Travel Agency Insurance

Travel agencies are primarily engaged in acting as agents in selling travel, tour, and accommodation services to the general public and businesses. Travel agents are typically knowledgeable and skilled in the tourism industry. They help their clients find deals, perfect locales, reservations, car rentals, airline tickets, and full-scale travel packages for family vacations, once-in-a-lifetime trips, business travel, and conventions.
Travel agents have exposures to property losses in their office space, as well as the potential for lawsuits related to the services they provide or injuries that occur on their premises.
To protect your livelihood, you need a comprehensive business insurance plan that is tailored to your needs. Local independent insurance agents can help you get the coverage that best fits your needs and budget.
Why Do You Need Travel Agency Insurance?
Travel agencies have to consider the impact that the following types of risks can have on their business:
- Customer, vendor, or general public slips and falls in the office
- Property damage due to weather events, fire, smoke, theft, or vandalism
- Employee injuries
- Professional negligence
- Damage to a client’s property
General Liability Insurance for Travel Agencies
If you run your travel agency out of an office, you need commercial general liability (CGL) insurance to cover certain incidents that can lead to lawsuits. If, for example, a client in your office gets hurt when sitting on a faulty office chair, you’d be financially responsible for any resulting medical expenses, and you could be sued.
CGL policies cover third-party medical expenses and property damage that you’re responsible for. They also cover your legal defense if you’re sued, including your attorney fees and court costs, and any financial settlements or judgments that you’re required to pay to the injured party.
Property Insurance for Travel Agencies
Property insurance is also essential for a travel agency. Whether you own your building or lease your office space, you need some type of protection for your business property. Commercial property insurance covers damage to a building and its contents (computers, office equipment and furniture, supplies, fixtures, etc.) if it is damaged by a weather event, fire, theft, vandalism, and other causes of loss.
Most business property policies also offer coverage for business interruption, which helps you pay for ongoing expenses if you must temporarily close or relocate due to a covered property loss (e.g., a fire).
Certain small to medium-sized businesses are eligible for a business owners policy, or BOP. A BOP is a packaged policy that combines general liability, property, and business interruption coverage at an affordable price. Your independent insurance agent can help you determine if you can save money on your travel agency insurance by purchasing a business owners policy.
Other Coverage Options for Travel Agencies
You might also want to consider endorsements to your other basic policies or BOP, or stand-alone policies that provide the following types of coverage:
- Computers and media coverage: This is also called electronic data processing (EDP) insurance. It pays for lost data and related lost income if your computers or network are damaged by theft, vandalism, viruses, or malware. It may pay for loss of data or software and physical damage to computers or hardware.
- Cyber liability insurance: This provides coverage in the event of a data breach involving your business. It helps pay for the costs of notifying affected clients, as well as public relations and forensic costs.
- Commercial auto insurance: This covers any vehicles your company owns. It provides liability coverage if you or an employee injure someone or cause property damage while driving a company vehicle. If your employees drive personal vehicles for business purposes, you must have non-owned or hired auto liability coverage to protect your company from accident-related costs.
- Commercial umbrella insurance: This provides excess liability protection to any of several other policies you might have, including commercial general liability, employer’s liability, and hired and non-owned auto liability. By purchasing one commercial umbrella policy, you essentially get higher limits on all of those policies, rather than having to raise the limits on each policy individually. Commercial umbrella insurance kicks in when the limits of your other applicable insurance policies have been exhausted. It protects you in the event that a claim exceeds the amount of coverage available from any other applicable policy.
- Workers’ compensation insurance is typically required for any business that has employees, and pays for lost income and medical expenses for employees who are injured on the job.
Travel Agency Professional Liability Insurance
It’s a simple fact that mistakes happen, no matter how careful or professional you are. If you make an error while planning a client’s vacation or a business trip, it may cause emotional and financial harm to the client, and you could be sued as a result.
Professional liability insurance: Also known as errors and omissions insurance, this is essential coverage for travel agents. Travel agencies need professional liability insurance, or errors and omission insurance, to respond to claims of errors, omissions, or oversights in the professional services they provide. This coverage protects you, your employees, and your firm if you are sued for professional negligence.
In the case of a travel agency, professional liability insurance covers claims related to things like:
- Work mistakes
- Undelivered services
- Professional negligence
Even if a claim against you is unfounded, you will still have to defend yourself if you are sued, and without insurance coverage, your personal assets could be at risk.
A professional liability policy will pay for your legal defense, including attorney fees, court costs, and any settlements or judgments that you must pay.
How Much Does Travel Agency Insurance Cost?
The cost of travel agency insurance depends on several factors, including the size of your business and the types of policies you need to cover all of your unique risks.
With so many variables (e.g., number of employees, the location and size of your building or office space, the value of commercial property, etc.), business insurance costs will vary among travel agencies.
Find and Compare Quotes
An independent agent can work with you one-on-one to determine the types and amounts of coverage you need to protect your travel agency from a variety of costly problems. Your independent agent can get quotes from multiple insurance companies so you can evaluate the cost and coverage options and make the best choice.
Benefits of an Independent Agent
Our agents simplify the search process for finding the right travel agency insurance. They’ll walk you through the handpicked policy options and explain the details and options.
Most importantly, they’ll be there for you when claim time comes. They know the ins and outs of the process and will make sure your claim is handled appropriately.
The Lowdown on Online Quotes
Online quotes can be tempting. They are fast and easy to get — but are they accurate? And are you getting quotes for the right coverage? For business owners, choosing speed over accuracy can cost you.
Online quotes can’t and don’t see the whole picture. They can omit important coverage that will leave you devastated if something unexpected happens. And they can leave out cost-saving opportunities that an agent can help you take advantage of.
Instead of getting an online quote, find an independent agent now, and get a one-on-one consultation and affordable options for the best coverage for your unique needs.
TrustedChoice.com Article | Reviewed by Paul Martin
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