Broad Premises Exposure in a Hardening Market.
Protecting operators, guests, and lodging properties
Hotels and motels put a large, amenity-rich premises in front of the public around the clock, and that breadth of exposure — combined with a casualty market hardened by large security-liability verdicts — defines the risk. Guest injuries, third-party assaults tied to inadequate security, liquor service, data breaches, and franchise-mandated limits all have to be addressed at once. Whether you run a full-service hotel or a limited-service motel, coverage has to match the operation, not a generic template. This is a specialized corner of hospitality insurance built for how lodging properties actually get sued.
Properly structured coverage protects the property, its guests, and the revenue the rooms generate.
The Hotel & Motel's Signature Exposures
The highest-frequency claim is guest premises injury — slips and falls in lobbies, bathrooms, parking lots, and on pool decks, with pool drowning the signature severity claim. But the exposure driving the market is inadequate-security and assault liability: plaintiffs argue a property failed to provide reasonable security and enabled a third-party assault, and nuclear verdicts in this area have pushed carriers to sublimit or exclude assault and battery. A fast-growing related exposure is human-trafficking liability, where survivors sue properties for allegedly benefiting from or ignoring trafficking. Liquor service, guest-property claims, data and payment-card breaches, and business interruption round out a broad risk — and franchise brands impose their own minimum limits, additional-insured status, and carrier ratings on top.
Key Risks in Hotel & Motel Operations
Hotels and motels face exposure related to:
Guest slips and falls in lobbies, bathrooms, parking areas, and pool decks
Pool drownings, the signature severity claim
Third-party assault and inadequate-security liability
Human-trafficking beneficiary claims
Liquor liability from bar, minibar, and banquet service
Bedbug claims and guest-property loss
Data and payment-card breaches, a top cyber-attack target
Storm or fire closure interrupting room revenue
The premises-injury and inadequate-security exposures are what most define — and most threaten — the property.
Core Coverages for Hotels & Motels
A properly built hotel program typically includes:
Commercial General Liability — Covers guest bodily injury and property damage across the premises, from slips to pool incidents.
Assault & Battery Liability — Provides meaningful limits for a violent act on premises — coverage carriers routinely sublimit or exclude and that must be confirmed on every policy.
Commercial Property — Covers the building and contents at replacement cost, as franchise brands require.
Business Income / Interruption — Replaces room and food-and-beverage revenue during a covered shutdown, at the twelve-to-eighteen-month terms brands mandate.
Guest Property / Innkeepers Liability — Responds to loss of guests' belongings, capped by state innkeeper statutes when the required notices are posted.
Liquor Liability — Responds to injury caused by an intoxicated guest wherever alcohol is served.
Cyber & PCI Liability — Addresses breach response, business interruption, and payment-card assessments from a reservation- or point-of-sale-system compromise.
Workers' Compensation — Provides legally required coverage for injury-prone housekeeping and maintenance staff.
Commercial & Hired / Non-Owned Auto — Covers shuttles and staff driving on hotel business.
Equipment Breakdown — Covers boilers, HVAC and chillers, elevators, and kitchen refrigeration.
Umbrella / Excess Liability — Adds the higher limits franchisors, lenders, and nuclear-verdict severity demand.
Employment Practices Liability — Protects against claims from a large, high-turnover workforce.
What's Commonly Overlooked
Hotel and motel programs are most often weakened by:
Assault and battery sublimited or excluded and never addressed, sometimes with defense inside the limit
Cyber and PCI coverage inadequate for a reservation-system breach
No human-trafficking coverage as that exposure grows
Umbrella limits below franchise and lender requirements
Guest-property caps voided because the required innkeeper notices weren't posted
The gaps that hurt most are the assault and battery carve-out and inadequate cyber and umbrella limits.
Real-World Claim Examples
A child or guest drowns in the pool
A guest is assaulted in the parking lot and alleges inadequate security
A trafficking survivor sues the property under a beneficiary theory
A reservation or point-of-sale system is breached, exposing guest payment data
A bedbug infestation draws a guest injury and reputational claim
Any one of these can reach into seven figures in the current environment.
Regulatory & Franchise Context
Hotels and motels operate under transient-occupancy and lodging taxes, health and food-service permits for on-site dining, state liquor licensing with dram-shop exposure where alcohol is served, and fire, life-safety, and occupancy codes, along with ADA accessibility requirements that draw frequent litigation. Franchise brands layer on insurance mandates — commonly set general-liability and umbrella limits, replacement-cost property with extended business income, cyber, and employment-practices coverage, plus additional-insured status and waivers of subrogation — and many states now require staff human-trafficking training.
Why Proper Placement Matters
Underwriters weigh the number of rooms and occupancy, revenue, construction and age, interior versus exterior corridors — motels are penalized for exterior access — pool features, food-and-beverage and liquor sales, security measures, the crime profile of the location, franchise status, and loss history, especially assault and water claims. The casualty market has hardened and much of the class now sits in the excess-and-surplus market with restricted terms, so assault and battery must be actively negotiated. Placing the property with the right markets, and reading the assault, cyber, and franchise terms closely, is what makes the coverage hold.
Our Approach
At Cory Washington & Co., we insure hotels and motels for the breadth of exposure they carry. We build the general liability, property, and business-income core, negotiate real assault-and-battery limits, size cyber and PCI to a reservation-system breach, and coordinate liquor, guest-property, umbrella, and the coverages your franchise agreement requires. We also insure related hospitality businesses, including bed and breakfasts, bars and taverns, event venues, and hostels, and the broader hospitality category.
A property this exposed, in a market this hard, deserves a broker who places lodging risk every day.
All insurance descriptions on this website are provided by Cory Washington & Co. LLC strictly for general informational purposes. They are not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, legal, financial, or insurance advice. The information presented is general in nature and does not guarantee the availability, terms, conditions, or scope of any insurance coverage. Actual coverage is determined solely by the specific policy language issued by the insurer and remains subject to underwriting approval. Nothing on this website creates or implies an agent-client relationship, binds coverage, or alters any existing policy. Cory Washington & Co. LLC expressly disclaims any liability for actions taken, or not taken, based on the content provided here. For advice regarding your particular situation, please consult directly with a licensed insurance professional at Cory Washington & Co. LLC or another qualified insurance professional, and always review your policy documents in full.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get hotel & motel insurance through Cory Washington & Co.?
Request a quote or contact our team. We start with a short conversation about your operations, analyze your exposures, then negotiate hotel & motel insurance across multiple carriers that compete for your account and present options with the trade-offs explained. Cory Washington & Co. LLC is licensed in all 50 states.
How are hotel & motel insurance premiums priced?
Premiums vary from business to business. The main drivers of hotel & motel insurance pricing are the nature of your operations, your revenue and payroll, your loss history, and the limits you carry. Rather than quote a flat figure, we negotiate across several markets and walk you through the options, so you only pay for the protection you actually need.
Is hotel & motel insurance mandatory?
Requirements vary. Hotel & motel insurance may be mandated by statute, or required under your contracts, leases, or loan agreements — and in many cases it is simply prudent given the risks involved. We look at your specific obligations and exposures, then recommend the coverage and limits that fit.
What if another agency has already declined or non-renewed my coverage?
Difficult, specialty, and previously-declined placements are a core part of our work. We access excess & surplus (E&S) and specialty markets that many generalist agencies cannot, and we explain the trade-offs clearly so you can decide with confidence.
Available in all 50 states. See how requirements differ in California, Texas, Florida, New York, or choose your state.