Hi, I have a lake house that we rent out. We have guests that bring their boats or rent a boat during their stay. I’m wondering if I should require them to provide proof of liability insurance should they damage/hurt/kill anybody or anything on the lake? Or would my short term rental insurance cover that? People are stupid on boats and especially the ones who rent a boat thinking they will know how to operate it. I am just trying to cover myself as much as possible. Thanks for any tips!
Ask your insurer.
202002020
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I’d suggest they provide you with a copy of their insurance. Highly doubt your STR insurance would cover but check your policy @Richeyrich65
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IF it’s important for them to provide evidence of insurance you need, I believe, a certificate of insurance. A certificate of insurance would be evidence that the policy is currently in force and you would be named as a named insured.
But, again, ask your STR insurer what if anything they require and that how would be assured that you are or would be covered from any liability.
I wonder also whether a lawyer would suggest contract terms either in your listing or in a signed addendum (if so, notice of requiring anything to be signed or separately agreed to would need to be in the listing, perhaps also requiring a certificate of insurance).
Of course, no one here can can give you legal advice.
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i just searched online. Here’s a link in regards to boat insurance.:
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I’m actually in the process of talking to a lawyer (haven’t yet) in regards to making sure I am covered on every aspect from a liability stand point so this is one of the questions I was planning on asking. Just figured I would check here first 
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Yes they do but I’ve called the two rental places. One place has only $2k insurance included in pricing which covers their boat only and then you can pay extra for $200k which again only covers the boat I believe. The other doesn’t include insurance but they themselves have liability insurance and also make the customer sign a waiver that the renter is responsible for any and all damage caused by them. I would like to make it a requirement that if a renter brings a boat that they have to purchase additional insurance or if it’s their boat provide insurance that has liability added to it.
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I find it hard to believe that just because a guest brings their own boat, if they were responsible for an accident with said boat, that a host would have any liability at all. You have rented them a house, nothing else.
It’s no different from a guest arriving in a car and having an accident while they happen to be staying at an str. No hosts ask guests to produce their car insurance. What happens while they are driving outside your property has nothing to do with you.
The only thing I can think of that could be in question is if you left a bottle of wine or other alcohol for a guest, and they were found to be intoxicated when the accident happened, in which case there could be some culpability claimed, as when a bar overserves a bar patron.
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These are all good and valid points which i agree with your points. It is an all sports lake and there is public access so its not like they couldnt go on their own time. I just want to make sure im covered.
I realize the US is highly litiginous, but it seems like a far-fetched notion that a host could be held responsible for a guest’s behavior when they are off the property.
Even if a guest broke into a neighbor’s property and robbed them, unless it could be proven that the host knowingly rented to thieves, the worst that might happen is that Airbnb delists the host or the local authorities pull the business license.
I suppose that if all the lake is public property it might be far-fetched but the real point is that neither you nor I know.
We don’t know, for example, whether there’s something about the OP’s property by the lake that requires signage from the adjacent property owner.
We don’t know if there is any structure on the OP’s property, like a dock or a pier, that are not where they’re supposed to be, or not in proper repair, not to code, etc.
We don’t know if the OP has any ownership rights to any part of the lake, and what duties and rights that might give the property owner. This could be highly relevant and applicable if the OP has such ownership and rights and even a third party hurt a guest of the OP if, for example, that third party had frequently trespassed or otherwise violated lake rules and had not been warned not to do so by OP.
@Richeyrich65 I think you’re wise to find out what liabilities you might have, just in case.
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Our attorney advised us that if anyone wanted to moor a boat at our dock, the insurance would have to cover damage to the dock.
The dock is wooden and from time to time other similar docks are damaged or destroyed by boat fires.
The dock can also be damaged by inexperienced boaters smashing into it.
So any insurance that the guest (or boat rental company) might have, would have to include the cost of repairs or even replacing our dock.
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The kind of insurance I would be most interested in is liability insurance with me as the named insured
Again, I don’t what kind of liability the OP might have, if any. So liability insurance might not be applicable here at all. That’s what we don’t know.
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Consult with your insurance agent, to get your clarification and good advice!