golf cart insurance will not cover your renters
 

If your golf cart insurance is with State Farm, the Villages, or Progressive, your renter will not be covered. Progressive said that the change was effective May 1 2014. I called Thomas Insur. today and was told the renters are covered. Then I called Progressive and found out the truth. I will call allState tomorrow to see if they cover renters. Does anybody know of any insur. company will cover your renters under your golf cart insurance?

8/5/14 I called allState and it does not cover renters either. I talked to Todd Brown 352 399 7667 and confirmed that there is NONE out there to cover your renters. You need to see it in writing if your agent tells you that your renters are covered. There were 3 agents verbally told me the renters are covered till I asked for the writing.

Also, your umbrella insurance will not kick in if the golf cart injury claim is denied by your golf cart policy.

---

Nope. Anyone renting a house with a golf cart is rolling the dice.

I wonder if the renters would share in liability if involved in an accident?

Not unless you take them to court and that will take a toll on your health. I agree with the poster above, you might as well roll the dice and keep your fingers crossed.

This society has become very sue happy and do not take responsibility for their actions. In a blink of an eye, you can expose yourself and lose everything you worked hard for your hole life because of the mistake of another person.

I wasn't too clear. I'm thinking that if the tenant is involved in an accident, the other party could likely sue both the cart owner AND the cart driver (the tenant). It's a slippery slope.

if we ever decide to rent our house, it will be without a cart. Who needs this headache?

That is correct if the owner of the property does not have the renter added to the golf cart insurance policy during the tenancy period. The renters driving record is checked before being added to the policy. This is done by the insurance company.

We also have the renter sign a paper stating if an accident occurs, when being covered under the policy, the renter is responsible for any out of pocket expenses we as owners may have. This includes, but not limited to, deductible and increase of policy cost due to the accident.

The intent is good, but you may have difficulty enforcing such a document.

Out of pocket expenses are one thing. Much worse, though, is if there are injuries or fatalities. Cart owner could be held liable to all parties. Wouldn't be worth the sleepless nights to me.

I specifically exclude the cart from the rental to minimize any risk. I disable the cart, cover it and place a sign noting "for owners use only" while the risk may be low just one issue I rather not deal with.

I'm sure I may lose a few rentals here and there but I'm not rented it to get rich.

Most home owners renting the golf cart with the house are not aware their policy does not cover renters. One agent said they will check renter's license and just add to our policy. This is NOT true. The renters are not covered because it is a commercial transaction. Ask your agent in writing to say that your renters are covered. Please let us know if you know of any agent can provide the policy to cover your renters.

We rented our home in March 2014 and our renters were added to our policy. Yes, I saw it in writing. Our insurance was with Progressive and we dealt with Thomas Insurance Agency. Don't know if there is any truth the policy was changed by Progressive May 1.

They are aware. This has been an on going debate for years

We were told by our Insurance Agent, we could not advertise the house as having a cart and charge for the use of the cart. If we charge for the renter to use the cart, it becomes a commercial vehicle. If the cart is part of the rental fee, the renter is added to the Declaration page of the policy, and is classified personal use.

Rentals appear to be better if a golf cart is provided for the guests use. The cost for an Attorney is reasonable to draw up a contract for the renter to sign they are liable for out of pocket expenses. The additional rental income will exceed the cost of the document fee.

That is all well and good if it makes you feel better but the facts are these.
Lawyers always pursue those with the deepest pockets aka assets, the renter more than likely lives out of state or is a foreigner, the renter may have all their assets in a trust, the renter may not have any assets, the renter may be difficult to find, the renter really has no dog in this fight, he is just a renter. The insurance companies will look for any loophole so as not to accept financial responsibility. What is left is you the owner, a sitting duck for any blood sucking lawyer who will make your life a living hell and cause you many sleepless nights and maybe loss of everything you have worked for.

Agree, I attended a legal seminar which pretty much confirms what you have to say. Scary but true.

The Kevin McDonald agency (Allstate) will cover renters in your golf cart. However, you can not advertise the cart as coming with the rental nor can it be pictured in front of the house. If so, and the adjuster or underwriter learns of it, the policy is null and void. I write, "call for information on all amenities".

Total nonsense. Agent making up his own rules. As OP stated in first post, ask for this in writing. Agent doesn't handle claims, adjusters do and they'll figure this out pretty quickly and you'll be out of luck.

Ditto

Reality check folks...

Lower the rental cost a bit, bag the cart. A nice touch might be to compile a listing of cart rental companies for your tenants' use.

Why live with the uncertanties of what happens in the event of accident? Who needs the stress?

Rentals are in demand. It will rent without the cart. All MHO.

When I bought my used golf cart i did not get a title just a receipt, with not even a vin. Say you rent your house for a few months, can the tenant buy the golf cart and the landlord buys it back after the rental is over?

I have it in writing.

We did that a couple of times but realized that we were still taking a big risk. A lawyer could say that we were just trying to avoid liability and in truth, owned the cart. So we now rent our home without the use of our cart. It's just not worth the risk of losing our life savings.

My brother-in-law bought a CYV last year and had absolutely no problem renting it out from Thanksgiving 2013 thru mid-May 2014 at top dollar without a golf cart. Some potential renters declined because a golf cart was not included but he had no problem filling those months.

Why have your fanny exposed to a potential lawsuit from a golf cart accident with injuries and loose everything you worked 40-50 years to accumulate in a blink of an eye.

Exactly what Big Guy said. Written in their policies.

My homeowners insurance only covers the golf cart to and from the golf course. I don't golf. Something to check with your agent.

Not just renters
 

Fl courts hv ruled golf carts a dangerous item. The golf cart owner is liable for anyone driving the cart if he gave permission to use it. So that includes neighbors and friends

Yes! And this liability would include tenants' children and grandchildren the tenants allow to drive the rental golf cart (insanity).

Exactly why one should also have an umbrella policy.

Or, have the driver added to the Declaration page of the insurance policy.

If the underlying policy denies the claim, the umbrella won't cover. This is not a solution.

Has anyone personally had a renter have an accident and the claim not paid when the renter had been added to a policy of the owner of the cart and the renter listed on the Declaration Page of the policy? This is first hand knowledge and not an interpretation of something read on the Internet or heard from someone's neighbor, related to your mother's, sister's, boss.

Do Not Expose Yourself to this type of Liability Issue!!! No Company will cover this!! Signing a Transfer of Liability Document is Useless!! The Company Is not running a Drivers License check on your Tenants since they don't provide coverage. The Agent or Agency might do it in an attempt to give you a piece of mind, but again it's useless!! If you feel so compelled to include a cart in your Rental agreement, take $200 a Month off the Rent and they can go Rent their own. Very Simple... Problem Solved. This is what I do & I'm an Insurance Agent in NY with a Village Home in Fernandina.

This issue has been beaten to death on TOTV over the years. It's not the intent of any insurance company to cover insured vehicles that are rented to others. My golf cart policy simply states "There is no coverage (liability section)when any vehicle insured under this section is rented to others or used to carry persons for a charge." This applies to cars, trucks, golf carts, snowmobiles, or whatever kind of motor vehicle you happen to insure. It's fairly standard rental exclusion language.

If the use of you cart is subject to the rental of your villages rental property, the insurance carrier is going to use that exclusion to disclaim coverage.

Rather than ask who has had a claim when a renter is added to the declarations as an insured, ask who ever got a renter added to the policy as an insured. It's absurd to think that an insurance company, that doesn't want to insure renters of insured vehicles, and has written their policy accordingly, will over ride their exclusionary language by merely allowing any insured to simply add the renter names on the dec page. Dear Allstate, add Joe Blow, my renter, to my policy so he can be insured on my golf cart. That's not going to happen and if some agent plays some game by stating it's a relative or resident of your household, in order to get them on the dec page as an insured, it's going to bite you sooner or later.

I still love the agent who states the golf cart can't be in a picture in front of your house. I guess the claim department scours the old adds etc looking for pictures of golf carts in front of rental properties, aha, there it is no coverage! LOL

Knowledgable and ethical agents tell you straight there isn't coverage, the rest are playing games and hoping nothing happens. But that's why they have E&O (errors and omissions) insurance.

Every time we have someone renting our house, I provide to our insurance company the renters name, drivers license number, state where issued, date of birth, date of tenancy of the property, and any moving violations the last 5 years. Within 3 days a new declaration page arrives in our email with the renters names and it covers the dates they will be in the house.

Glad you're confident you're protected. Do you think you're protected when the tenant allows someone else, say his 14-year-old grandchild, to drive the cart?

I am assuming that you have first hand knowledge of insurance not covering a golf cart for a renters use. You and the other posters speak so authoritatively.

So let us know what you know and how ? Please speak from a position of authority.

Do you have first-hand knowledge of insurance covering a golf cart when driven by a renter who has an accident?
I don't mean that question sarcastically .. I'm sure many people would be interested in receiving this information.