KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Several people visiting Kansas City did not receive a warm welcome. Some guests at a local hotel woke up to find their belongings stolen and their car windows smashed.
We may see a sign that says, “park at your own risk,” but many of us ignore it.
"They're in a protected environment. They're in a secured garage. If you're not safe there, I don't know where you're safe,” said Brian Rauber with Rauber Insurance Agency.
Early Wednesday, someone entered the blocked off parking lot of the Embassy Suites just off the Country Club Plaza.
"The biggest frustration is you're out of town, you're not in your comfort zone and you know, this isn't something that happens every day so you don't know what to do,” said Rauber.
Kansas City police said before 6:30 a.m., 15 to 20 cars were broken into in the hotel’s secured lot.
"If you don't have any insurance at all, it's going to be a painful process,” said Rauber.
If this happens to you, whether you have your own car or a rental, Rauber said the first thing you should do is call your insurance agent.
"If you have full coverage on a personal vehicle, that coverage is going to carry over to a rental vehicle, so you're going to be covered,” said Rauber.
For people who had their personal items stolen from their cars, there will be an extra step.
"If there were stolen items from the vehicle, that's going to be covered by your homeowner’s insurance, so you're going to be out a separate deductible for that,” said Rauber.
Once you pay that, rental car agencies could still hit you with another fee.
"The rental car carrier will charge them a loss of use fee for the amount of time they're not using that vehicle,” said Rauber.
Rauber said the best thing to do is double check your insurance coverage before traveling out of town. Also, make sure you do not leave anything valuable out in the open.
Several reports have been filed with Kansas City police.
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