They have $112m. They can self-insure for as long as it takes to set it up.
I think they did a great job on this response, except that it took too long. Individual incidents should have been handled as exceptions and handled well, and then this policy developed and announced once they noticed a trend of such exceptions in their CRM (or in weekly support team meetings with the founders)
you can't just snap your fingers and self insure. there are a tangle of regulations to think through, claims processes to setup in a variety of languages, adjusters and investigators to train, policies to write, etc.
the fact that this is the first major incident to make headlines after 2 million nights being booked means that they have probably been doing a great job handling exceptions. mistakes happen. especially in fast growing companies.
I think they did a great job on this response, except that it took too long. Individual incidents should have been handled as exceptions and handled well, and then this policy developed and announced once they noticed a trend of such exceptions in their CRM (or in weekly support team meetings with the founders)