5 Biggest Hotel Insurance Buying Mistakes

Ok, so you’re trying to save money on your hotel insurance? No problem. You are probably dealing with a couple of different agents / agencies / companies, and it’s perfectly understandable that this can be a stressful process, but rest assured that it isn’t as hard as you might think. Let’s look into five of the most common pitfalls that people find themselves in when looking for hotel insurance:

1) No hired / non-owned auto coverage.  Because of the nature of the business, hotels frequently do not have a commercial auto policy in place, thus they feel no need for auto type coverages.  However, should you or one of your employees ever use your own vehicle to shop for supplies, pick up lunch, or any other business use you take your business with you.  Any accident you would be involved in is going to pull the business in and without hired / non-owned you have no coverage in place.

2) Not enough knowledge. You need to understand your hotel business and the specific insurance coverages you need.  This is where a trusted agent can help you ask and answer the right questions to ensure you have the proper coverages in place. Annual policy review with your agent is imperative to keep your reconstruction costs up to date and help with any new laws or coverages that are available.

3) Not enough coverage. Ok, does really need to be explained? What happens when you are carrying $500,000 in building coverage and the loss totals $750,000?  Most of us understand that we’ve just lost $250,000.  But what about a partial loss when we are carrying 100% coinsurance.  Do you know that 90% coinsurance is better and that 80% is even better than that?  Send us an email if you don’t understand why.

4) Not reading the fine print. No matter how tedious the task may seem, you really need to read your policy, at least the major points. It is for you own good and will probably tell you a lot you didn’t know about hotel insurance.  It also makes a great starting point for questions your agent can answer.

5) Not taking enough time. We’re all pushed for time but your hotel insurance decision is done hurriedly and without careful thought can easily be financially devastating at the time of loss.