By Mark Fryer, Senior Account Manager, AssuredPartners
As a landowner, you may be thinking about ways to generate income from your property; hunting leases can be a great way to do that. Hunting is an important recreational use of timberland. It’s usually good to have someone on your land on a regular basis to keep an eye on things. Hunters typically take good care of the land and protect it. They can keep trespassers and squatters off the property. The revenue generated by lease fees can offset at least some of the operating costs of owning the land. If you are an absentee landowner, understand that someone will be hunting your land and you might as well get paid for it.
An important part of leasing your land is making sure you have the proper insurance in place. During my twenty-five years with our agency providing coverage for this activity, I have encountered several instances in which hunt lease liability proved to be a prudent means of protecting the parties involved from outcomes that could have been damaging emotionally and financially.
If you are a hunt club that leases land from a landowner or a landowner that leases land to a hunt club, you need hunt lease liability insurance.
So, if you are a hunt club that leases land from a landowner or a landowner that leases land to a hunt club, you need hunt lease liability insurance. Hunt lease coverage insures the operations and activities of the hunt club and protects the hunt club and landowner against third-party claims. A written lease is required to be in effect.
Our hunt lease program is with an admitted carrier and has $1 million and $2 million per occurrence limit options. Landowners – you can now require $2 million of coverage in your leases as it is available. In addition, defense costs are paid by the carrier and are outside of the policy limits, which is what you want.
Coverage can be purchased by the hunt club or the landowner, but if purchased by the hunt club make sure the landowner is named as an additional insured; otherwise, the landowner will not have coverage. Landowners – do not assume this is done – make sure.
For the Hunt Lease program offered through the North Carolina Forestry Association, the premium is based on acreage. The premium starts as low as $200 for the $1 million option and $370 for the $2 million option. This premium covers up to 500 acres. There is not an additional premium to cover the landowner on the NCFA policy. To be in this program, the landowner and the hunt club must be members of the North Carolina Forestry Association.
Coverage can be obtained online at www.apOutdoorInsurance.com. On the website, you can get a quote, pay for coverage and receive a Certificate of Insurance (proof of coverage) in minutes.