What is guest house insurance?

What is guest house insurance?

Guest house insurance provides your defence against those very risks and perils.

It is able to protect your investment in the structure and fabric of the building itself, its contents, the physical facilities you offer your guests and the – sometimes hidden – liabilities you may face if someone is injured or has their own property damaged.

What does it typically cover?

What does it typically cover?

How does it do this? Although the precise nature of any guest house insurance of course depends on the type of property you own and the business you are running, a typical package may include the following key elements:

The building

• as with other forms of property insurance, guest house insurance may have at its core the protection of the building itself against some potentially very damaging and costly risks, such as fire, flooding, impacts (from falling objects or vehicles), theft and vandalism;

The contents

• the furnishings and fittings, the bed linens and towels, the crockery you use in the dining room and the kitchen appliances are all items that were expensive to buy and are going to be expensive to replace if stolen, lost or damaged;
• contents insurance aims to cover all such contents up to their full replacement value – either on a “new for old” basis or after the deduction of an allowance for wear and tear;

Public liability insurance

• you owe a duty of care to your guests, other visitors, your neighbours and even members of the public, to ensure that no one is injured or has their own property damaged in any way connected with your guest house business;
• if any such incident occurs, you may be held liable and sued for a considerable amount in damages – so much, if a physical injury occurs, that public liability insurance typically offers a minimum indemnity of £1 million, but it might be even more;

Employers’ liability insurance

• unless it is only you and your immediate family who are running the guest house, but you employ other staff, the law requires that you have a minimum of £5 million employers’ liability insurance;

this is to ensure that you are able to meet claims for compensation from any employee who is injured or suffers a longer-term medical condition through working for you.

Who is guest house insurance suitable for?

Who is guest house insurance suitable for?

Guest houses come in all shapes and sizes, as businesses of varying degrees of success.

Wherever you guest house comes on that spectrum, the protection offered by this form of insurance may make the difference in saving your business against the many risks and perils that may lie in store.

Summary

Summary

When your guest house is at its busiest, you might want to take reassurance from the fact that any risk of accident, loss or damage is safely covered by adequate guest house insurance.