This information is based on interpretation of the policy from the questions outlined. The Insurance Company reserves the right to interpret the policy against any claim that is submitted to The Insurance Company based on the pleadings or the facts of the case.
Who is covered?
Anyone who is an insured and that includes members. It also includes landowners that are declared by you on the application.
Does the club need to keep a roster?
The policy does not require you to keep a roster and it will not effect coverage. Although, it is a good idea to have a current membership roster. The insurance company will not ask for a roster unless in the event of a claim. This is because members are insureds and they have rights under the terms of the insurance policy.
What does the hunting lease insurance cover?
Not supposed to answer a question with a question but What does covered mean? What we tell people is that when you buy this policy what your are buying is a pile of money and a team of lawyers. The money and the lawyers are waiting for you to get sued for something happened in the policy period. If you get sued the lawyers decide if it is a covered claim and if so they go to work defending you and they have the bag of money to use to pay those claims that you become legally liable to pay because of bodily injury or property damage. The pile of money is $2,000,000 but the can only use $1,000,000 for each occurrence. If someone, other than insured makes a claim for Medical Expenses and wants to reimbursed, they can use a provision called Medical Payments to settle little claims of up to $1,000 with little to no questions and no negligence is required.
Will this cover my camp as well as my hunting lease?
Yes we can set it up so the liability covers the camp so long as the land is leased to you or the club. The location needs to be scheduled along with the hunting land. If there is a leased structure i.e., a cabin, lodge or camp house, the structure is not insured for property damage like: fire, lighting, theft, wind, vandalism, etc…… You need to purchase a separate Property Insurance Policy.
Does it cover activities with our families that are not hunting activities, ie. picnics, ATV riding?
The entire policy is subject to the Limitation of Coverage to Designated Activities, per endorsement. Those activities are hunting club activities on leased land and/or permission for use of land granted by the landowner. The answer is that in order for the coverage to apply the incident or claim must evolve from a club function. By the way, ATV riding is by far the most dangerous activity associated with these leases and hunting club activities. Recreational use of ATVs is not recommended especially for children. ATVs are the number one cause of big claims, hurt people and lawsuits.
Can I get more than the $1,000,000 Occurrence and $2,000,000 Aggregate limit?
Not in the Master policy format. If you would like higher limits it is going to cost more for the primary policy and the excess liability limits. For most clubs or leases the base cost jumps to $750 for the primary $1,000,000/$2,000,000 limits and then an excess liability policy for another $11,000,000 in limits for $375. Call our office to discuss this option. If you have serious net worth, you should consider the higher limits.
Will this cover parties/dinners that our club hosts?
Yes, but it will not cover liquor liability if you are selling the liquor. The entire policy is subject to the Limitation of Coverage to Designated Activities, per endorsement. Those activities are hunting club activities on leased land and/or permission for use of land granted by the landowner.
Does this cover my boat or ATV?
Depends what you mean by covered? Liability, yes, physical damage, no. But wait, General Liability means someone is claiming 3rd party injuries against you or the club. So if someone is injured or their stuff is damaged resulting from the operation of an ATV, and an insured is found legally liable, the policy works. And we feel that being protected for a $1,000,000 claim is more important that physical damage claim that may only be a few thousand. If you are using watercraft to fish or to get to and from your blinds; there is an additional $75 charge for watercraft liability to apply to owned watercraft.
There is a building on the property that we store some of our hunting supplies in, is this insured?
No. You need to purchase property insurance.
If one of our members falls out of a tree stand or falls and hurts themselves, will this pay our medical expenses?
No. Members are insureds and insureds are not eligible for the Medical Payments provision, only 3rd parties. But, club members can suit the club or another member if they suffer bodily injury or property damage from the club’s or another member’s negligence. This is is because there is no Cross Suit Exclusion o n the policy which excludes claims from one insured to another.
Damage to Premises Rented To You Limit – if an insured has permission from a landowner to use their property, is this limited to 7 days or less (permission use)?
The damage to property rented to you, shown in the Commercial General Liability Coverage Part Declarations as the Rented To You limit, will apply to property damage to property in the insured’s care, custody and control, otherwise excluded by exclusion J1, “Property Damage” to property you own, rent or occupy…, 3) property loaned to you… 4) Personal property in your care, custody, control… provided the property is rented to you for seven or fewer consecutive days. Thus, provided the property is in the care, custody, control of the insured, rented for a period of 7 days or less, the exception to the care, custody, control exclusion (J1, J3, J4) will apply
Fire Department fees/charges – is this part of the GL limit? An example below:
Insured leases a premises from a landowner, fire damage to property they lease but fire spreads to neighboring property. Would we pay for fire department fees/charges for just the property they lease, or for all of the damage, or for the neighboring property and not the premises they lease?
Fire department expenses, even if on one’s own property, could be covered under Coverage A as liability as it is mitigation to avoid a third party claim. In other words, the fire department’s suppression of a fire prevents the fire from spreading to adjoining property and is paid as third party loss if there is a real threat of the fire spreading.
Fire department charges are not “property damage”. However, the insuring agreement for coverage A indicates “We will pay those sums that the insured becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of ….”property damage”. Fire department charges may qualify as damages because of “property damage”.
If the fire department charges are associated with fire to property in the insured’s care, custody and control, where the aforementioned Rented To You Limit applies, then pursuant to Section III, part 6, these damages would be included in that sublimit.
If the fire department charges are associated with damage to another person’s property, not the property in the insured’s care, custody and control, then those charges would be subject to the Coverage A Occurrence limit.
