Did you know that there are over 30,000 travel agents employed in the United States. People will always travel to unwind. Some will go to popular beaches to enjoy renting jet skis. Others who are not afraid of the winter’s cold might visit Europe’s ski resorts to challenge the slopes. Of course, daredevils might book travel packages in order to reach popular skydiving locations.
There’s a lot of money to be made when running a travel agency. Nonetheless, the risks you face might disrupt revenue generation. A client might file a claim against your business for violation of good faith because his tour guide didn’t show up. It’s also possible for the tour operator you partnered with to file a claim for breach of contract or advertising injury.
The best way to protect your business assets is to construct excellent insurance package. This article will help you learn about the components of a good travel agency insurance policy.
CoverWallet | NEXT (Best) | Thimble | Hiscox | The Hartford | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Per occurrence limit | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 |
Aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 |
Products and completed operations aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
Advertising injury coverage aggregate limit | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
Tenant’s legal liability coverage limit | $300,000/$1,000,000 | $300,000 | $100,000 | $100,000 | $1,000,000 |
Waiver of subrogation included? | Yes | No | Included | Can be included | No |
Hired/non-owned auto liability coverage included? | Yes | No | No | Can be included | Can be included |
Equipment breakdown floater included? | No | Yes | Yes | Can be included | Can be included |
Can you get a certificate of insurance online? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Name additional insureds? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Deductible | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
General liability insurance for travel companies covers claims of bodily injury, personal injury, and property damage caused by your business operations. Some examples of when to use this travel agent liability insurance policy are listed below:
A customer slips and falls while in your travel agency office
Your business is sued because you are accused of stealing a marketing idea
An employee of yours fails to book a flight for a customer, causing them to miss a trip
Travel agencies might want to add coverage for liability related to employment-related practices. This protects your company against claims of wrongful termination and invasion of privacy by an employee.
Another add-on to consider is product liability insurance. This protects your company when a product you sell causes bodily injury or property damage to a customer or member of the public.
Typically the coverage limits for general liability insurance are $1 million per occurrence and $2 million.
Yes, they still need general liability Insurance for independent travel agents. Independent travel agents can work from anywhere and act as any other travel agency does. This means they can be exposed to the same types of liability that you would want general liability for.
CoverWallet | NEXT | Thimble (Best) | Hiscox | The Hartford | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Per occurrence limit | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 |
Aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 | $1,000,000 | $2,000,000 |
Name additional insureds? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Waiver of subrogation included? | Yes | No | Yes | Can be included | No |
HIPAA coverage included? | No | No | No | No | No |
Sexual misconduct coverage included? | No | No | No | No | Can be included |
License defense coverage included? | No | No | No | No | Can be included |
Deductible | $500 | $500 | $500 | $50/$10,000 | $500 |
Travel agent professional liability insurance protects your travel agency business against mistakes that you or your travel agents may make on the job. Some examples of when to use this policy include:
Your agent fails to inform a customer about a travel condition, causing them to miss their trip
An agent lost some important documents a customer needs to successfully book a tour
e&o insurance for travel agents is another name for professional liability insurance. This means that the best e&o insurance for travel agents offers identical coverage to your standard professional liability policy. It will cover your business against claims of negligence and mistakes to its customers. These claims can result in lawsuits from any bad advice your travel agents might give.
Professional indemnity insurance for travel agents is yet another name for professional liability insurance. Professional indemnity insurance for travel agents can also be called travel agent e&o insurance. All of these policies cover perils and incidents that are caused by a mistake as well as the business from claims of negligence, inaccurate advice, breach of contract, and other covered perils.
Travel agent errors and omissions insurance typically has a $1 million per occurrence limit. This means that the insurance company will pay up to $1 million to cover any single claim. It also has a $1 million aggregate limit, meaning that during the policy's lifetime, the insurer will only contribute up to $1 million to cover all claims.
Travel agency business insurance programs will sometimes utilize public liability insurance policies that protect your business against claims by the general public. Examples of when these policies will be helpful include:
A person from the general public trips and hurts their leg in your travel agency office
Someone says that your travel agency has invaded their privacy through its operations
Your travelers insurance company will offer a public liability coverage having a $1 million-$2 million per occurrence and aggregate limit.
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CoverWallet | NEXT (Best) | Thimble | Hiscox | The Hartford | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Building coverage limit (minimum) | $50,000 | $260,000 | $25,000/$500,000 | $25,000 | $60,000 |
Contents coverage limit (minimum) | $50,000 | $22,000 | $25,000/$500,000 | $25,000 | $60,000 |
Outdoor signs | Excluded | $2,500 | Excluded | Excluded | Excluded |
Accounts receivable | Excluded | Excluded | $5,000/10,000 | Included | Excluded |
Money and securities | Excluded | $2,500 | $1,000 | Included | Excluded |
Lock and keys | Excluded | $2,500 | Excluded | Excluded | Excluded |
Business interruption floater | Excluded | Included | Included | Included | Excluded |
Equipment breakdown floater | Excluded | Included | Excluded | Excluded | Excluded |
Inland marine insurance floater | Excluded | Excluded | $10,000 | Excluded | Excluded |
Employee dishonesty floater | Excluded | $5,000 | $2,500 | Included | Excluded |
Travel agent insurance coverage with a commercial property policy allows your business building and business personal property to be protected from damage. This policy will help you with the costs to pay for or repair damaged property due to physical events. Times to use this policy include:
Your travel agency office gets burned, and you lose electronics and company documents
Someone breaks into your travel agency commercial business and steals company assets
Commercial property insurance has an average coverage limit of $60,000 for small businesses. This coverage limit is determined by the value of your building and business personal property that needs protection.
Travel agencies may want to get earthquake insurance, depending on where they are located. Earthquakes and landslides can be devastating sources of financial damage that is typically excluded from the average policy.
Another add-on to consider is business interruption insurance. While commercial property protects against physical damage, business interruption protects from the consequences of that physical damage, like moving costs, lost income, and more.
No, commercial property insurance does not cover everything. First, you will only be covered up to your coverage limit for any damages. Second, any property damage due to negligence or intentional harm on your part will not be eligible for this policy.
CoverWallet | Thimble (Best) | NEXT | Hiscox | The Hartford | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
General liability aggregate limit | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $2,000,000 | $300,000 | $1,000,000/$2,000,000 |
Commercial property coverage limit | $50,000 | $500,000 | $260,000 | $25,000 | $75,000 |
Optional policies can be added? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Name additional insureds for free? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
BOP discount? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
A business owner’s policy is a great way to get many different types of coverage from one place. A BOP will combine commercial property and general liability coverages, as well as others like business interruption insurance. Some examples of when to use this insurance policy are listed below:
Your business property gets damaged during normal business operations
A customer experiences a slip and fall accident while on your premises
A business owner’s policy will provide about $1 million in aggregate coverage between all the different policy options. However, since the policies in your business owner’s policy can vary, this number can be as low as $300,000 but as high as $4 million.
An employee dishonesty policy add-on can be a good choice for your business owner’s policy to counteract the risks of deceitful and harmful employee actions like theft, forgery, and computer fraud.
Another excellent add-on to think about is cyber liability protection. This protects your company from the costs of data breaches, cyber extortion, and notifying customers that their data is compromised.
Typically, a business owner’s policy will not provide workers’ compensation coverage, auto insurance, or professional liability coverage. You will need to purchase separate policies for those.
NEXT | Thimble | Hiscox | The Hartford | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Aggregate limit | $3,000/$10,000 | $2,500/$5,000 | $15,000/$25,000 | $5,000-$10,000 |
Covers hired and borrowed equipment? | $3,000/$10,000 | $2,500/$5,000 | No | Yes |
Miscellaneous equipment also covered? | $5,000/$10,000 | No | Yes | Yes |
Offered as an endorsement to general liability insurance? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Deductible | $500 | $500 | $0 | $0 |
Tools and equipment insurance helps you replace or repair the damaged tools of your business. Unlike commercial property protection, tools and equipment coverage also covers your tools when you take them off your commercial property. Below are some examples of when you might want this coverage:
A travel agent makes an in-person sales call to a client and brings company property that gets damaged during the course of business after it is dropped
Someone steals your company's equipment while you are out of the office
Typically no, any damage to your equipment from normal wear and tear or poor maintenance is not covered.
The coverage for tools and equipment insurance is around $5,000, though this will vary by insurance provider.
If you are renting any equipment for your business, you might want to pick up a leased or rented items add-on. This will ensure you are covered if the worst happens to a piece of equipment and you need to rent a replacement while your original equipment gets repaired.
Another add-on you might want is business interruption insurance. This can help you make up for lost business income if a malfunctioning piece of equipment stops you from being able to serve customers.
Commercial auto insurance provides various liability protections for your commercial vehicles. Your travel agency might need this coverage if:
You use your work vehicle to travel for sales calls and it gets into a collision
Your work vehicle gets stolen
Commercial auto policies are typically comprised of many smaller components, which are outlined below.
Collision–Helps repair or replace your vehicle if it gets into a collision with another vehicle
Comprehensive–Covers basically all other forms of physical damage to your vehicle besides collision. This includes things like theft, fire, and vandalism
Auto liability–Pays out injury and damages to others when you cause a vehicular accident
Rental reimbursement coverage–Provides reimbursement for times when you need to rent a temporary vehicle
Roadside assistance–Pays for towing, gas delivery, tire delivery, and other related services to get your vehicle up and running when it is caught on the side of the road
Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage–Covers the gap when another driver is found at fault but their insurance coverage is lacking
Medical payments–Help you pay for medical expenses and funeral costs from occupants of your insured vehicles regardless of who is at fault
Commercial auto covers $100,000 per person, $300,000 per accident, and $50,000 per property damage.
Worker’s compensation insurance provides benefits to your employees when they get sick or injured from work activities. Some situations to use this insurance include:
An employee gets an infection from the air quality in your travel agency office
While moving files around, an employee slips and falls
Yes, worker’s compensation is vital to protecting your employees if they get injured or disabled, and it is required by law for any business with employees in many states.
Cyber liability insurance offers protection for your travel agency business against financial losses due to cyber-attacks and other similar perils. Some expected times when this insurance kicks in include:
Your travel agency’s computers get a virus that exposes private customer data
You must hire a public relations company to mend your business's reputation after a data breach
Cyber liability insurance comes with a $1 million per occurrence limit and a $1 million aggregate limit. While this sounds like a lot, it can add up quickly if you have a lot of clients or customers.
Commercial umbrella insurance provides an extra layer of protection on underlying insurance policies that allows you to break past coverage limits. Some examples of when to use this insurance are listed below:
Your general liability policy is going to run out of coverage before your policy term is up
Damage to your property will not cover all the replacements you need under an existing policy
Typically you will need to purchase an umbrella policy when your liabilities start exceeding $2 million, which is outside the scope of typical coverage limits of insurance policies.
Typically an umbrella policy offers an aggregate limit between $1 million and $15 million. These are usually purchased in $1 million increments.
Umbrella policies allow you to increase the coverage of multiple policies at once, even if your coverage limit has run out. Umbrella policies can avoid financial losses especially when expensive lawsuits are filed.
Travel agency travel insurance covers the expenses if something happens unexpected during a trip. It will reimburse the value of lost luggage. Insurance companies also design this policy to cover a policyholder’s medical expenses in case he or she gets injured while traveling. Moreover, reimbursement for lodging costs can be included in case of flight delays or cancellations.
Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Deductible | |
---|---|---|---|
General liability insurance | $45 | $540 | $0-$500 |
Professional liability insurance | $49 | $588 | $500-$1,000 |
Commercial property insurance | $73 | $876 | $1,000-$2,000 |
Business owner’s policy | $94 | $1,128 | $1,500 |
Tools and equipment insurance | $46 | $552 | $500-$1,000 |
Workers compensation insurance | $100 | $1,200 | $2,000-$5,000 |
The average travel agency insurance cost is $45 per month or $540 per year for a $1 million general liability policy. Your actual premiums can be higher or lower depending on the travel agent insurance coverage that you need, policy limits, deductibles, location, annual revenue, and number of employees. Here’s a table showing the cost of a $1 million general liability insurance from the best companies:
Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for | |
---|---|---|---|
NEXT | $22 | $264 | Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for travel agencies |
CoverWallet | $25 | $300 | Comparing travel agency insurance quotes online |
The Hartford | $29 | $348 | Workers compensation insurance for travel agencies |
Tivly | $31 | $372 | Comparing travel agency insurance quotes over the phone |
Thimble | $33 | $396 | Insurance agent tools and equipment policies |
Hiscox | $36 | $432 | Travel agency insurance with automatic renewal |
Travel Guard | $49 | $588 | Travel agents who travel |
Allianz | $55 | $660 | Wide network of agents |
Get all the best quotes from leading providers in a click of a button!
Here are some of the companies you might want to consider working with. Read some of the reviews below to know their pros, cons, and average rate for a $1 million general liability insurance.
Best overall
Issues an online proof of insurance instantly
Fastest general liability insurance for travel agencies
Great customer service and reputation
Excellent rates
Outstanding value for money
Get a 10% discount if you buy two or more policies
Couldn’t find any
NEXT is a premier insurance provider that offers many policies that you can use to create a great travel agent policy. They offer worker’s comp, professional liability, general liability, commercial property, and many more. This company serves over 1300 professions, so you are sure to get the experience your travel agency needs. Next has a high financial rating of A- with AM Best and a B+ satisfaction score from the Better Business Bureau.
Best for: Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for travel agencies
Average cost: $22 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Small business-focused
Experience with tailoring policies based on your needs
Fast to handle claims
Quick to resolve disputes
Limited add-ons to general liability insurance
The Hartford offers numerous policy options for your travel agency insurance policy. They have a specific page outlining their professional indemnity insurance for travel agents, which covers costs related to inaccurate advice, misrepresentation, and negligence. The Hartford has an A+ from AM Best and an A+ BBB rating. They wrote $11 billion in premiums in 2022, making them a top competitor in the industry.
Best for: Workers compensation insurance for travel agencies
Average cost: $25 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Quote online or through an agent
Compare quotes online
HNOA coverage included in general liability insurance
Easy policy management
Doesn’t write the policies
CoverWallet is a digital wallet for your insurance policies, which connects you with partners that offer cyber liability, workers compensation, business owner’s policy and many more vital policies for travel agents. They help travel agents get optimized policies that take into account what coverage they actually need. CoverWallet operates in 48 different states and has an A+ rating from BBB.
Best for: Comparing travel agency insurance quotes online
Average cost: $29 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Over 200 partners to connect to
Compare quotes over the phone
A partner of many reputable insurance companies
You need to a call to get a quote
Tivly offers over 200 partners to choose from for your travel agency insurance and offers resources and personalized help to get you started. They offer general liability, professional liability, business owner’s policy, commercial auto, and other critical policies. Tivly has an A rating from the BBB and has a flexible targeting system to take the stress out of getting connected to an insurance company. Call now to compare quotes over the phone.
Best for: Comparing travel agency insurance quotes over the phone
Average cost: $31 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Quickly issues the estimates of your rates
Numerous add-ons to general liability insurance and BOP
Buy general liability insurance as a short-term policy
Online-only customer support
Thimble has a great selection of policies for your travel agency that protects employees with workers’ compensation and has many of the other options you want. Although they lack commercial auto insurance, they have one of the best equipment policies to make up for it. They offer an equipment breakdown option that will keep your equipment running at less cost to you. Thimble has an A+ from the BBB that they got by successfully resolving customer complaints and excellent marketplace behavior.
Best for: Insurance agent tools and equipment policies
Average cost: $33 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Discount for bundling policies
Works with you to customize your travel agency policy
Worldwide coverage
14-day money-back guarantee
Doesn’t cover all states
Hiscox is focused on providing customized policies for small businesses. This allows them to give you a customized experience for general liability, business owner’s policy, and errors and omissions insurance. Hiscox agents stand by and promise to get back to you within 24 hours of filing your insurance policy.
Best for: Travel agency insurance with automatic renewal
Average cost: $36 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Travel comes first program
Rental vehicle damage coverage
Doesn’t offer many business liability policies
Travel Guard is the travel agent’s travel insurance, which protects them through different travel packages. They offer features like rental vehicle damage coverage and 365-day medical coverage that make traveling stress-free. Their corporate travel insurance also provides protection for travel agents who need to travel to different places and avoid business travel accidents.
Best for: Travel agents who travel
Average cost: $49 per month
Our rating: 6/10
Quote online or through an agent
Comprehensive general liability policy with add-ons
Fast to process claims
Lacks options compared to competitors
Allianz offers a suite of insurance solutions that are industry-focused and protect you and your business from personal or bodily injury, property damage, and other perils. The company offers general liability and professional liability components for your travel agency insurance.
Best for: Wide network of agents
Average cost: $55 per month
Our rating: 8/10
Use anyone except Employers. Period. They are non-transparent and shameful. After I complained long enough to warrant a call from a supervisor, the supervisor called back from a PRIVATE NUMBER (no caller ID), left a message that they are not reversing their decision (without any communication with me), and failed to leave a phone number for me to call back. She was hiding! They also fact find via email and phone calls, which is terrific for speed and communication. However, after setting a precedence of email or phone calls, they send time sensitive information via email, without any heads up... they are hoping you miss it and forfeit via expiration. Evil policies. Go elsewhere.
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!