Do you want to know how much it cost to insure an RV park with an insurance company? If YES, here are 6 best insurance policies for RV park businesses.
RV parks generate income majorly by renting out sites. It may also have a small store that is stocked with camping gear, non – perishable food and other items that campers may find useful. A popular seller is ice, so adding an ice freezer will also make some money for the business.
Note that the charge per night depends on the amenities, the location of the park, the location of the site and the type of site. Sites might go from $10 per night to over $100 per night. Primitive sites would be the cheapest, while sites that provide electric, water and Wi – Fi hook – ups might cost more.
Also, if you have amenities such as a pool, a recording room, a playground and more, you need to charge a little more per site so that you can cover the cost of putting those amenities in, and cover the cost of maintenance.
An RV park business is typically ideal for someone who loves the outdoors and dealing with people. The right person for this business also has experience in management, including accounting, budgeting, hiring staff, and keeping inventory.
Just as with licenses and permits, your business will also need insurance in order to operate safely and lawfully. Business Insurance protects your company’s financial well-being in the event of an accident.
6 Possible Exposures Faced By RV Parks in the United States
1. Premises liability exposures
In an RV park, this exposure can be massive due to the number of visitors to the park. These clients can trip, slip or fall on rough terrain, be hit by vehicles or projectiles, attacked by animals or insects, suffer exposure to harsh weather elements, or drown.
If your park owns and rents units, all the life safety concerns of a lodging operation need to be analyzed. The condition of access roads, security at the camp, and the condition of the park remains the key liability concerns.
Water purity should be checked on a regular basis. Playground equipment must be adequately maintained and documented. Swimming areas should be clearly marked and “No Swimming” signs posted at any lake or pond where swimming is not an offered amenity.
Also note that swimming pools ought to be well fenced, with a self – closing gate and depths clearly marked. Pool rules should be visibly displayed.
Life saving equipment should be accessible at all times. If open fires are permitted, all fires must be extinguished and cooled to prevent the spread of fire. Personal injury losses may occur due to alleged wrongful eviction, invasion of privacy, or discrimination.
2. Workers compensation exposure
Note that this exposure includes service, janitorial, and maintenance activities. Slips, falls, insect bites, back injury from lifting, hernia, sprains, and strains are common. Communicating with tenants can be daunting. Employees should be trained in dealing with difficult situations.
Also note that pets and animals owned by clients can bite, scratch, or kick workers. Contact dermatitis or respiratory ailments may result from janitorial and maintenance responsibilities. If there are other operations, such as lodging, logging, tree trimming, or application of herbicides or pesticides, you will need extended coverage.
3. Property exposure
Property exposures typically include the office, restroom and shower area, and laundry facilities. RV parks are normally located in remote wooded areas miles away from public firefighting resources.
Always ensure you have fire detection and fire fighting capabilities within the park to control a small fire. If there is a snack bar or restaurant, all cooking equipment should be properly controlled. If there is a central laundry area, washers and dryers must be properly maintained. It’s pertinent you have a smoke/fire detector in each owned unit.
If alarms are battery – powered, there must be documented records of periodic maintenance. If the park is seasonal and motor homes or campers are left on premises for storage in the off – season, a caretaker should stay on premises or a security service should check each day for vandalism or small fires.
4. Crime exposure
Note that this exposure comes from employee dishonesty and money and securities. Always ensure you conduct background checks on all employees handling money. All ordering, billing, and reimbursements should be separately monitored functions.
Ensure that both internal and external audits are conducted at least annually. If there is cash admission or a restaurant, there may be an accumulation of money. Regular deposits should be made and the number of cashiers should be limited.
5. Inland marine exposure
This exposure is more or less from contractors’ equipment used to maintain the premises and valuable papers and records for campers’ information and contracts with vendors. Equipment should be stored when not in use, with the storage facility locked.
6. Business auto exposure
Note that this is normally limited to hired and non – owned for employees running errands. If there are owned vehicles, all drivers must have appropriate licenses and acceptable MVRs. All vehicles must be maintained on an ongoing basis and service documented.
How Much Does Insurance Cost for RV Park?
First and foremost, for the sake of clarity, the average cost of a standard $1,000,000/$2,000,000. General Liability Insurance policy for small RV parks and campgrounds ranges from $67 to $89 per month based on location, size, payroll, sales and experience.
RV parks campgrounds insurance is a complete coverage to minimize the owner’s liability for injuries or accidents that guests may incur. Below is some of the most common coverage:
Types of Insurance Cover for RV Park
1. Liability Insurance For RV Parks
RV parks insurance includes core coverage as well as many more extended care options – offering you the flexibility to shape a plan to suit your needs and protect your business. The coverage includes:
a. General Liability Insurance
In the world of business, even recreational properties can pose their own hazards. Your customers are relaxing and enjoying their vacation; the next microsecond someone has tripped and fell off the dock and hit their head on a boat parked at the dock.
Or a visitor trips over a piece of your firewood and breaks an arm. Note that even if you have done nothing wrong, someone may accuse you of negligence leading to their injury.
In a sudden twist if events, this can result in costs to defend yourself, and a financial settlement if a jury agrees with your accuser. General liability protects you even if you should get sued because someone got seriously hurt while vacationing at your park.
b. Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Workers comp provides medical and disability coverage for your employees in the event of a work – related illness or injury.
c. Liquor Liability
Note that if you sell liquor on your property, you can acquire a liquor liability policy that will protect you in case injury occurs resulting from liquor sales.
d. Pollution Liability
In addition, with so many large gas – tanked vehicles visiting your property, you may want to purchase a pollution liability policy. This will protect you against leaks or spills.
e. Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)
In this modern age of unbelievable litigation, it’s necessary that you protect your business from lawsuits filed by current and former employees – from wrongful termination suits to discrimination complaints made to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
f. Commercial Auto Insurance
This insurance policy insures your vehicles for liability coverage and physical damage. If a vehicle is used in providing services related to your business, a commercial auto policy will be required. It offers coverage such as collision, liability, comprehensive, medical payments and uninsured motorists’ coverage to your business.
2. Property Insurance For RV Parks
Note that once you have offices and other structures on the premises of your RV Park, you are expected to have property insurance to provide coverage for your buildings and contents. With property insurance, it is very pertinent to adequately match the amount of coverage to the replacement cost of the structures.
If the structures are new, then the construction cost can be gotten from the contractor, which is usually the case with structures constructed in the past several years. But as the structures get older, you can get assistance from your insurer in calculating the replacement cost of the structure using custom industry figures.
i. Campground Equipment Insurance
This offers insurance coverage for your equipment such as tractors, mowers, golf carts, boats, picnic tables, etc.
ii. Business Owner’s Policy (BOP)
Note that this insurance protects your business’ buildings, contents and loss of business income, premises and product liability. In the United States, the policies will provide many automatic coverage enhancements not found in other insurance programs.
The BOP tends to function like a homeowner’s policy in that automatic extensions of coverage are built into the RV parks insurance policy. These extensions cannot be removed for a credit and they provide an elementary limit for the enhancements.