SPOKANE, Wash. — After the recent closure of popular restaurant Zona Blanca, community leaders and business owners came together to talk about how crime is affecting the downtown economy.
Councilmember Jonathan Bingle even went as far as saying that it's to blame for Hotel Indigo being dropped by their insurance carrier. KREM 2 went to Hotel Indigo to confirm Councilmember Bingle's comments and was directed to contact their management company. We are waiting to hear back.
Northwest Insurance Council President Kenton Brine says that while crime affects insurance premiums, he doesn't see a widespread issue of that in Spokane.
"What you may see is a business that has had multiple claims, or there has been a lot of claims against that insurance company in a particular area, so you see that insurer wanting to reassess their risk exposure in that area, but I think that's more of a one-off than a general occurrence in Spokane today," Brine said.
According to crime reports from Spokane Police, commercial burglary and robbery are both down 41% and 9% respectively compared to last year.
Brine suggests that if business owners are nervous about the loss of coverage, they should be in regular communication with their insurance brokers multiple times a year instead of just waiting until they need to file a claim or renew their policy.
