Critical elements of a hotel insurance policy: A helpful checklist

Hotels are busy places. You’ve got guests continually coming and going, vendors making deliveries, and employees hustling to handle the countless tasks required to meet visitors’ needs and keep the business running smoothly and operating profitably. And all of this activity is happening 24/7/365.

While things may be a little quieter overnight, there is no actual downtime at a hotel. That means there is no point when the business risk is zero. Accidents, injuries, property damage, and other incidents can occur at any time. Consequently, having a comprehensive hotel insurance policy is crucial.

Cutting corners on insurance coverage can be tempting if your hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, or inn has little or no claims history. You might think, “We run our business carefully, so we probably don’t need [insert coverage type] insurance.” But that approach is a recipe for disaster.

A much better business strategy is to have financial protection for the risks your hotel may face. With adequate coverage, you can focus on running your business without worrying that an incident will create an enormous financial burden.

As you consider purchasing a hotel insurance policy for the first time or switching to THREE review the checklist below to ensure you have all the coverage you need.

Insurance for a hotel: vital coverages

What coverages are essential when considering insurance for a hotel? That’s an important question. Business insurance for hotels should protect your establishment from the exposures below. Be sure you can check all the boxes on this hotel insurance checklist:

Despite your best efforts to keep your property safe, guests will unfortunately get injured. That’s an unavoidable fact of operating a hotel. A child moving too quickly on the pool deck slips, falls, and breaks their wrist. A guest navigating a flight of steps misses one and badly sprains their ankle. There are countless ways for someone to suffer an injury at a hotel.

When a guest or visitor is hurt, the cost of their medical care—which your business may be liable for—can be high. Without hotel insurance for guests’ injuries, you can be left with a significant out-of-pocket expense from just one incident. Now, multiply that by your estimated number of guest injuries annually, and you see just how important the business liability component of hotel insurance is.

With all the “moving parts” (figurative and literal) in a hotel operation, it is no surprise that property damage is a regular occurrence. A guest lugging a large suitcase into their room knocks a hole in the drywall. Strong wind gusts during a storm bring down a light pole, shattering a large window in your lobby. A fire in your kitchen damages walls and equipment. These are just a few examples of property damage.

The good news is that business insurance for hotels can cover these types of incidents, helping you get past them without incurring large expenses for repairing structures, replacing assets, etc.

Hotel employees spend much of each day on the move. With that activity comes the risk of injuries. Whether a worker strains their back lifting a heavy package, falls from a ladder while doing repair work, or slices their hand while chopping vegetables in the kitchen, they can end up with significant medical expenses and may lose income while recovering.

The Workers’ Compensation coverage in a hotel insurance policy can pay those expenses. States almost always require Workers’ Compensation Insurance for businesses with employees, so going without it typically isn’t an option. Failing to carry this insurance when required to have it can lead to significant fines and other legal trouble.

If you think cybercriminals won’t target your small hotel because they prefer larger organizations, you should probably reconsider that belief. Hackers don’t discriminate. In fact, they may view a smaller hotel as a “soft” target with less robust digital defenses. If they manage to steal sensitive information like customer credit card numbers, you may incur a considerable expense for responding to the incident.

A comprehensive policy from THREE includes cyber insurance. So, while you should do all you can to prevent data breaches, you can rest assured that you’ll have support if an incident occurs.

Your employee is traveling to the store for supplies in a company-owned or leased vehicle, runs a stop sign, and causes an accident that damages your vehicle and the other driver’s car. Or maybe your worker doesn’t even leave the hotel grounds but causes damage when they back your van into the wall of your parking structure.

Commercial Auto Insurance is essential (and may be required by your state) if your hotel has vehicles that employees use for work purposes.

The work at hotels involves countless daily interactions between team members. You do your best to hire good people, but a front desk clerk reports repeated unwanted sexual advances by a coworker. This is just one example of scenarios that could prompt employee lawsuits over working conditions.

Claims made against your business by employees are not typically covered under General Liability. You need Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI) to defend your business. However, a THREE policy has EPLI already included with no need to purchase additional coverage.

Does your current hotel insurance policy check the boxes above?

If you carry hotel liability insurance or property damage coverage from another provider, it may not have all of the components above, leaving your hotel with dangerous exposure to liability or losses.

Fortunately, it’s simple to switch to a comprehensive policy from THREE. You can get a quote online or by calling 1-800-507-4495. Then, when you buy a policy, it’s active as soon as the next day, providing powerful peace of mind to you and everyone who works for or visits your hotel.

What having adequate hotel insurance means to you

If you own or operate a small hotel, insurance is essential. Of course, you face the twin challenges of protecting your business and adhering to your budget. It’s not easy to achieve these goals simultaneously. THREE’s all-in-one hotel insurance protects your employees, property, and operations with one policy. It provides rock-solid financial protection and saves time and effort by combining multiple coverages in one easy-to-manage policy.

If you’re a hotel executive, the affordability and simplicity of THREE’s business insurance for hotels gives you a strategic advantage. When it comes to big-picture responsibilities like managing risk at scale, working within franchise agreements, and ensuring compliance with industry standards, an insurance policy’s cost-effectiveness and ease of deployment are key.

For other hospitality industry stakeholders—consultants and risk management experts, for example—the straightforward, jargon-free nature of the insurance for hotels from THREE makes your job easier and your clients happier.

Business insurance for hotels: don’t wait to get covered

Hospitality is an exciting industry. It’s also potentially lucrative—provided unexpected expenses don’t eat into your profits.

Whether you need insurance for a large or small hotel, motel, bed and breakfast, or inn, having a policy from THREE positions you to manage the risks you face. Get a quote today and enjoy exceptional coverage tomorrow.

If you’re already a customer and need a Certificate of Insurance, request a certificate