Hotels/Motels
In this article we will talk about the liability and property coverages that would not only satisfy your peace of mind checklist but also secure your assets for the hospitality industry. Hospitality industry’s biggest markets are Hotels and Motels (at least regarding private ownership). Both are immensely different than other commercial industries. Last time we discussed the commercial c-store liability and property coverages. We will do the same for this hotel and motel industry.
Let us peak into the differences between Hotel and Motel. Hotels provides lodging to the general public. Rooms are rented out to the customers either on a short- or long-term basis. Hotels may or may not have the following services offered to the customers:
- Beauty or Barber Shops
- Child or Pet Care
- Full-Service Restaurants
- Gift Shops
- Laundry
- Dry-Cleaning
- Limousine Services
- Spas
- Recreational Attractions
- Meeting Areas for Conferences or Seminars
- Wedding Halls
Motels solely provide room rental services and tend to be no more than four stories high with door openings to the outside rather than the internal structure of the buildings.
Like any other industry, hospitality industry isn’t safe from litigation or risks that comes with the owning or maintain high value assets. There are several examples of the real-life claims that one could find online. We will look at couple of such claims in this article. Negligence is the bases of most filed claims. If a customer can prove your premises negligence, he/she may sue you for any number of instances. Slip and fall being very common form of a claim. Real life example, a hotel manager went into labor while on duty in New York City in 2011, giving birth to her child in one of the hotel’s guest rooms, she filed a $10 million lawsuit against the hotel. Imagine this being your location and you don’t have insurance – it would get very nasty very fast. So, basically her claim as a manager was that her supervisor rushed her out of the premises following her labor, and did not grant her maternity leave, and terminating her employment a short time afterwards (6 months give or take). Scenarios such as these are not uncommon.You might ask, “Okay, so I would like to secure myself from such lawsuits but how much would it cost?” Please check the FAQ at the end of this article.
Here are some things that might count towards negligence: improper pest control causing bed bugs, unable to maintain and update security to prevent thefts in rooms or common areas, untrained pool staff or no pool staff without any proper signage of “no diving” and “no running” (lifeguards may be required at some locations), improper hire (no background check or proper vetting of employees hired), no upgrades or non-maintenance of locks around the property, non-complaint safety measures for stairs or elevators, and many more. You might be shocked to learn this but all the above mentioned are considered reasonable care or measures that law requires hotels and motels to upheld.
The following is a list of Liabilities coverage offered under hotel and motel insurance policy:
The following is a list of Property coverages offered under hotel and motel insurance policy:
The structural components and the functional bases of each building for your business will have its appropriate coverage. Your property coverage is determined by various factors including but not limited to the materials used in building and roofing. Whether your building is fire resistive, inclusion or exclusion of fire safeguards – sprinklers, self-extinguishers, central or local fire, burglar alarms. Any property damage due to not at fault incidents are covered excluding natural disasters. Natural disasters must be separately added for extra coverage which could include Flood, Earthquakes, or Volcanoes.The following are also covered under this policy: any damage sustained by your business including loss of property or income and extra expense for either 12, 18 or 24 months, guest’s property on premises, accounts receivable, credit card slips, accidental discharge of fire suppression systems or water systems, outdoor signs, canopies, fences, elevators, escalators, landscaping, increased cost of construction due to ordinance of law, or similar aspects.
- Manager’s Cottage: will carry similar coverage but will most likely won’t heavy coverage due to the square footage of the space provided. This will also include the liability incase the manager sues the business for any negligence.