Hotel Inland Marine: Pricing Methodology

What rating basis does Inland Marine use for Hotels?

The pricing unit for Inland Marine on Hotels is per $100 of equipment value. Carriers multiply a per-unit rate (the base loss cost set by AAIS / ISO, modified by carrier-specific factors) by the exposure to produce the base premium.

This is the most important number on the policy — it controls how renewal premiums move as your operation grows or contracts. The audit at policy expiration trues up the actual exposure against the estimated exposure used at binding, producing return premium or additional premium.

The class-code decision for Hotels on Inland Marine

The AAIS / ISO class assignment for Hotels on Inland Marine is a judgment call by the underwriter, guided by class manuals and standard operating definitions. The hotel provides the operational facts; the underwriter maps those facts to a class.

The wrong class is the most common cause of overpayment on Inland Marine accounts. We recommend asking the broker to confirm the assigned class code on every binder and comparing it against prior years — inconsistencies often point to a correction opportunity.

The audit basis on Hotels Inland Marine

Inland Marine policies on Hotels are typically audited at expiration. The auditor reviews actual exposure data for the policy period — payroll, revenue, vehicles, locations — and trues up the premium against what was estimated at binding.

If actual exposure exceeds estimated, you owe additional premium ("audit premium"). If actual exposure was lower, the carrier refunds the difference ("return premium"). Audit results that significantly diverge from the original estimate often trigger underwriting questions at the next renewal.

A worked premium calculation for Hotels Inland Marine

The premium walk for Hotels Inland Marine is mechanical once the inputs are known. Step by step:

1. Base rate: per-unit cost from AAIS / ISO loss costs × carrier loss-cost multiplier
2. Exposure: declared units per $100 of equipment value
3. Experience mod: 3-year loss history factor (above 1.0 = debit, below 1.0 = credit)
4. Schedule rating: underwriter judgment credits/debits (typically ±15-25%)
5. Surcharges and fees: state, terrorism, regulatory

The product of those five lines is your annual premium. Each line is a lever — change any one and the bottom line moves predictably.

How three years of claims affect Hotels Inland Marine pricing

Hotels experience modifiers reflect actual loss performance against expected. The actual is your paid losses (excluding incurred-but-not-paid reserves on open claims); the expected is the class's average loss-cost benchmark.

Improving the mod is a long game. A single clean year reduces the most recent (heaviest-weighted) year's impact. Three consecutive clean years can move a debit mod into credit territory. The patience pays — mod credits compound across multiple policy lines.

State filings and Hotels Inland Marine renewal math

Carriers file Inland Marine rates with state insurance departments before charging them. States approve rates at varying speeds — some prior-approval states take 60-180 days, others use file-and-use frameworks that allow rates to take effect quickly.

For Hotels, this matters at renewal. If your state recently approved a base-rate increase for the class, that increase shows up in your renewal regardless of your individual loss experience. Tracking pending rate filings in your state can predict 6-12 months of premium movement.

Common methodology mistakes that overprice Hotels Inland Marine

Hotels Inland Marine accounts most often carry hidden costs in three places: a class code that has drifted from the actual operation, an exposure declaration that overstates revenue or payroll, and an experience modifier that hasn't been verified against the carrier's calculation.

Asking the broker to walk through each of these at renewal — preferably before the renewal quote is finalized — produces the largest single set of correctable savings on the policy.