Thread: Insurance to protect against yahoos...

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This year I am moving the haunt into my garage and it was suggested to me that I have some kind of liability insurance. So, what do you all here do to protect your assets from a kid tripping or an idiot yahoo looking to make a few bucks?

Well, here's what I've found out. I called my homeowners and the agent said that I'm not covered. He had me talk with an independent broker and the guy will set me up for a week of coverage for $400. That's a lot of dough and I was wondering what others were doing. By the way, the broker didn't think my agent was correct about my broker not covering. He alluded that if I had a claim, the insurance I bought will fight it out with my initial policy holders but in the end I would be covered. That sound like a hairy mess and I was hoping there was a simpler solution.

I went through the old threads and the general feeling was that some people hope for the best and others don't do any walk-throughs at all. I would really like to do this but I don't want to take unnecessary risks if I can help it. There is insurance agents for professional haunters and I was going to call them this week and see if they have any alternatives.

I'll keep everyone posted...

So long as you are not accepting donations or charging, you should just need general liability insurance.

My sis is an insurance agent so she made sure I had the necessary insurance for my garage and backyard haunt.

No, no charging or donations. How much is the general liability insurance and how much does it run?

I've always wondered about this. Aren't we ALL at risk to be sued if a kid trips walking up to our door for candy even if we don't have a haunt?

God bless America.

I would like to see personal injury and product liability attorneys imprisoned for ruining this country. Nobody is responsible for themselves any more.

This town is FULL of them, living in million dollar houses.

These are very good questions. Normally I would recommend checking with your insurance agent but it sounds like they don't know what you need.

Please remember I am not a licensed insurance agent, but my sister is so this information is from her. Please double check with your insurance agent to verify what is needed for your area. This information is just for information purposes and you hold us harmless for this information. There, the legal part is done.

This is quoted directly from my sister. "1st of all, general liability is a part of your home insurance, but that's only if you are running a free of charge home haunt. Then you want to make sure you have at least $300K on your homeowners insurance which most insurance policies require that you carry no less than 250K to 300K per person for auto insurance liability. This is if you are considering a million dollar plus umbrella policy (sounds intimidating, but it's not that expensive and well worth it).

Here is the important thing with respect to auto insurance. You have to have an acceptable driving history for everyone in the household to get an umbrella policy. Insurers don't want to give an umbrella policy to someone who is a high risk.

Here is the key about your haunt and I must stress this. You cannot accept ANY donations whether they be food or money. If someone wants to give you money out of the blue, that's fine but you cannot solicit donations or you may not be covered as your insurance company may see that as a business venture and not cover you in the event of a claim.

Also, it's not necessary important to let them know you have a haunt unless they already know and are cool about it. The less they know, the less likely they will refuse to insure you."

I hope this helps. If your insurance agents looks at you with eyes wide, just tell em you have been doing your homework. ;D

Thanks Dionicia for the info. I guess I'm going to have to call my insurance broker back. He was very firm about his answer so I wonder if I've screwed myself by telling him. Now that I've notified them, I might be flagged already at my insurance. I think I will call another broker and see what they say.

I can tell you from personal experience, agents within the same company don't like to compete with each other. Some stupid unwritten rule.

Originally Posted by Deadna

I've always wondered about this. Aren't we ALL at risk to be sued if a kid trips walking up to our door for candy even if we don't have a haunt?

Yep! In fact my agent was adamant that you can be sued for anything by anyone. My problem is I need to know if I will be covered by my insurance. My haunt has become very popular and since I'm moving it into the garage he said the policy wouldn't cover me.

Now the broker I had contacted for special event coverage said my homeowner's policy should cover me because it's like you had a wedding in your backyard so he didn't see a reason why they wouldn't.

I don't know who to believe and this is frustrating! I just want to know if I have coverage and if I already am covered by my homeowners it would be a huge waste of money to buy the broker's coverage. Especially if they are going to turn around and fight with my broker anyway.