How to find the best hotel insurance agent in your state
A strong hotel agent holds a license in your state, writes hotels as regular work, can reach insurers that take your kind of property, and knows how your state handles pools, guests' belongings and workers' comp. Check the license on your state's lookup and the rest with the questions below.
- Verify the license in the state where the hotel operates before you share any business details.
- A specialist can name the insurers that take your property and tell you early what they will ask about the pool.
- Each state adds its own hotel questions, from guest-property law to how workers' comp is bought, so the agent has to know yours.
How do I tell a hotel specialist from a generalist?
A specialist can tell you, before quoting, which insurers take hotels like yours and what each will ask about the pool, the age of the building and the restaurant or bar. A generalist sends the same form everywhere and finds out afterward.
Start with the license, which is a state's permission to sell insurance, called a producer license. A lookup tool can verify the license type and which lines of insurance the holder may sell. (Source: Maryland Insurance Administration) A license does not make someone a specialist, so ask how many hotels they insure now and which insurers they would try first for yours. Our guides to why hotels are hard to insure and the quote checklist show what a good answer sounds like; see also questions to ask a broker and spotting upselling.
A specialist also says early what they do not write. Anvo Insurance, an independent agency (legal name Baos Insurance LLC), writes established hotels, independent or franchised, and hotels are a better fit than motels. It does not write hotels or motels with kitchenettes, a single property run by a first-time owner, or a hotel that has not opened. It places accounts with standard admitted carriers and, where needed, hospitality programs and the surplus-lines market through wholesale access.
Two terms recur below. Workers' comp pays medical bills and lost wages when an employee is hurt at work; see our workers' comp page. Coverage for a guest's lost or stolen belongings is called innkeeper's liabilityInnkeeper's Liability Coverage for a hotel or lodging business if a guest's belongings are lost, stolen, or damaged while in your care. Insurers call it innkeeper's liability. more →.
How do I find the best hotel insurance agent in Kansas?
Look for a Kansas license, hotels in the agent's regular work, and a working knowledge of how Kansas treats guests' belongings and how your comp is rated.
Check the license on the state's lookup first. (Source: Kansas Insurance Department) Kansas limits an innkeeper's liability for baggage and effects to $250 unless the items were handed over for safekeeping with a receipt. (Source: Kansas Statutes 36-402)
Ask:
- Which hotels do you insure now, and which insurers would you try first for mine?
- How do you keep my guest-belongings coverage in line with Kansas law?
- What will the insurer ask about my pool?
How Anvo measures against this: Anvo Insurance, an independent agency (legal name Baos Insurance LLC), is licensed in Kansas. Search that name on the state lookup to confirm.
How do I find the best hotel insurance agent in Missouri?
Look for a Missouri license, hotels in the agent's regular work, and an understanding of the state's guest-property posting rule and its contractor rule for workers' comp.
Missouri's insurance department links its license lookup from its producer page. (Source: Missouri Department of Insurance) Missouri's guest-property limit is $200 in total for money, jewelry, apparel and baggage unless the hotel agrees in writing to more, and it applies only if the notice is posted. (Source: Missouri Revised Statutes 419.010)
Ask:
- Do you check that my required notice is posted before you rely on that limit?
- How does my laundry or cleaning contractor affect my workers' comp?
- What would make an insurer decline my hotel?
How Anvo measures against this: Anvo Insurance, an independent agency (legal name Baos Insurance LLC), is licensed in Missouri. Search that name on the state lookup to confirm.
How do I find the best hotel insurance agent in New York?
Look for a New York license, hotel experience, and familiarity with the state's own guest-property rules and its own workers' comp rating board.
The state's financial services department runs a licensee search. (Source: New York Department of Financial Services) New York sets a $1,500 limit for property a guest deposits for safekeeping and a $500 limit for belongings kept in the room, with notice requirements. (Source: N.Y. General Business Law 200) (Source: N.Y. General Business Law 201)
Ask:
- Can you explain how my hotel and restaurant payroll are classified?
- How do you handle my payroll audit?
- Which insurers would quote my building, and why those?
How Anvo measures against this: Anvo Insurance, an independent agency (legal name Baos Insurance LLC), is licensed in New York. Search that name on the state search to confirm.
How do I find the best hotel insurance agent in Pennsylvania?
Look for a Pennsylvania license, a record of placing hotels, and comfort with the state's own workers' comp bureau.
The state insurance department offers a search to verify an agent's license status. (Source: Pennsylvania Insurance Department) Pennsylvania has its own rating bureau, which supplies the classifications and experience modifications for the state's workers' comp system. (Source: Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau)
Ask:
- How do my classifications affect my price?
- Which insurers have written hotels like mine?
- What records of pool inspections will you ask for?
How Anvo measures against this: Anvo Insurance, an independent agency (legal name Baos Insurance LLC), is licensed in Pennsylvania. Search that name on the state's agent search to confirm.
How do I find the best hotel insurance agent in Massachusetts?
Look for a Massachusetts license, hotels in the agent's book, and knowledge of the state's own workers' comp bureau.
The Division of Insurance runs an online verification service for agents and agencies. (Source: Massachusetts Division of Insurance) The state's rating bureau publishes its own manual and circulars. (Source: Workers' Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau of Massachusetts)
Ask:
- How is payroll split between my hotel and any restaurant I run?
- Which insurers will quote me directly, and which only through a program?
- How do you help when a claim comes in?
How Anvo measures against this: Anvo Insurance, an independent agency (legal name Baos Insurance LLC), is licensed in Massachusetts. Search that name on the state's verification service to confirm.
How do I find the best hotel insurance agent in Louisiana?
Look for a Louisiana license, hotels in the agent's regular work, and an agent who can explain how your policy treats alcohol if the hotel pours.
The state's department of insurance has a search for a producer's license status and current insurer appointments. (Source: Louisiana Department of Insurance) An agency does not have to be based in Louisiana: it can hold a non-resident license there. Whoever you speak to, confirm that license on the lookup first.
Ask:
- Do you place liquor coverage for hotels with a bar?
- Who services my account once it is placed?
- How do you handle my payroll audit?
How do I find the best hotel insurance agent in Maryland?
Look for a Maryland license, hotels in the agent's regular work, and an agent who asks about your pool early.
The Maryland Insurance Administration points consumers to a licensee lookup that shows license status and expiration date. (Source: Maryland Insurance Administration) An agency can hold a non-resident Maryland license, so confirm whoever you speak to on the lookup, including the expiration date. State pool rules set a lifeguard requirement for some pools by size and counties can add their own, so your insurer can ask what applies to you. (Source: Code of Maryland Regulations 10.17.01.40)
Ask:
- Which insurers would quote my hotel, and why those?
- What does my county require for my pool, and how will that show up on the application?
- How do you help when a claim comes in?
How do I find the best hotel insurance agent in Washington?
Look for a Washington license, hotels in the agent's regular work, and an understanding that Washington workers' comp is bought from the state.
The Office of the Insurance Commissioner has a public lookup to verify whether an agent is licensed, with disciplinary history. (Source: Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner) Washington does not allow private workers' comp: you buy from the state's Labor & Industries department or qualify as a certified self-insurer. (Source: Washington Department of Labor & Industries) An agency can hold a non-resident Washington license; confirm it on the lookup.
Ask:
- Which of my other coverages do you place?
- How do you help with my state workers' comp account and my hours reporting?
- Which insurers would you try first for my building?
Frequently asked questions about choosing a hotel insurance agent
No, but the agent must hold a license for the state where your hotel operates, resident or non-resident. Check it on that state's lookup.
Search the agency's legal name as well as its trade name. If nothing appears, ask for the license number and call the state insurance department before you pay or share details.
An independent agent can place with more than one insurer. Ask which ones they actually use for hotels.
Ask these questions of any agent, including us
Bring these questions to every agent you talk to and compare the answers. For ours, send your hotel's details with a quote request.