it? Let's be a little classy. And uh, when do you need this? You probably need this cocktail when you're closer to checkout. So we developed because we figured out that's probably when you're most stressed out, is when your guests checkout. So, what we developed is a checkout 75. It is a twist on a French 75. Effectively, it's like a margarita with a little splash of um your choice of bubbly if you want to make it. Are we putting the recipe in the um in the notes here? Yeah, yeah.

Alex Husner 7:20

I go ahead and share it because it's pretty easy, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Yeah, it was super easy. Um, I like to fresh squeeze my lemon and um my lime and orange juice. So a little bit of that, a little bit of tequila, a little bit of um orange liqueur. I like grand gala. It's a little niche, but it's delicious. And then you just top it off with um some bubbly, and that's it.

Alex Husner 7:41

Love it. Love it.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

Well, insurance and drinks. What could go wrong? I put a little tahine rim on top if you want to cut the sweet. I love it.

Alex Husner 7:50

Yeah, it's delicious. It's very, it's refreshing, it's light, you know, it's not too sweet. I don't don't love super sweet drinks, and especially in the summertime when everybody's checking in, checking out, like you need something that can still keep you a little hydrated.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Yeah.

Alex Husner 8:06

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 8:07

But it'll so be careful with it.

Alex Husner 8:10

Yeah, well, that's typically how tequila behaves. Yeah. Um, and we are gonna be having so for if you submit a story of a worst guest story, want to come on the show, and you're chosen, we're also gonna ask you for your favorite drink. So we'd like to just have some fun with this. You know, we're recording on a late Friday afternoon happy hour, and and we just want to take you guys along for some education and entertainment at the same time.

Annie Holcombe 8:35

Awesome. So I guess why don't we why don't we um get into we were gonna share a story and then just kind of lay out what this is gonna, what it's gonna look like moving forward. So you I think you had you said you had a story chosen for today's episode.

Happy Hour Format And Listener Stories

SPEAKER_01 8:47

I do. Um, and this one just came in about a week, week and a half ago. So um, as a little teaser, um, I know that you guys have we have spring break coming up. All right. And we know with um spring break, some unexpected things can happen. So um recently we had um we had a story come in. And luckily enough, so just so you know, our claims process it safely, we um require photos and evidence. We don't typically, we don't require any kind of video evidence, but this particular um customer blessed us with a four-minute video walkthrough.

Alex Husner 9:25

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

And so so to set the stage, um this guest booked this nice big house. Okay, and um, I'm gonna just give you the general region of Florida, all right. And um, and it was for 18 people, seemed normal, everything seemed fine, right? Um, but then afterwards, when their um when their house cleaners showed up, they discovered that in fact it wasn't it wasn't 18 people, it was 50 people. Oh my god. And then and what happened actually is in the middle of the night, they were throwing a rager party at this house. The police were called, oh, scattered. Okay. And then when the housekeepers, I feel so bad for the housekeepers, when they came onto the scene, they they whipped out their phone and they started taking pictures. Just so you guys know, any insurance company always takes a ton of good pictures, make sure they're not fuzzy, yeah. Um it's gonna help you.

SPEAKER_04 10:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

This person, they took out this, they were like, okay, I've got I need video evidence of this because it's too wild. So it starts out a little mild, right? I started watching this video, I was like, Oh, that's not too bad. She was walking through the she walked um, you know, just straight through the front door and then went up the stairs, and I saw a bag of chips, and I was like, Well, that's a little rude. Like, that's okay, you know, that's kind of weird that there's a bag of empty bag of chips. And then she goes up the stairs, she goes into the bathrooms, and um, the bathrooms are a little messy. Um, one person believed in if it's yellow, let it mellow. Um and that's just you know, it's not that's a little rude too, but okay, whatever. Yeah, yeah.

Alex Husner 11:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:15

And then it just started getting worse and worse. So you wanna went into the bedrooms, and um, there were the linens were just strewn everywhere. Okay, fine. They were a little messy, but then you start looking around, and there's okay, then you start looking, you're like, that's a coors light can. That's a little weird. Why is that in the closet? Okay, so then she goes through the bedroom, same kind of thing, a little messy here and there, but then she goes back down the stairs and starts going to the common area. And the first thing I noticed that was odd is there's not a lot of furniture in this house.

Alex Husner 11:51

That's oh yeah, dead ringer for took it all out and had the party.

The Checkout 75 Cocktail Recipe

SPEAKER_01 11:57

But then she goes to the corner. They at least they didn't take it outside, Alex. What they did was they piled every bit of furniture into the corner. So at least they were courteous and and um wow to protect the furniture. So these were like, you know, they were at least a little thoughtful, but that where the thoughtfulness began, it ends right there. Um, you can through the floors were just like filled with this like muck and weird dirt everywhere. The carpets were stained, the kitchen was the the sink, and this is a farm sink. Okay, the kitchen sink, the farm sink was filled about a foot full of empty cans and broken glass.

Alex Husner 12:43

Oh wow. Oh my god, everywhere else.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

And then on the top on the on the on the um ceilings and the wall, there was some sort of biohazard. I'm not sure what it was.

Alex Husner 12:58

It sounds like one of my like college Greek life parties.

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Exactly this, exactly this, and then when you turn the corner, there was like apparently where the laundry is. So there's a wall between the kitchen and the laundry, somehow, like, but it's actually a little laundry room, and it's about this wide. Uh, which I'm sure for your listeners, you know exactly how wide that is. Umide wall, the whole thing was busted into all the way through to the other side. I'm talking dangling, and it was, and I I mean, it was it was literally about a so it's a four-foot-wide wall, about a two-foot wide hole what wide, and then another three foot high, and then another hole just like down the bottom of it.

Alex Husner 13:51

No wonder they didn't bother to move the furniture back at that point.

The 18-Guest Booking That Became 50

SPEAKER_01 13:56

There was dry so what happened, all that muck was drywall just scattered throughout the form. Yes. So that was that was the story of the 50 per the the 18 the 18 bed home turned into a 50-person rager with the cops called and everything. But luckily they had us, right? We don't cover additional cleaning, right? So that means like they forgot to empty the dishwasher, the step, the counters were a little sticky, the beds, like the the beds I described, we wouldn't cover or the bag of chips that I saw at the beginning. I'm like, okay, well, that's not that's just a few extra minutes. This is different. Yeah, this is this is completely excessive cleaning. They had to get um ozone, they had to hire an outside party because they smoked in the house too. They had to get outside um smoke remediation, so that was all taken care of, thank goodness. And then that drywall situation, obviously, that whole wall needed to just be redone.

Alex Husner 14:56

Right. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 14:58

So and that's one of the milder stories um that we've seen.

Alex Husner 15:02

So they submit this video and then tell us what happens next.

SPEAKER_01 15:06

So what happens next is um, I guess a little anticlimactic, right? It's actually then that's where safely comes in. We start the investigation. This was actually pretty simple. They submitted an insane amount of evidence, right? So pictures, videos, after that, we just check through the receipts because anything that was damaged, if there were damaged linens that, you know, that were stained from maybe them attempting to biohazard cleanup, um, you know, the any kind of couches that were destroyed, um, the uh carpets that needed professional cleaning. So they they submitted all of these receipts to us. We say it safely, it takes five minutes to file a claim, but we actually know it takes longer for you to gather your evidence, right? But um, once they did all of their due diligence, all they did was come into our system, um, upload their, they can bulk upload all their all of their their um images and then upload their video, upload their documents, give us a description, told us what happened, and then our claims team reviews it. And um, if we have any qu if we had any questions, we just reached out and then after that. Um I believe it's it's been a little a little it's been a couple of weeks. And um normally we're pretty quick to pay with something like this. It can take longer because there's so much more involved. Um, but yeah, we're we're we're in the middle of uh payment.

Alex Husner 16:27

So one one follow-up question to that. If they had not been using safely, what would have happened?

SPEAKER_01 16:32

Um it depends on their setup, right?

Alex Husner 16:35

Um if they weren't using any damage protection at all.

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Yeah, so it'd be unfortunately, it would be a mixture um of self-insure. So some of the smaller damages, probably the linens and stuff, isn't a big deal to put to put into your pool. But at this point, for this, for this big of damage and this big of a deal, um especially that drywall situation or any other structural damage that might may have happened, they would have to go to their homeowner and tell them, hey, we've covered part of this from our own pool, but you're gonna have to reach out to your own insurance company for the rest of it.

Alex Husner 17:09

And that's not a happy homeowner to talk to because you're for letting that guest book the 18 party that was 50.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

Well, and let's let's do a scenario of if if this was an Airbnb reservation. Um what the homeowner what the property manager would have to do if they're trying to file a claim there is gather all the evidence, just like us, gather all the evidence, get everything together, but then go back to the to the guest first. So go back to the guest and say, hey, you did all these things and prove that you tried to either, you know, get them to remit funds or something like that, but basically prove that you involved them, and then Airbnb will um will review that claim. And that's part of their terms, right? I'm not at all for Airbnb. This is just what I've read, and it's public information on their terms. Um but the catch is you have a 14-day window to file that claim with Airbnb. So what else is 14-day window? It's um remitting its guests get to review their stay within 14 days. So not only there's two, there's two day two two kind of dangers here, right? If you um if you involve the guest, you're you're risking them giving you a bad review. Unless you wait until the 11th hour and then file your claim. Right. Or you're risking Airbnb flagging your home as a party home.

Annie Holcombe 18:33

Oh, interesting. I wouldn't have, yeah, I wouldn't have that.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

Yeah, we've seen we've heard that over and over again. So so with Safely, like we give you 60 days to file your claim. We know that guests are gonna lie, so we don't require you to involve your guests. Um and uh and we can cover all channels, it doesn't matter where it comes through. So that's kind of the difference there. Um, if you don't have safely, you're either dealing with the booking channels or you're kind of dealing with your a mixture of your homeowner and um homeowners and your own uh funds.

Annie Holcombe 19:03

Okay, so I have a question. Um I worked in the Spring Bank market in Panama City Beach, and we had chaos like this all the time. I mean, I always marveled at how quickly damage could get done. One one year we rented a penthouse unit, kids checked in at like three by five o'clock, they were already throwing furniture off the balcony and in the pool, and they had already nailed in the walls of a condo, which I still don't know how they did this street signs that they had stolen. So, like these guys were these, they they were they went crazy. But but of course you call the parents, the parents are like, Johnny would never, and then you send them pictures and they're like, Oh, okay, maybe Johnny did. But the pull like you get the police involved in that situation, um, and you get them evicted. And so that there's that there's that. Once you have the league, legal like people on your side, it's a little easier. But this case, the people left. Do you suggest to the property manager to try legal recourse or because they have you, they're covered and it doesn't matter?

SPEAKER_01 20:01

So both, right? Okay. Um, I would, I don't know. I guess maybe this is a moral compass thing, right? I feel like um, you know, I've I like to every once in a while I pull my husband and I'm like, look at this crazy thing that happened. He's like, did they go to jail? And you know, like can they can they can they be prosecuted? Um if there's illegal activity, you always always follow the law, involve the police, right? Um at your own discretion. Um but for safely, we don't we require if there is a crime involved, then we require it, right? We require police report. Um, I guess I'll tell one more like bonus story for to, for example. There was a group of people that um that just a small group of people, just a couple, a couple too few people that um rented this home out, single family home, and um they also rented a U-Haul. And um they backed the U-Haul up to the home and went inside and emptied as many contents as they could into the U-Haul and and filled it to the brim and then drove away.

Alex Husner 21:12

Wow. Highway robbery, literally.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

Literally, literally, gosh, right? Wow. And that's that's a situation where yes, file a police report, right? File a police report and then include the police report in your papers. Um, you know, we've we've got a lot of other crazy stories that include um illegal activities that uh you you need to, you should. I think you should. So if if a crime happens, always I would always file a police report, always involve local law enforcement. Um and then at your own discretion, um you know, follow your own gut instinct with the prosecuting situation. You know, I'm not gonna guide you on that, right? That's your own decision. Um but for us, we just need the the legal documents in any insurance company, not just us, it's anybody.

Claims Evidence Plus Airbnb Time Limits

Sponsor Spotlight: Safely

Alex Husner 22:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah. W when in doubt, it's always better just to file a police report. I mean, totally unrelated. But my my dad was in a mild accident a couple months ago, and him and the lady were talking afterwards and they exchanged insur insurance. And so he didn't think that she had hit him. He didn't think that he needed to file a police report. Well, lo and behold, when they reach out to her, she stops responding, doesn't want to pay anything. And it's like, ugh, if you had just filed the police report. So generally speaking, if something has happened to you, you want to do that. We'll be back in just a minute, but first, a word from our premier brand sponsor. This episode is brought to you by Safely. One of the realities of running a short-term rental business is that things don't always go as planned. Whether it's accidental damage, guest-related issues, or the unexpected, these situations are part of the business. The challenge is figuring out how to handle them without adding more friction to your operations or your guest or owner experience. And for a lot of operators, that's where things can get messy. Safely is designed specifically for short-term rental operators, combining guest screening, protection coverage, and a streamlined claims process into one solution. Instead of relying on large security deposits or navigating complicated insurance workflows, Safely helps operators put a system in place that's both more efficient and easier to manage. And what we love about Safely is that they remove a lot of the back and forth that usually comes with these situations. When something does happen, you're not starting from scratch or trying to figure out what the next step is. There's already a process in place that helps you move forward without slowing everything down. For teams that are growing or even just looking to operate more professionally, having that layer of protection without disrupting the guest or owner experience can make a huge difference. If you want to learn more about how Safely works, click the link in the show notes or visit safely.com and be sure to mention that you heard of them on the Alex Nanny podcast. Ahead of a bad situation like that coming about, like what can operators be thinking about right now if they're not using a damage protection or even like guest screening? Like, what's what are your best practices and advice for that? And does Safely offer guest screening to you? I guess that's one thing I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

Yeah, no, um, I absolutely suggest some sort of guest screening. Obviously, Safely has a good one. So guess screening can prevent a certain amount. Um, screening itself can prevent a certain amount, but just requiring screen screening, just the the requirement, excuse me, I can't speak to today. Um I should have under um just adding the requirement of guest screening can deter certain guests. And I know, I know that depending on your market, right? There are some some of your repeat guests are gonna be like, why are you asking for an ID now? I've been coming here for years, right?

Annie Holcombe 24:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

You probably don't need to screen those, right? Um, but I'd say after COVID, things got a little rabid, I think. You know, uh, so I think that uh since then guest screening has just been uh more and more important. You want to at least do some sort of identity screening. Um, there are uh we're coming up with some more exciting types of screenings on our side. Um, so any kind of fraud prevention type screening, you want to you want to uh poke into that, but at least an ID screening. Um criminal criminal check screening, um, that is that is helpful. But um, if you're doing a real deep dive screening, those tend to take uh get like criminal check if you're looking for their felonies. First off, if I'm going on a vacation, somebody wants to check my criminal history. I have nothing to hide, but like I'm going, I'm going on vacation. Chill out.

Alex Husner 25:49

You could still be dangerous, basically, is what you're saying.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

You could have just been a really good criminal. Um the reason I'm just I would be a bad one. That's why I'm not one.

When To File Police Reports

Alex Husner 25:59

And also it's you could be a a very bad criminal, but you could be fine on vacation that like you're not going to get in trouble. You could be a great citizen and a terrible vacationer at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

So 100% can exist, or you just have never been caught, right? Yeah. Um so criminal screening, we offer it, you know, we offer it and it's there. I usually only recommend because it's it's it costs extra. I usually only recommend a criminal screening if you're if your jurisdiction or your HOA insists, right? And it's the same with the sex offender screening. It we have that too. Jurisdiction um and and HOAs is when we usually talk about like like um Arizona. I think almost all of Arizona.

Annie Holcombe 26:48

Arizona, you have to do with it. Yeah, there's another one.

SPEAKER_01 26:51

Um I haven't checked recently. I think Miami Dade uh that county requires it. There's a few out there. So um you need it. You have to have it if you're in there. But in terms of preventing these kind of crazy things from happening, uh it's probably boils down to how you market your home. Right. Um, I don't want to tell everybody, don't allow more than 10 guests in your homes because you know you need to have your revenue, but maybe try to position in a way that doesn't make it seem too exciting. Don't maybe don't highlight the pinball machine, you know, and the and the wide open party space, right?

Alex Husner 27:28

Perfect for a beer pong table right here.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

Yeah, look at how open this is. Um maybe just things like that that you can do. Um, you know, again, it's it's all about the guest, I think a guest screening, but it's really difficult to prevent, right? Um we talk about vacation brain at safely, and as this series unfolds, you'll understand exactly what we mean. Because, like you said, um, I think Alex and Annie, you both said it, people who aren't criminals, they'll go on vacation and they'll just lose their brains, they'll lose their minds, right? And we call that vacation brain. So yeah, exactly. And it's hard, that's something that's harder to predict, right? And so um that's why you want to have that extra layer of protection, um, both for you for your homes, for your own business too. Um, and then your homeowners, you want to keep them happy. And so that's kind of part of that, that's that side side benefit, I'd say, that of having something like that.

Safely Sponsor Message And What It Does

Alex Husner 28:29

And I think, you know, what we're what you do ties into so many different parts of the business that it's not like you're in one lane, but you're really in all the lanes, I would say. If you have to keep going back to your homeowners every time something is damaged, maybe not as catastrophically as what you just described, but anytime something is wrong in the home and they have to keep paying for it, like that creates a really terrible owner experience versus when you can say, okay, everything that's covered up to what's like the average coverage amount, would you say? Um people select.

SPEAKER_01 29:02

I the average coverage amount for us is gonna be somewhere around. So we do liability and damage. Our average customer will get 100,000 in liability and dwelling damage. So dwelling is like the carpets, the walls, the fixtures, and then contents is all the loose stuff in the home. So if you were to rip the roof off the off the off of the home, turn it upside down, give it a good shake, everything that falls out, that's contents. So our average customer has somewhere around 100,000 um in liability, 100,000 in dwelling damage coverage, and um around 3,000 in contents. Okay, it's and it depends. Like we have that I'd say that's average, but that's really pigeonholing because we have 58 or so different policy options. And our customers like they range anywhere from just 1,500 all the way up to a million dollars in damage coverage, damage and liability ranges.

Alex Husner 29:55

There's not a one size fits all answer to this, too, because I mean, one company, you could have one-bedroom condos all the way up to you know 12 bedroom homes that you don't need the same policy for each property. So can companies specify within the system like what makes sense for a coverage? Or is that okay?

SPEAKER_01 30:13

Absolutely. And and a lot of our customers do. We we recommend to try to narrow it down to just two, um, simplify it, but we could do as many as you need.

Annie Holcombe 30:21

Got it. How does um a homeowner's the individual homeowners insurance interact with this? So if there's damage by a guest, you guys will cover that. But at what point, um, I guess does it does it become a point when it's like there's so much involved that it's better for them to file a claim with their the individual homeowner's insurance? Or could you do both of them? I mean, how does that work out?

Guest Screening And Party Prevention Tips

SPEAKER_01 30:45

So um I'm gonna first tackle damage because that's what you asked about, and then I'm also gonna tackle liability a little bit.

Annie Holcombe 30:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 30:51

Okay, because there's two different ones. Um, and um, for those of you who tuned in for the stories, this is the best part. We're talking about insurance now. Um with the booze, but you need this information, I promise. Um for the damage piece, the way it works is you file your claim with us first, even liability, you file your claim with us first. Okay. Um, and we're taking that first brunt. So if there is$80,000 in dwelling damage, um, you're filing the claim with us first. I'm gonna tell, I'm gonna, I'm gonna use a sadder, a more sad story um that I that's less lighthearted to give you a good example. Um, about um a month ago, again, we had a video walkthrough. It was pretty heartbreaking. I guess it was one of the inspectors or how I don't know who who came on the scene first, but um, the guests didn't use the grill appropriately. They left it on overnight, and um the whole house burned down. Oh my god. House burned down. Not, I mean, to the studs. Wow, I've never seen that as anybody. That's the first fully catastrophic claim that I've seen from a whole I mean I'm talking like nothing left. It was pretty sad. Um, but what happens in that case, okay, is um they file their claim with safely first. Um, I can't remember what the coverage limits they had. Um, so but let's pretend they had uh a hundred thousand, okay. So what the steps are first is they file their claim with safely first, and they um and we, you know, this one we sent an inspector out. We we absolutely it's just it just it's a longer tail. So we generally pay claims in less than a week.

SPEAKER_04 32:40

This does not happen unless they're whole house is a little different there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:45

The other the other things, most of our claims are smaller, quicker, we pay them out quick. But this is a little longer tail. But they called us up and we sent our inspector out. And then from there, the conversations, we just kind of take it from there and don't the property manager and the homeowner are only involved in such in that if if the other insurance companies need to be involved, then we'll talk to them, right? So we'll we'll kind of negotiate between the two insurance companies because this went well above the hundred thousand. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:14

Right.

Coverage Levels And Owner Experience

SPEAKER_01 33:15

So um, so safely would take that first, that first. Um, but it depends on how the homeowner's policy is written, but more than likely we take that first, right? And that's what we're intended to be is that first line of defense. And then the the homeowner's uh insurance would more very likely be involved as well. So so that's how that works. And then in in terms of liability, so if somebody uh slips and falls and zoos the company, right? Again, the fair the very first thing you do, as soon as you can catch wind, if you sniff out that you think they're gonna that they're gonna file some, that they're gonna file suit, or if you just heard as soon as they slipped and fall, file your claim with safely. Just file your claim safely, right? Um, and what we're covering under, we have two different policies. I won't get into it too in too detailed, but our our general policy covers the property manager. We do have a policy that covers the property manager and the homeowner. Um, and again, this is only for guest related. Everything I talk about is just guest related, right? Um so you still need your the property managers need their general liability, um, and homeowners still need their homeowners' insurance, okay? But you file the claim with safely first. And then the very first thing we do, the only time that we require guest involvement is in liability cases. What we do is we call the guest, okay? And then the first thing we do is we talk them through, we start taking notes. We start taking notes and we get all the all the facts, every bit of information that we can, right? Um, and make sure we listen for things that could okay, was it their own fault? And we take notes, everything's recorded, and then um after that, regardless of whose fault we think it may or may not be, we offer them a thousand dollar med pay. Okay, so if they had to go and get a hundred dollars worth of stitches, we're offering a thousand dollar med pay, just a flat rate. This doesn't work as a settlement, but it works as kind of a it's almost like a peacemaker. It's called uh it it it kind of usually eases tensions. It's not an admission of fault, it's just easing the tensions and it's a courtesy. And so what that is, that's a benefit uh to your to your guests because that kind of uh reduces the tension and then they're happy, right? This is just a courtesy. So although the homeowner isn't typically covered, they're benefiting from this. So even if it ended up being the homeowner's fault, these are the steps that we take to try to prevent any kind of litigation from coming up. And then what we're doing is uh we we hold on to all of the all of the evidence. Uh the guest actually has up to like two years to come back and sue you.

Alex Husner 35:57

Really? So is is that like by platform law or just generally insurance-wise?

SPEAKER_01 36:03

General insurance law. Wow, wow, and it varies state by state, but the average is two years. So look up your own state laws, it's it's the average is two years. Um, so they have two years to come back to you. So when you're working with a company like Safely, even if you have your general liability, your homeowner's insurance has this, they're not usually going to, you're not usually going to just call them when you think there might be a bodily injury case or a liability case, because that raises red flags. With us, you you call us and then we'll we we're required to keep our records for years and years. So it's absolutely going to be in our system. So if anything comes up later on, we've got all the facts of loss, we've got all the documentation, and um that benefits both you and and and the homeowner in the long run. So again, the most um the most exciting part of our conversation today, but also very important.

Alex Husner 36:56

Yeah, no, no. I mean, yeah, super important, super, super important. Um, and what would you say is the kind of the company size or makeup that makes the most sense to have this type of a policy? And I asked that kind of leading to something else. A lot of the legacy companies have been around for a long time. They just do self-insurance and they don't necessarily have these policies. But like if there's a a reason why the larger ones that are already self-insuring should use this, please tell us that too.

When Homeowners Insurance Gets Involved

SPEAKER_01 37:26

Oh, yeah, absolutely. So the we have some solutions for self-insuring as well. And we're we're actually coming up with some pretty creative new um ways to work with very enterprise and talking like the the thousand plus home property managers, those legacies as well. Um, but even 100 plus homes. Um what you you've you're making a lot of money off of this, right? I'm assuming so if you're self-insuring, my understanding is you're collecting a fee and you're putting it into a bank account, and that bank account is um gaining interest. And whenever there's damages, a petty, usually it's for petty damages. You go to that, you go to that fund and you take out from it. But something using something like Safely instead makes that a little bit more predictable. Um, it reduces the risk, but you can work with a company like Safely and keep doing your business model, okay, but have a high deductible. So that so what that means is you can keep you can keep with this with your pet like the petty claims, the petty damages, you can still keep with that. Have like a have have like a$2,500 deductible with a company like us and then let us take the brunt, right? Because usually, usually it just takes all it takes is one house down. Right. Yeah, that's the difference. Yeah. Um, and I know you've got your homeowners there, but why use your homeowners insurance if you can protect them with something?

Alex Husner 38:58

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 38:59

And it's the same with the liability piece too. It just takes, it just takes one. So um to to really pull out of that pool.

Alex Husner 39:07

So an example that you shared of like, okay, the house burns down versus the house is just destroyed, which is say that's like middle level versus a kitchen table was destroyed, right? That that could have been a you know, a thousand dollar table. But like all those situations, like if you are not using damage insurance and you have to go back to the homeowner to get the money for the table, they're gonna be very angry about that. If it's in the middle ground and you're only doing self-insured damage, that's way more than what you're expecting every reservation to be giving you into that pool. And granted, you get a lot of ones that don't have any damage, but what if that happens that the next step is that the house burns down? And you're right. I mean, like to make that be the homeowner's issue and have to come out of their homeowner's insurance. I mean, every time, doesn't matter whether you're driving, house, whatever, every time you hit your insurance, your insurance is going to be higher across the board. I mean, it's it's reflective everywhere. So that's I think that's like the full circle here of like it's not just for one type of company versus another, it's total protection.

Liability Claims Med Pay And Timelines

Annie Holcombe 40:11

Well, and the fact that you can that somebody could come back to you a year and a half later, yeah, you you might not have that money sitting in that account because that's past reservations and you might have already had to like and I I think of from like the legal, um, like the legal exposure, because with that insurance, you don't have a team of people who understands the legal system. You don't have a lawyer, you know. Like, I I don't know why anybody would want to gamble that. I mean, I know insurance is a dictating subject anyway, you know, anyway, especially in Florida. But I that it's just it seems like absolutely crazy that somebody wouldn't want to engage an organization like safely to just take that stressor because it's a stressor. I mean, it's something people worry about and just pray that it doesn't happen. But let's face it, anybody that's been in property management for more than a few months has had something happen. I mean, there's just there's no way around it.

SPEAKER_01 41:02

Yeah, that's exactly it. And then there's another layer, Annie, of um especially large. Let's talk about large operators. You were, Alex, you were talking about the legacy operators. Um, I'm assuming if if you have any number of um homeowners, but especially if you're a legacy operator, you're requiring your homeowners to add you as an additional insured to their policy. Simple. But the larger you get, the harder that is to keep up with. And not being an insurance expert, you don't always know what to look for, and nor do you have the time to keep up with all of your individual homeowners' policies. Absolutely not. Yeah.

Alex Husner 41:38

And that's awful if that now falls on the homeowner, but you're managing the rentals and now they have to deal with that process. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:47

And we can um we can get into, we'll we'll more than likely get into a deeper, a deeper liability discussion in another in another episode. But um, that is something, a huge risk that that uh that's really just out there. Um, and I don't like to fear monger, it's but it is a risk. Um there because there's so many different ways that it can be wrong and you're not actually covered by home winners' policy.

Alex Husner 42:14

I I will say about our industry, I think we do a really good job of trying to get people prepared for the worst, which is a good thing. You know, and it's an it's necessary though, to be honest, because it's like there are so many different things that can go wrong. There's a lot of things that can go right all the time, but like there's a lot more than probably can go wrong. And so that's why we're really excited about this series with you and Safely, because we're gonna talk about real life stories, what you can do better, you know, what you know, Safely or a company like Safely can do to help you with it too. I mean, like it the this is about helping everybody build better businesses and understanding at the end of the day how you find the right partner to help you with that and just you know keep happier homeowners and don't burn down houses and have huge parties.

SPEAKER_01 43:01

Yeah, that's what you got their back if it does happen.

Alex Husner 43:05

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 43:06

Exactly, exactly. Um, yeah, so I'm excited. This is gonna be fun. Yeah, we've got a lot more stories where these came from.

Self-Insurance Strategy And Closing CTA

Annie Holcombe 43:13

So well, we're hoping we can source some really good stories from some property managers to be able to share along with their their favorite drink and have them on the show. And really just, you know, I joked a couple of years ago, I did a session about insurance and I kept saying I was gonna make insurance sexy. It didn't work. It we made it humorous. I I wasn't able to do it, but I think we're gonna be able to do something with it. But I think it's an important topic, but it's one that can be fun, it can be lighthearted. It certainly has some seriousness to it. But I think that that's where we're super excited to be working with Safely on this to talk about a very important topic, something that everybody needs to be mindful of, but have a little fun with it.

Alex Husner 43:51

Yep, exactly. Oh, good call right there. Let's see. Four decisions, and then the last form. It without falling off the side of my chair before the end of the episode. But um, it was a very good drink, and I'm excited that at least it's Friday afternoon, so on to the weekend. But so anybody listening, please, if you have a story that you'd love to share, if you've attended any of the conferences and you've seen these sessions, those are the type of conversations that we want to have on the show, and we would love to have you on. So there's going to be a link in the episode notes where you can submit your story. And if you submit your story, you're also gonna have to bring a drink. So if it's a non-alcoholic drink, just make sure it's a really good one. We'll take those two. If anybody wants to reach out, Amanda, in the meantime and chat with you or just learn more about Safely, what's the best way for them to get in contact?

SPEAKER_01 44:44

Um, start with hello at safely.com. So h-e-l-l-o at safel.com. Awesome. Okay.

Alex Husner 44:55

And if you want to get in touch with Annie now, you can go to alexandy podcast.com. And until next time, cheers.