Commercial · Motels and motor inns

A motel fire claim is often decided before anyone argues about the damage. Valuation, coinsurance and proof of income come first.

Name: Crossroads Insurance Recovery Advocates
Address: 1080 W Sam Houston Pkwy N Ste 210, Houston, TX, 77043, US
Telephone: 713-369-4300
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Last updated: October 2026

On an older motel, actual cash value and an outdated limit can cut a check roughly in half. Lost room revenue has to be proven, and your hotel occupancy tax returns are often the strongest record you have. We document and negotiate the full loss for the policyholder, and we tell you plainly when a question belongs with your attorney.

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In a state insurance regulator's example, an owner insured a $250,000 building for half the required limit. A $40,000 fire loss paid $19,500, and the owner absorbed the other $20,500. On an older motel, valuation and coinsurance can set the check before the scope is ever argued.

Source: Maine Bureau of Insurance consumer guide.

First 72 hours

Motel fire: what to do in the first 72 hours

The first three days decide what evidence survives, which costs are recoverable, and when the insurer's clocks start. Most of this is work an owner-operator is already doing. The difference is writing it down.

Give notice in writing. The standard business income form requires prompt notice of the loss, and notice to police if a law may have been broken. In Texas, the insurer's claim deadlines run from written notice.

Secure the property. Drive-up rooms open straight onto the parking lot, so people can walk into burned units. Board up, fence the damaged wing and keep every receipt.

Do not throw anything out yet. The policy requires you to protect the property and allow inspection. Keep the room of origin, any guest appliances (hot plates, space heaters, chargers), the PTAC (the through-wall heating and cooling unit), the electrical panel, and the dryer and its vent.

Save the records from that night: CCTV, the guest register, key records for the room of origin, and names and phone numbers of witnesses and guests. Family members and the night clerk may be asked for their account, possibly under oath.

Notify everyone with a stake, in writing: the insurer, your agent, your lender, and your franchisor if you carry a flag. Keep a dated log of every call and letter.

Start drying right away. Hose water soaks ceilings, insulation and drywall in the rooms next door, and Texas humidity raises the mold risk. Keep dated moisture readings and photos.

Start a daily claim diary: rooms closed, guests turned away, and every dollar spent because of the fire.

Call your attorney about your guests. Where long-term guests go, what you owe them, and what happens to their belongings are legal questions.

Sources: ISO business income form CP 00 30; Tex. Ins. Code §542.051.

Valuation

Actual cash value vs replacement cost on an older motel

Actual cash value pays replacement cost minus depreciation, so older property pays less. On a motel built decades ago, depreciation is often the largest dollar gap between the insurer's number and yours. Three inputs drive it: the effective age the adjuster assigns, the depreciation method, and the replacement-cost baseline it starts from.

Answer depreciation with records

A newer roof, newer PTACs and updated electrical all lower the effective age. Pull the renovation receipts, then answer the adjuster with a detailed line-item estimate and pre-loss photos from your OTA listings, Google Business profile and phone. We document replacement-cost entitlement and the true repair and contents cost, so depreciation is not applied to property you are entitled to replace at full cost.

The replacement cost holdback

Many policies pay actual cash value first and hold back the difference until repairs are done. Read the repair-before-payment conditions and any deadline to rebuild before you decide whether to rebuild, repair or sell. The holdback is often what makes that decision.

Total losses and roofs

Texas's valued policy law (Insurance Code §862.053) treats a total fire loss of real property as a demand for the full policy amount, except for personal property. TDI's filing checklist also says Texas filed forms may value roofs at actual cash value only for wind and hail losses. How either rule applies to your policy and your loss is a question for your attorney.

Check on your declarations	Why it matters
Valuation basis: actual cash value or replacement cost	Sets whether depreciation comes off the check
Coinsurance percentage, or agreed value	Sets whether an old limit cuts a partial loss
Repair-before-payment conditions	Sets when the holdback is released
Functional replacement cost option, if any	Some insurers offer it for older buildings

Try the Actual cash value depreciation calculator.

Sources: Maine Bureau of Insurance consumer guide; Pork Business (sponsored, 2021); TDI commercial property filing checklist.

Coinsurance

Coinsurance: how an old limit shrinks your check

Coinsurance asks whether your limit kept pace with the building's value. If the limit is below the required percentage, every partial-loss payment shrinks in proportion.

A regulator's worked example

Line	Amount
Building replacement value	$250,000
Coinsurance requirement	80%
Limit required	$200,000
Limit the owner carried	$100,000
Fire loss	$40,000
Insurer pays ($100,000 / $200,000 x $40,000, minus a $500 deductible)	$19,500
Owner absorbs	$20,500

The same guide notes some insurers offer reduced coinsurance of 70%, 60% or 50% for older structures, and a functional replacement cost option. Agreed value options suspend coinsurance altogether. Ask the adjuster for the insurer's own valuation worksheet, because that is the number the penalty is built on.

Business income coverage can carry its own coinsurance. The limit must equal at least the coinsurance percentage times 12 months of net income plus operating expenses. If it falls short, each income payment shrinks too, though extra expense is exempt.

Underinsurance is common in lodging. A 2026 UK review of rebuild-cost assessments found 85% of pubs, licensed premises and hotels underinsured. No comparable U.S. study was found, so treat it as a warning, not a measure of your limit.

Run your numbers with the coinsurance penalty calculator and the 80-percent replacement cost rule calculator.

Sources: Maine Bureau of Insurance consumer guide; ISO CP 00 30; Insurance Edge (Sept. 2026).

Lost income

Proving lost income when your books are simple

A motel's income loss is room-nights times rate across nightly, weekly and monthly guests, plus any store, laundry or vending income. Proof is often thin because the books are simple and some revenue is cash. The Texas hotel occupancy tax return is the anchor: a government filing of room receipts for each location, monthly or quarterly.

Business income pays net income plus continuing expenses, including payroll, figured from records such as financial statements, bills and contracts. Lost revenue is not lost profit. Expenses you no longer pay come out, and money spent to reduce the loss goes back in. Coverage only exists if you bought it, and it starts 72 hours after the physical loss.

Record	What it proves	Where it comes from
State hotel occupancy tax returns	Total room receipts and taxable receipts per location, by month or quarter	Your own filings and payment confirmations
Total minus taxable receipts	Roughly your exempt revenue, chiefly from guests staying 30 consecutive days	The same returns
City hotel occupancy tax reports	Local receipts; some city forms add room-night stays and a statement that they match the state return	Your filings with the city, such as Baytown's quarterly reports
Bank statements	That reported revenue was real money deposited	Statements reconciled to your HOT returns
Guest register or PMS	Your nightly, weekly and monthly mix, rates and room-nights	Your own system or paper register

The state rate is 6% on rooms of $15 or more a day, and local rates generally run up to 7%. Because they are filed monthly or quarterly before any loss, they also show your seasonality. Expect the insurer's forensic accountant to reconcile your bank deposits to your HOT and income tax returns, so pull all three together.

How we build it

We build the occupancy and rate projection from the property's real performance. Then we model the loss several independent ways: across occupancy and room rate in the affected units, against the realistic restoration timeline, and against seasonality in your bookings. We use those models against each other to substantiate the full loss.

The look-back period matters too. A soft year inside a multi-year average can drag your baseline down when it does not reflect normal operations.

Start with the Business income worksheet.

Sources: Texas Comptroller hotel occupancy tax return help and FAQ; ISO CP 00 30; Hotel-Online (Oct. 2026); City of Dayton and City of Baytown HOT forms.

Long-term guests

Weekly and monthly guests: revenue, displacement and what to ask your lawyer

Weekly and monthly regulars are often a motel's steadiest revenue. A fire can leave them without housing the same night. A 2015 three-alarm roof fire at a Fort Worth motel displaced 35 people.

How their revenue shows up

In Texas, a guest who stays 30 consecutive days becomes an exempt "permanent resident" for hotel tax. Any interruption in the stay voids the exemption. With advance written notice the exemption starts on day one; otherwise the first 30 days are taxed. That is why the gap between total and taxable receipts on your returns helps document long-stay revenue. Keep long-term guest ledgers, agreements and any agency or voucher contracts with the returns.

When they do not come back

Regulars who find other places may not return when you reopen. The standard form pays income loss for 60 days after repairs are done and operations resume. An extended period of indemnity option replaces those 60 days with the number on your declarations. Check what you bought.

Questions for your attorney

Whether long-term guests are tenants under Texas law
What notice applies after a fire
What you owe for their belongings
Whether many long-term residents raise a question about how the property was described on your application

Sources: Texas Comptroller hotel occupancy tax FAQ; ISO CP 00 30; CBS Texas (2015).

The business interruption fight

Can you keep renting the rooms that did not burn?

Yes, and the insurer will count every one. After Hurricane Ike, about 40 rooms at a motel in Spring, Texas were unrentable. The owner claimed $293,191 in lost income and was paid $51,971. The motel's own occupancy figures suggested enough rooms remained to meet demand, and the federal court found no coverage for the reduced operations (H&H Hospitality v. Discover Specialty, S.D. Tex. 2011).

The lesson is evidence. Log closed rooms and turned-away guests every day, with dates and reasons. Without that record, the insurer can argue your open rooms absorbed all the demand.

After a storm, the form also removes extra business the same event creates from your likely income. Harvey displaced about 30,000 people statewide. A motel knocked out by a storm like that should expect this argument; how it applies is a question for your attorney.

What sets the restoration period

Income is paid until repairs should be done with reasonable speed. Under the base form, time spent on code-driven work or on testing and cleaning up pollutants such as asbestos does not extend that period. We reconstruct the genuine timeline, including remediation, repair and the ramp back to normal occupancy.

Driver	Figure	Source
Furniture and fixtures	Hotel FF&E orders take at least 20 weeks to install, up from 14, per a supplier (Feb. 2026)	HotelManagement
Accessibility review	Projects of $50,000 or more submit construction documents for review	TDLR
Owner-side electrical gear	Pad-mount transformers 40 to 65 weeks; medium-voltage switchgear 52 to 80 weeks (2026), only if the motel owns them	Terrapin Construction Group
Trades after a freeze	One Austin plumber had more than 2,500 customers waiting after Uri	Texas Tribune

Extra expense to document

Fencing, board-up and security patrols
A temporary office to keep undamaged wings renting
Outsourced laundry and a generator
Expedited PTAC or door shipping where it shortens the closure

Sources: Merlin Law Group on H&H Hospitality v. Discover Specialty; ISO CP 00 30; HotelManagement (2026); TDLR; Terrapin (2026); Texas Tribune (2021).

How these losses happen

One room starts it. The shared attic spreads it.

A motel fire usually starts in one guest room, the laundry or an electrical panel, then runs through the shared attic over a row of rooms. National data counts hotels and motels together, and it shows why the rare large fire drives the loss.

6% / 56%

Fires that spread through the building were 6% of hotel and motel fires but caused 56% of damage.

NFPA, 2009 to 2013 data

37%

of damage came from fires between midnight and 6 a.m., which were only 17% of fires.

NFPA, 2009 to 2013 data

45%

of nonconfined fires in occupied hotels and motels had no automatic extinguishing system.

USFA, 2014 to 2016 data

Federal approval for lodging requires sprinklers only at four or more stories, so many low-rise motels have none. Older NFPA data shows average damage more than doubled without automatic suppression.

NFPA, 2009 to 2013 data
Cause, hotels and motels combined	Share of fires	Where its weight shows
Cooking equipment	50%	25% of deaths, 8% of damage
Heating equipment	9%	16% of damage
Clothes dryers	8%	12% of injuries
Smoking materials	8%	75% of deaths (small counts)
Intentional	7%	26% of damage
Electrical distribution and lighting	5%	26% of damage

Damage to document

Fire through the attic

One room's fire travels across the shared roof over a whole wing

What it means for the claim: Expect a dispute over how far structural replacement goes, and whether the roof must be replaced as a system

Smoke and soot

Rooms share attics, chases and walls even without an interior hallway

What it means for the claim: Odor and soot reach neighboring mattresses, drapes and carpet. We bring in industrial hygienists to test how far it traveled, which settles clean versus replace.

Hose water

Streams on a wood-framed roof soak ceilings, insulation and drywall next door

What it means for the claim: Prompt drying and dated moisture records

Corrosion

Soot residue settles on PTACs, TVs, door locks and office electronics

What it means for the claim: Failures can show up later, so test before contents are closed out

Texas motel fires on record

In October 2019, two unsupervised children with a lighter started a three-alarm fire at a Motel 6 in Spring. It destroyed the roof, and investigators conferred with prosecutors about the babysitter. In January 2018, a fire at the Mineola Motor Lodge killed one man; investigators could not get inside the frozen building, and the cause was undetermined. Weather and access can delay the cause investigation, and the claim with it.

Intentional fires are 7% of hotel and motel fires but 26% of damage, so expect the cause investigation and your finances to be examined closely. Texas's State Fire Marshal's Office completed 511 initial fire investigations in fiscal 2025 and referred 53 cases for prosecution. If an appliance maker, contractor or guest caused the fire, any claim against them is a question for your attorney.

Operating a full-service or interior-corridor hotel? See Hotel fire claims.

Sources: NFPA via ICC (2015); USFA (2018); American Laundry News (2007); Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act of 1990; CBS Texas (2019); KLTV (2018); TDI Annual Report FY2025.

Code and accessibility

Code upgrades on rebuild: sprinklers, alarms and accessibility

Houston adopted the 2021 International Building, Existing Building, Fire and Energy Conservation codes, effective January 2, 2024. A decades-old motel can face sprinkler, alarm and accessibility upgrades on repair. Which upgrades a repair triggers is the building official's call.

In Texas, projects of $50,000 or more must submit full construction documents for accessibility review, and a Registered Accessibility Specialist does the plan review before inspection. Federally approved lodging also needs hard-wired smoke detectors in every guest room.

Coverage piece	What it pays	Watch for
Base building form	The lesser of 5% of the building limit or $10,000 for code upgrades	Rarely enough for sprinklers or alarms
Ordinance or law A (CP 04 05)	The undamaged part torn down under a building law	Whether you bought it, and the limit
Ordinance or law B	Demolition of that undamaged part	The limit
Ordinance or law C	The added cost to rebuild to code	Pays only if the building is actually repaired or rebuilt
Increased period of restoration (CP 15 31)	Income during code-driven delay	Without it, that time is not covered
Debris removal	25% of the paid direct loss plus the deductible, plus up to $25,000 more	Report debris costs in writing within 180 days
Pollutant cleanup	$10,000 per location, one total for the policy year	Asbestos or lead found in demolition draws on it; ordinance or law excludes pollutant laws

We identify the code-driven upgrades the rebuild actually requires and tie them to the ordinance-or-law coverage you bought. Whether a specific upgrade is covered depends on your endorsements, and a dispute over that wording belongs with your attorney.

Sources: ICC (2023); TDLR Architectural Barriers FAQ; Hotel and Motel Fire Safety Act of 1990; InsuranceXDate CP 04 05; Open Exam Prep BPP coverage form; ISO CP 00 30.

Lender and brand

Your lender and your flag each have a say

An independent motel usually answers only to its lender. A flagged economy or conversion-franchise motel adds a franchisor's casualty clause. Read both before anyone prices the scope.

Your situation	What to expect
Independent, no loan	No brand or lender clock; the policy's conditions and restoration period control
Independent with a bank or SBA loan	The lender is named on the policy as mortgagee, and the mortgagee wording decides whose name goes on the check
Flagged	In hotel franchise agreements generally, the duty to rebuild a smaller loss does not depend on insurance proceeds. Above a loss threshold, the owner may terminate, sometimes paying liquidated damages.
Flagged, with a loan	Loan documents can let the lender apply proceeds above a threshold to the debt. The two thresholds rarely match, so an owner can be bound to rebuild without the money.

Franchise fees matter too. One Marriott franchise agreement counts the lost room revenue behind business interruption proceeds in its fee base. If your agreement does the same, those fees belong in your continuing expenses. Whether fees run during a closure depends on your agreement.

Practice points

Send written notice to the insurer, agent, lender and franchisor in the first days
Ask the lender in writing whether it will release proceeds for repairs, on what draw schedule and with what inspections
Get any brand reopening requirements in writing before the scope is priced
If you signed a personal guaranty, ask your attorney how a casualty affects it

Sources: Goulston & Storrs, PLI (2018); Marriott Courtyard franchise agreement (SEC exhibit, 2014).

What the carrier will try

The shortfalls in these claims are predictable. So is how we fight them.

Large losses in this sector are contested on a handful of recurring fronts. None of these mean the carrier is acting in bad faith, it means the policy is complex and the default reading of it favors the insurer unless someone pushes back with documentation. Here is what they try, and what we do about each. On a motel fire, expect the insurer to test cause, value and revenue, in that order.

Depreciation

Under actual cash value, the adjuster assigns a high effective age and a low replacement baseline.

Our move: We document replacement-cost entitlement and the true repair cost with renovation receipts, pre-loss photos and a line-item estimate.

Coinsurance

The insurer says your limit was below the required share of value.

Our move: We check the penalty against the insurer's own valuation worksheet and any agreed-value or reduced-coinsurance terms on the policy.

Cash revenue

Revenue that came in as cash is called unproven.

Our move: We build the occupancy and rate projection from the property's real performance, with HOT returns tied to bank deposits and the register.

Partial operations

Your undamaged rooms could have kept renting, so there was no loss.

Our move: Daily closed-room and turned-away logs show what the open rooms could not absorb.

Smoke scope

Mattresses and soft goods in neighboring rooms get cleaned instead of replaced.

Our move: Industrial hygienist testing establishes how far smoke traveled and which rooms are truly out of service.

Restoration period

The closure is set shorter than real lead times.

Our move: We reconstruct the genuine timeline, including remediation, repair, code work and the ramp back to normal occupancy.

Code upgrades

Sprinklers, alarms and accessibility work get called improvements.

Our move: We identify the code-driven upgrades the rebuild requires and tie them to your ordinance-or-law coverage.

Records requests to expect

The insurer may demand a sworn proof of loss within 60 days of asking, plus access to books and records. On a cash business, expect requests for bank statements, tax and HOT returns, the guest register, utility bills and loan status. Missing smoke alarms, closed wings or late notice can prompt a reservation of rights. The scope of your obligations, and any examination under oath, are questions for your attorney.

Sources: ISO CP 00 30; NFPA via ICC (2015); USFA (2018).

Texas

Texas rules, storms and freezes

The insurer's deadlines

Step	Deadline
Acknowledge the claim and request documents	15 days after written notice (30 business days for surplus lines)
Accept or reject in writing	15 business days after receiving all requested items
Accept or reject when arson is suspected	30 days after receiving all requested items
Pay an accepted claim	5 business days (20 business days for surplus lines)
TDI-declared weather catastrophe	Each deadline above gets 15 more days

An insurer that is liable for the claim but misses these deadlines owes 18% annual interest as damages, plus reasonable attorney's fees. Weather claims under Chapter 542A carry a different interest rate. Business days exclude weekends and Texas holidays.

Hurricanes and power outages

Hurricane Beryl cut power to 2.7 million people in southeast Texas in 2024. Off-premises power failure is typically excluded unless utility services coverage was bought, and overhead lines are often not covered automatically. Check whether your policy has the buy-back and whether it includes overhead lines.

Freezes

Winter Storm Uri cut power to more than 4.5 million Texas homes and businesses in February 2021. TDI counted 7,237 business interruption claims from it, with $519.5 million paid, and an average commercial claim of about $154,100 incurred. On a motel, plumbing in exterior walls and walkways is the exposure, and plumbers were booked for weeks afterward.

Your rights with a public adjuster

A commercial policy delivered, issued or renewed in Texas on or after January 1, 2024 may not bar you from hiring a licensed public adjuster. You may cancel a public adjuster contract in writing within 72 hours of signing. Claim checks must name you as a payee, and a public adjuster may not endorse one for you. Public adjusters may not practice law.

When you disagree on the number

The policy's appraisal clause lets each side name an appraiser, with an umpire to settle differences over the amount of loss. In 2026 the Texas Supreme Court held that possible coverage disputes do not defeat appraisal (In re Ace American Insurance Co.). Whether to invoke appraisal is a strategy question for you and your attorney.

Sources: Tex. Ins. Code §§542.051 to 542.060 and Chapter 4102; NHC Beryl report; Rough Notes (2021); TDI February 2021 winter weather summary; Texas Tribune (2021); In re Ace American (Tex. 2026).

Checklist

Documents to pull this week

Start with the policy declarations and 36 months of hotel occupancy tax returns. Pull the rest before cleanup and before the first records request.

Insurance

full policy with declarations and every endorsement; valuation basis and coinsurance percentage or agreed value; business income limit, extended period of indemnity, ordinance or law and utility services; flood, wind and hail deductibles, and TWIA if coastal; agent emails, the latest application, and prior claims.

Revenue proof

36 months of state HOT returns with payment confirmations; city and county HOT reports; bank statements showing deposits; guest register or PMS exports; rate cards; long-term guest ledgers and agreements; agency or voucher contracts; federal income tax returns and P&L; sales tax returns for any attached store; vending and laundry income.

Continuing expenses

payroll, including family members on payroll; mortgage or SBA loan statements and the loan agreement; utilities, property tax, contracts and leases; franchise-fee statements and the franchise agreement, if flagged.

Building

deed or plat, construction year and additions; permits and certificates of occupancy; any code-enforcement notices; renovation receipts for the roof, PTACs and electrical; smoke-alarm, fire-alarm and extinguisher tags; dryer-vent cleaning records; any asbestos survey.

room-by-room inventory of beds, mattresses, TVs, PTACs, casegoods and linens; office equipment; store inventory and invoices; pre-loss photos from OTA listings, Google Business and phones.

Incident

fire department and fire marshal reports; any police report; CCTV; registration and key records for the room of origin; names and contacts of witnesses and guests.

After the loss

receipts for board-up, fencing and security; every extra-expense invoice; the mitigation contract, drying logs and dated photos; written notices and replies from the insurer, agent, lender and franchisor; your daily claim diary.

Sources: ISO CP 00 30; Texas Comptroller hotel occupancy tax return help.

The insurance company's adjuster works for the insurance company.

After a major loss, the carrier sends its own adjuster, and often a forensic accountant and engineering consultants, all retained by the insurer. They are competent and they are not neutral; their job is to resolve the claim on terms favorable to the company that pays them. A public adjuster is the licensed counterweight: we represent the policyholder only, we build and present the claim, and we negotiate the settlement.

On a motel loss the asymmetry is the whole problem. The carrier brings a cause-and-origin investigator, a building estimator with depreciation software, a forensic accountant and a contents vendor. We document the full loss with the same rigor, and we are paid a percentage of what we recover, so our incentive is your number. We are licensed public adjusters, not attorneys: when a question turns on how the law or the policy language applies in a dispute, or involves your guests, your lender or your franchisor, we work alongside your attorney rather than in place of one.

What happens after you call.

Loss review and policy analysis

We read the actual policy, limits, BI and extra-expense provisions, valuation terms, ordinance-or-law, exclusions, and assess the full scope before anyone commits to a number.

Document everything, including the smoke migration

Structure, every affected room, and the true reach of smoke through shared walls and HVAC. We bring in industrial hygienists to establish which rooms are genuinely out of service, while the evidence still exists.

Build the business-interruption claim, modeled several ways

From real performance and financial records: occupancy and room rate, the restoration timeline, seasonality, and the right look-back baseline, modeled independently and used against each other to substantiate the full loss.

Present, negotiate, and settle

We present the documented claim, contest the predictable shortfalls, and negotiate the settlement on your behalf through to resolution.

Questions motel owners and operators ask

My motel caught fire last night. What do I do first?

Get everyone out, then give the insurer and your agent written notice. The standard form also requires notice to police if a law may have been broken. Secure the property, keep the room of origin and its contents, and save CCTV and the guest register.

What does actual cash value mean on a motel fire claim?

Generally, replacement cost minus depreciation, so older buildings pay less. On a decades-old motel, the effective age the adjuster assigns can move the check more than the scope. What actual cash value means under your Texas policy is a question for your attorney.

What is a coinsurance penalty?

If your limit is below the required share of the building's value, a partial loss is paid in proportion. In a state regulator's example, an owner who carried half the required limit collected $19,500 on a $40,000 loss.

When do I get the rest of my replacement cost money?

Many policies pay actual cash value first and hold back the difference until repairs are done. Read the repair-before-payment conditions and any deadline to rebuild before deciding whether to rebuild, repair or sell.

Does my policy pay lost income while we are closed, and for how long?

Only if you bought business income coverage. It starts 72 hours after the loss and runs until repairs should be done with reasonable speed, plus 60 days after reopening unless you bought a longer extended period.

How do I prove what my motel made when much of it was cash?

Start with your Texas hotel occupancy tax returns, which report total and taxable room receipts per location each month or quarter. Tie them to bank deposits and your guest register.

Do long-term guests' payments count as lost income?

Yes, if your policy covers lost income. Stays of 30 consecutive days are exempt from Texas hotel tax, so the gap between total and taxable receipts on your returns helps document that revenue.

Can I keep renting the rooms that did not burn?

Yes, and the insurer will count it. After Ike, a Spring, Texas motel claimed $293,191 in lost income, was paid $51,971, and lost in federal court. Log closed rooms and turned-away guests every day.

A guest started the fire. Will my claim be denied?

Guest-caused fires are common: cooking causes half of hotel and motel fires. Preserve the room of origin and any appliances, and expect questions about house rules. Coverage questions go to your attorney.

Will insurance pay for sprinklers, alarms and accessibility upgrades?

Only to the extent of your ordinance-or-law coverage. The base building form pays the lesser of 5% of the limit or $10,000, and the base income form adds no time for code-driven delay.

The power was out for days after the hurricane. Is that covered?

Off-premises power failure is typically excluded unless you bought utility services coverage, and overhead lines are often not included automatically. Check your endorsements.

Is a public adjuster a lawyer?

No. A licensed public adjuster prepares, documents and presents the claim and negotiates the settlement. Texas law bars public adjusters from practicing law, so legal questions go to your attorney.

What does it cost to hire a public adjuster?

We work on a percentage of the recovery, with no upfront cost. We are only paid if and when you recover, which aligns our incentive with maximizing your settlement. Fee specifics are discussed up front before you commit to anything.

Talk to us

Tell us what happened. We will tell you straight whether you have a fight worth having.

No cost, no obligation. The fastest path is the phone: for a major loss, call and talk to a person today. A licensed Texas public insurance adjuster will review the loss with you.

713-369-4300