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Christy
Wolf, CIC
An elderly guest falls while standing on your porch. Are you liable?
It is mid-afternoon and you need to enter a guestroom in order to clean. There
is no response to your aggressive knocking. You enter the room and find the
bed occupied. Invasion of privacy?
An employee cuts his hand on a bread knife. Workers Compensation?
It is raining and a guest falls on your walkway. Are you liable?
A guest's child is running in your backyard and falls. Are you liable?
An intoxicated guest falls down your stairs. Are you liable?
From an excerpt in PAII's (Professional Association of Innkeepers International) Insurance Report:
........According to an attorney who works with innkeepers "The question isn't whether you'll be sued, it's when." People with small businesses are among the most vulnerable. No longer a Jane or John Q. Citizen, innkeepers are viewed by juries as business owners with marketable assets who have taken a fiduciary responsibility with the general public and the fiduciary responsibility means providing a "safe" place for their guest. Usually, inns are not big enough to have the protection of a corporate legal department or rich enough to keep an outside attorney on retainer. If you need to hire an attorney to defend you in a lawsuit - even just to have a "nuisance" lawsuit dismissed - you can plan to spend at least $10,000. * An important benefit of an insurance policy is legal defense. If you are sued for a covered loss, the insurance company will provide you with a lawyer and defense costs; you have a "lawyer-in-your pocket" so to speak.
........You may feel that insurance is a very complicated and arduous subject, however, you must have an understanding of it in order to obtain adequate coverage. The best advice is to adjust a claim before it occurs. In other words, make sure you have the coverage now, do not wait until after a loss to find out something is not covered.
.........Hopefully, after reading this material, you will become a more educated insurance consumer, however, please keep in mind, this is a very elementary discussion. To fully understand the coverages available talk with your professional insurance agent and read your policy. One of the first keys in understanding insurance is to be able to understand insurance jargon.
