Errors & Omissions Insurance: The Coverage Travel Agents Assume Someone Else Has
Ask a travel agent whether they have errors and omissions insurance and you’ll sometimes get a confident yes, sometimes a confident no, and surprisingly often: “I think my host agency covers that? I’m not totally sure.”
That “not totally sure” is the problem I want to address.
What E&O insurance actually is.
Errors and omissions insurance covers you if a client claims you made a mistake, gave bad advice, or failed to do something you were supposed to do in the course of booking their travel — even if the claim turns out to be unfounded. Travel involves a lot of moving
pieces you don’t fully control — supplier changes, cancellations, documentation requirements, health and safety situations — and a claim doesn’t have to be your fault to cost you real money defending against it.
Why “I assume my host covers me” is worth actually verifying.
Some host agencies do provide E&O coverage as part of their arrangement. Some don’t. Some provide it with limits or exclusions that surprise agents who never read the actual policy details. Assuming you’re covered because you’re affiliated with a host, without confirming the specifics, is exactly the kind of gap that only becomes visible the moment you need the coverage and discover it isn’t there — or isn’t enough.
What to actually check.
If you’re host-affiliated, get the specific policy details in writing — coverage limits, what’s excluded, whether it covers you individually or just the host entity. If you’re independent, you’ll need to secure your own coverage, and it’s worth shopping this specifically to travel industry insurance providers who understand the actual risks, rather than a generic small business policy that wasn’t built with travel bookings in mind.
Why this isn’t overkill for a small operation.
It’s tempting to think insurance is for bigger operations with more at stake. But a single client dispute — a missed connection blamed on bad advice, a canceled trip and a disagreement about who said what — can generate real legal costs regardless of how big or small your book of business is. The coverage exists precisely for the situations you didn’t see coming.
I’m not an insurance agent, and I won’t sell you a policy or tell you exactly what coverage to buy. But I will tell you, the same way I tell clients about business licenses and registered agents: don’t assume you’re covered. Verify it, in writing, and know exactly what you’re actually protected against.
If you want help thinking through where E&O fits into your overall business foundation — alongside your entity structure, your bookkeeping, and everything else — that’s part of the bigger conversation I have with travel agent clients at Kimberly Hill Business Studio.
— Kimberly
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