Campground Insurance Checklist

This is a working file for the owner or manager of a commercial campground, premium RV resort, cabin property, or glamping operation. The direct answer is to assemble the submission by exposure and responsibility, then compare each proposed term with the underlying record. The NAIC small-business overview lists business property such as buildings, equipment, machinery, computers, signs, fences, and outdoor property, and separately discusses business interruption, auto, liability, and BOP limitations. Use that as an index, not as a promise that a carrier will insure every feature.

It is not a quote application, engineering inspection, legal opinion, tax record, or guarantee that a carrier will offer a term. Mark unknowns clearly; do not fill gaps with guesses.

Use this as the master packet, then work through Preparing for Your Campground Insurance Renewal for timing and 10 Campground Insurance Issues Worth Reviewing for a term-by-term agenda.

Property and location

Map each location, building, cabin, bathhouse, office, store, road, bridge, utility, pool, dock, sign, fence, deck, and outdoor improvement. Give each item an owner, address or site reference, and a responsible contact.
Add construction type, year built, additions, square footage, roof age and material, occupancy, utilities, protection, seasonal closure, maintenance contact, and current value support. Note whether a unit is leased, managed, rented to guests, or held for someone else.
Identify underground electric, wells, septic, propane, wastewater, generators, transformers, pedestals, and communication systems. Separate utility-owned equipment from park-owned equipment and record service contracts.
Record flood, wind, hail, wildfire, coastal, drainage, tree, smoke, access, and neighboring-property conditions without treating a hazard map or mitigation measure as proof of coverage.
Attach a site map, photographs, roof or equipment reports, permits, valuation work, leases, and prior loss information. A single total for “property” makes it hard to test a sublimit or deductible.

Property schedule fields

Asset or location	Owner / responsibility	Value basis and support	Cause or dependency question
Cabin, glamping unit, or RV site			Building, contents, deck, utilities, guest property
Bathhouse, office, store, or clubhouse			Roof, contents, code, income dependency
Road, bridge, dock, pool, or fence			Outdoor property, flood, wind, access
Pedestal, transformer, well, or septic			Service line, breakdown, excavation, interruption
Equipment, stock, or furnishings			Ownership, location, valuation, spoilage

Guests and amenities

Describe sites, occupancy, pools, hot tubs, splash pads, playgrounds, carts, watercraft, rentals, trails, animals, events, food, alcohol, propane, and activities. Break out each attraction; “amenities” hides material differences.
Add capacity, hours, supervision, age or driver rules, fencing and access, inspections, water or equipment testing, guest rules, contractor scope, training, incident reporting, and closure procedures.
For rentals, record what the park owns, what the guest supplies, who maintains it, where it may be used, and what agreement governs it. Keep the agreement and any required certificate. A 2011 New York DFS opinion describes a certificate as a summary of the referenced policy rather than the contract and says it cannot add rights beyond that policy in the New York analysis; elsewhere, ask the licensed insurance professional and counsel what the actual contract, endorsement, and applicable law provide.
For events and food, identify organizer, vendor, attendance, ticketing, alcohol service, temporary structures, caterer, products, cleanup, security, and the party handling claims.

People, money, and interruption

Reconcile employees, seasonal duties, payroll, benefits, volunteers, work-for-site arrangements, vehicles, contractors, vendors, reservations, revenue, and continuing expenses. Classification and workers-compensation rules depend on the jurisdiction and facts; ask the relevant professional.
Separate revenue from nightly sites, seasonal sites, cabins, store, food, activities, rentals, and events. Keep monthly occupancy, rate, payroll, and expense records so the high season is visible.
List payment, reservation, utility, communications, access-control, cloud, and data dependencies. The Ready Business guidance says business plans should address communications, IT support and recovery, continuity, training, and exercises. Those actions are useful operational controls but do not create cyber, utility, equipment, or income coverage.
Ask how property, liability, auto, workers compensation, business income, extra expense, equipment breakdown, flood, wind, pollution, cyber, crime, liquor, watercraft, and umbrella terms fit together. Record the trigger, limit, sublimit, deductible, waiting period, exclusion, and responsible party for each open question.

Documents to send and questions to write

Send the declarations, forms, endorsements, schedules, prior applications, loss runs, financial statements, reservations, payroll, contracts, permits, inspection and maintenance records, maps, photos, emergency plan, vendor certificates, and a change log. Separate verified facts from estimates.

Question	Evidence attached	Answer or follow-up
What changed since the last term?		Buildings, units, amenities, employees, vendors, events, revenue
Who owns or controls the feature?		Park, landlord, guest, contractor, utility, management company
What is the cause and location?		Wind, flood, fire, breakdown, utility, guest action, third party
What would stop revenue?		Property, access, equipment, supplier, reservation, staffing
What term is uncertain?		Exclusion, deductible, valuation, waiting period, endorsement

Before accepting a proposal

Ask for a side-by-side comparison of the expiring and proposed declarations, limits, deductibles, forms, endorsements, exclusions, valuation, coinsurance or margin language, protective safeguards, cancellation conditions, and carrier assumptions. Check every quote against the location and activity schedule. A BOP may package property, business interruption, and liability, but NAIC notes that BOPs typically do not include commercial auto or workers compensation and that not every business qualifies; do not treat the product name as the answer.

FAQs

Is this checklist the same as an application?

No. It is a completeness and question tool. The insurer’s application, supplemental forms, inspections, underwriting requirements, policy forms, and endorsements may request different information.

Should a campground list guest property?

Describe guest-owned RVs, decks, sheds, boats, carts, and personal property as an exposure and responsibility question. Do not imply that the park’s property policy insures those items. Ask about guest allegations, care custody or control, contracts, and premises duties separately.

Do two certificates solve a vendor exposure?

Do not infer the answer from the documents’ existence. The New York DFS opinion supports only its New York-specific point that a certificate summarizes the referenced policy and cannot add rights beyond it. Ask the licensed insurance professional and counsel which contract duties, actual additional-insured wording, scope, dates, and applicable jurisdiction govern, and whether the vendor’s coverage is valid and relevant. The campground should still disclose the activity and maintain its own applicable terms.

When should this file be updated?

Before renewal and whenever a material change occurs: a new unit, amenity, event, vendor, lease, road, utility, revenue stream, or operating arrangement. Preserve the prior version so a change can be explained rather than guessed.

Read complete forms and endorsements with the schedule. Declarations, exclusions, conditions, deductibles, limits, applicable law, and facts control.