All property owners have a duty of care to the visitors they invite onto their property. When it comes to businesses, like hotels, offering public accommodation there are additional rules and expectations about discrimination and access that private residences do not share. If a hotel fails to provide adequate security or maintains their premises in an unsafe condition, many people are placed in danger. The scope of the problem means that the vast majority of hotels in Florida purchase insurance to pay for injury claims filed by guests.
If you were injured in an accident at your hotel, insurance will likely play a prominent role in getting proper compensation. When it comes to dealing with insurance companies, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. You were the hotel’s guest. They owed you a duty of care. The hotel’s insurance company is not in the same position. You are not their client. They don’t care about you. Their only goal is to pay you as little as possible to make the claim go away. If they can get away with paying you nothing, that is what they will do. No matter how friendly or concerned the hotel was for your welfare, that will not extend to the insurance company who actually does the paying.
Hotels are in the hospitality business. Don’t let that fool you. If you have been injured in your room, at the pool or anywhere on hotel property, you need to be prepared to fight for the compensation you deserve. Even if the hotel believed in putting its guests first, the insurance company footing the bill does not. It believes in collecting premiums and avoiding injury claims like yours. Talk to a lawyer who understands Florida premises liability law before you speak to an insurance representative.