As fall settles in, that means two things in many households… football season and hunting season! Both bring enjoyment and risk.
Let’s review the potential liabilities that hunting can expose you to and how to be sure you are covered in the event of an accident.
Liability Coverage for Hunters
Whether a person hunts for free on a family farm, pays a daily fee to a farmer for the privilege, or leases acreage for the season or year-round, the homeowner’s policy generally provides liability coverage for hunting activities. However, if you lease the land and are responsible for upkeep of the land or any buildings on it, liability coverage for incidents arising out of a condition of the land or the buildings is not provided unless the location is added to the current homeowner’s policy.
The exposures faced by individuals who lease or purchase land for hunting purposes (either individually or as a group) are significant. The standard homeowner’s policy provides some coverage but significant gaps exist. Remember that even if you have an umbrella policy, you could have a gap in coverage because if a risk is excluded on your primary policy, it is likely to be excluded on your umbrella policy.
If you are leasing land for hunting purposes, read your lease carefully. Determine what you are responsible for. If there is a “hold harmless agreement” in the lease, most companies will not pick up liability coverage for the land owner. The land owner must have his own coverage.
ATV Coverage
If you are transporting your ATV or golf cart to use while hunting, we highly recommend you obtain a separate ATV or golf cart policy. In fact, we recommend a separate policy in most any scenario if you own an ATV or golf cart. If you have added a gun rack or customized the ATV, you want to be sure you have insured the ATV for its true value and added to your umbrella policy. These policies can average from $100-$250 per year.
Guns
On many homeowner’s policies, there is a maximum of only $2500 theft coverage for guns if they are not endorsed to the policy. In addition, if your guns are not endorsed, you may have to prove the weapons have been stolen. We highly recommend that you schedule (endorse) your guns to your homeowner’s policy. Scheduled guns have coverage for mysterious disappearance, theft, and have replacement or actual cash value.
Call our Personal Lines team today at 864-288-9513 or email us for more information.
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Choosing the right insurance agent is one of the most important decisions you will make. The Turner Agency, Inc. is a local Trusted Choice® independent insurance agency headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina. Serving the Upstate of South Carolina and beyond since 1962, we offer a variety of personal and business coverage choices and can customize an insurance plan to meet your specialized needs for your business, homes, automobiles, recreational vehicles, secondary homes, and more.
The information in this article was obtained from various sources and is not all inclusive regarding the subject matter. This content is offered for educational purposes only.
