Following COVID-19, the liability risk landscape for hotels has changed significantly and the pandemic has continued to shape how hotels think about safety, legal exposure, and insurance protection.

Pre-COVID hotel liability focused on: 

• Physical injuries & property damage
• Standard duty of care
• Traditional risk management
• Stable liability insurance market
• Narrow liability claims

Post-COVID Hotel Liability Considerations: 

• Health-related exposures & contagion concerns
• Higher expectations for hygiene & pandemic response
• Integrated operational health protocols
• Underwriting more sensitive to health risk controls
• Broader, public health influenced claims

Inadequate hotel liability insurance can lead to:

• Financial ruin
• Legal exposure
• Loss of business relationships
• Permanent closure

For hotels, liability insurance is not just a safety net it is essential risk protection.

Our work as broker begins with a comprehensive review of hotel operations so that we can identify liability vulnerabilities or breaches.

These may include but are not limited to:

• Guest safety risks (slips, trips, food poisoning, accidents in leisure areas)
• Staff-related risks (workplace injuries, employment disputes)
• Property-related risks (defective fixtures, unsafe facilities)
• Service risks (events, weddings, catering services)
• Security issues (theft, assault, guest property damage)

In Ireland, these exposures typically fall under policies such as Public Liability Insurance, Employers’ Liability Insurance, and Product Liability Insurance.

Hotel Insurance Protection will include a range of insurance cover

• Public liability insurance – protects against claims from guests or visitors injured on the premises.
• Employers’ liability insurance – covers claims from employees injured at work.
• Products liability insurance – relevant if food, drinks, or products cause harm.
• Professional indemnity insurance – useful if the hotel provides advisory services like event planning.

We work with a hotelier to identify risks and then select a policy which is precisely tailored to their business. We also ensure cover limits reflect potential Irish court awards and legal costs.

Beyond insurance, Castleacre helps hoteliers reduce the likelihood of claims by recommending operational improvements such as:

• Health and safety audits
• Fire safety compliance checks
• Food safety and hygiene procedures
• Staff training and incident reporting systems
• CCTV and security protocols

This proactive approach often helps lower premiums. We manage liability risk by assessing exposures, recommending appropriate insurance, improving safety practices, ensuring regulatory compliance, and supporting claims handling. Our role goes beyond selling insurance—we act as risk advisors to protect the hotel’s financial stability and reputation.

Yes because both the age and the construction of a building can have a significant impact on insurance premiums. Period buildings are more expensive to repair and take longer to repair which means that the cost in loss of business is likely to be higher.

Period buildings are viewed as higher risk by insurers which does generally lead to higher premiums or extra conditions.

Reasons insurers see period hotels as high risk:

• Outdated wiring or plumbing increases fire or water-damage risk.
• Structural wear (roof, foundations, timber frames).
• Higher repair costs because specialist materials or specialist crafts people are required for repairs.
• Older buildings can take much longer to reinstate so loss of business claims can be much higher 
• Buildings constructed before modern regulations were brought in may not meet current safety standards – for example fire safety.

Period hotel and hospitality insurance will often result in:

• Higher premiums
• Higher excess
• Requirement for surveys or inspections
• Limited cover for certain risks

Public Liability Insurance

What it covers:
Claims from members of the public who are injured or whose property is damaged because of your business activities.

Claim Examples:

• A customer slips on a wet floor in your shop.
• You accidentally damage a client’s property while working on their premises.
• Someone trips over equipment you left out.

Public liability insurance protects hoteliers against claims from the following groups:

• Customers
• Visitors
• Passers-by
• Other third parties (not employees)

Employers’ Liability Insurance

What it covers:
Claims from your employees if they are injured or become ill because of their work.

Claim examples:

• An employee injures their back lifting heavy stock.
• A worker develops illness due to unsafe working conditions.
• An accident occurs because proper safety training wasn’t provided.

Key point in Ireland:
If you employ staff, this insurance is generally required by law.

Employee Liability Insurance protects hoteliers against claims from the following groups:

• Employees
• Temporary staff
• Apprentices or trainees (depending on policy)

Products Liability Insurance

What it covers:
Claims for injury or damage caused by a product you sell, supply, or manufacture.

Claim examples:

• A faulty electrical item causes a fire in a customer’s home.
• A contaminated food product makes customers ill.
• A defective part you supplied causes injury.

Product Liability Insurance protects hoteliers against claims from the following:

• Customers or anyone harmed by the product

Hosting large weddings or conferences at a venue in Ireland introduces additional exposures beyond normal venue operations. From an insurance perspective, the main risks fall into several categories: liability, operational, financial, reputational, and regulatory risks.

Large gatherings significantly increase the likelihood of accidents and claims.

Risk Exposure include but are not limited to:

• Slips, trips, and falls (wet floors, cables, uneven surfaces)
• Crowd-related incidents (overcrowding, pushing)
• Injuries caused by temporary structures or equipment
• Damage to third-party property

Weddings commonly involve alcohol service, which introduces additional liability risks.

Large events often also involve multiple external contractors.

Typical vendors include:

• Caterers
• AV technicians
• Decor and staging companies
• Florists
• Photographers
• Security staff

Risks include:

• Vendor equipment damaging the venue
• Injuries caused by contractor installations

Large weddings and conferences often require temporary infrastructure:

Examples:

• Marquees
• Stages
• Lighting rigs
• Exhibition booths
• Sound system

Where food is served, venues may face liability for:

• Food poisoning outbreaks
• Allergen reactions
• Kitchen accidents or fires
• Contaminated food supply

A specialist hospitality insurance broker in Ireland offers sector expertise, tailored cover, access to multiple insurers, risk-management advice, and claims support, helping hospitality businesses obtain better protection and in many cases more competitive pricing.  At Castleacre our advisors spend time getting to know a client and their hotel business, and we are always contactable by phone and available 24/7.

In Ireland, cyber liability is usually not automatically included in a hospitality insurance policy

It is typically either:

• A separate standalone cyber policy, or
• An optional add-on/extension to a commercial combined or hospitality package.

We would generally advise this is an important risk to include in hotel insurance.

A hotel’s digital presence is now an integral part of the business and any infringement on this can impact income or reputation- for example if an Instagram page is fraudulently hijacked this could have a serious consequences on both business growth and reputation. Hoteliers will often hold sensitive data relating to employees and guests and this can make them vulnerable to GDPR claims.