By: ALA Staff
/
Reading time: 9 min.
Who should carry the policy when you lease your land to hunters, and why the answer is usually “both of you.”
Yes. If you lease your land for hunting, you should require the hunters or hunting club to carry their own liability insurance and name you as an additional insured, but their policy shouldn’t be your only protection. Their coverage is built around their activities, not your land, so most landowners who lease also carry liability insurance of their own.
Key takeaways
- University extension specialists recommend that every hunting lease require the lessee to carry liability insurance for the full lease term.
- Ask to be named as an additional insured, and get a certificate of insurance before anyone hunts.
- Charging a lease fee can remove the liability protection that many state recreational use statutes give landowners who allow free access.
- A hunter’s policy can lapse, run out or not respond to claims about the condition of your land, so it works best alongside your own coverage.
- Laws, contracts and policies vary, so have an attorney review your lease and an agent review your coverage.
Who Needs Coverage When You Lease Your Land?
When you lease hunting rights, two parties take on risk. The hunters face the obvious one: someone could fall from a tree stand, be injured in a firearm accident or damage a neighbor’s property. You, the landowner, face a different one: an injured hunter, a guest they brought along or a neighbor could claim that the condition of your land, or the way you managed the lease, contributed to what happened.
Those risks overlap, but they aren’t the same. That’s why extension specialists treat insurance as a two-sided question. The hunters should insure their own activities, and you should make sure you are protected too. If you haven’t put your lease in writing yet, start with our clause-by-clause hunting lease agreement checklist, because the insurance terms belong in that contract.
What Extension Experts Recommend
Hunting lease guides from three land-grant universities, Mississippi State, the University of Maryland and Texas A&M AgriLife, give landowners very similar advice on insurance. It comes down to three contract terms.
1. Require a Policy for the Whole Lease Term
Mississippi State University's Forest and Wildlife Extension advises landowners to "require the hunting club or lessee to purchase liability insurance." Texas A&M AgriLife's hunting lease checklist goes a step further: require the lessee to obtain coverage before hunting begins, keep it in force for the entire lease and meet a minimum coverage amount you set in the lease.
Setting the minimum is up to you and your advisors. Many lease policies today are written at $1 million or $2 million per occurrence; we explain why higher limits are becoming common in why $2,000,000 per occurrence is becoming the benchmark.
2. Get Named as an Additional Insured
Both the Mississippi State and Texas A&M guides recommend that the landowner be named as an additional insured on the lessee's policy. That way, if a third party sues both the hunters and you over something that happened during the lease, you can share in the protection of their policy instead of relying only on your own.
Don't take this on faith. Ask the club or its insurer for a certificate of insurance that lists your name, the policy dates and the limits, and put a calendar reminder to get a new one when the policy renews.
3. Pair Insurance With Indemnity and a Release
Insurance works best alongside two other lease clauses. An indemnity (or "hold harmless") clause makes the lessee responsible for claims arising from their use of your land. Texas A&M calls this "a critical issue" to review with an attorney. A release or waiver, in which hunters acknowledge the risks of hunting, adds another layer. The University of Maryland checklist notes that indemnification may be especially important if the lessee is allowed to bring other people onto the property.
An indemnity promise is only as good as the lessee's ability to pay, which is one more reason to tie it to a real insurance policy.
Why the Hunter's Policy Shouldn't Be Your Only Protection
Requiring hunters to carry insurance is smart, but it doesn't make your own risk disappear. A few reasons why:
- It covers their activities, not your land. A claim that focuses on a hazard you knew about, like a rotten bridge, an old well or a damaged fence, may be aimed squarely at you as the owner.
- Policies lapse. If a club misses a renewal mid-season, you may not find out until after something goes wrong.
- Limits can run out. Legal defense costs and a serious injury claim can use up a policy limit quickly.
- Not everyone may be covered. Guests, children or hunters who aren't listed members may fall outside the policy, depending on how it's written.
- A personal policy may not fit. Don't assume a hunter's homeowners or umbrella policy covers a leased hunting property. Coverage varies widely, so ask for proof of the specific coverage instead.
How Leasing Changes Your Legal Protection
Every state has a recreational use statute that limits a landowner's liability when people use the land for recreation, but most of these laws are designed for free access. As the University of Maryland's Paul Goeringer puts it for that state, "Charging rent to hunt on the property will take the landowner out of protections" of the statute. We cover how these laws work in our guide to recreational use statutes.
Some states handle fees differently. Texas, for example, keeps statutory protection for agricultural landowners who charge hunters if the fees stay under a limit tied to their property taxes, or if the landowner carries liability insurance at set minimums (Texas A&M AgriLife's Texas Agriculture Law blog lists $500,000 per person and $1 million per occurrence for bodily injury, plus $100,000 per occurrence for property damage, as of 2015). In that case the statute also caps damages at the insurance amount. Rules like these change and differ by state, so confirm your own state's current statute with an attorney.
The Grey Areas: Why a Good Lease Isn't a Guarantee
Even with a solid lease and an insured hunting club, there's no such thing as zero liability.
- Laws vary by state. What counts as a fee, who is protected and what exceptions apply all differ from one state to the next.
- Courts decide case by case. Judges look at the specific facts, including what you knew about a hazard and what you did about it, and how the lease and policy are worded.
- Contracts can be challenged. Some courts limit how far releases and indemnity clauses can go, especially for minors or gross negligence.
- You can still be sued. Anyone can file a lawsuit. Even a claim you win has to be defended, and defense costs can run high before a case is dismissed or settled.
That last point is the one that catches landowners off guard. Your lease and the hunter's policy may help you win, but you still need a way to pay for the defense.
Where Hunting Lease Insurance Fits
This is where a landowner's own liability coverage matters. A hunting lease liability policy is designed for the specific risk of leasing land to hunters: it can pay for a legal defense and covered settlements or judgments up to the policy limit, whether or not the hunters' own policy responds.
Ask your agent whether your current farm or property policy covers land you lease for hunting; many landowners find it doesn't, or only partly does. Options include adding coverage to an existing farm policy, buying a standalone landowner or hunting lease liability policy, or requiring the club to buy a policy that names you as an additional insured. The American Hunting Lease Association offers hunting lease liability insurance for landowners and hunting clubs. Compare limits, exclusions, who is covered (members, guests and minors) and whether defense costs reduce the limit.
A Simple Coverage Checklist Before the Season
Before anyone hunts your land, collect and check:
- A signed, written lease with insurance, indemnity and release clauses reviewed by an attorney.
- A certificate of insurance showing the insurer, policy number, dates and per-occurrence and aggregate limits.
- Your name listed as an additional insured on the club's or hunter's policy.
- A list of every member and guest allowed to hunt, and confirmation they are covered.
- Proof of your own liability coverage for the leased acreage.
- A renewal date on your calendar so you can collect a new certificate before the old one expires.
The Bottom Line
Hunters on your land should carry their own liability insurance, and your lease should require it, name you as an additional insured and back it up with indemnity and release clauses. But their policy is a supplement, not a substitute. Leasing can remove the recreational use protection free access would give you, and anyone can still sue. Keep your own liability coverage in place, check certificates every season and have an attorney and agent review your setup.
This article is for general education and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Sources: Mississippi State University Extension, Hunting Lease Tips; University of Maryland, Hunting Leases: Checklist for Those Considering a Hunting Lease (2015); Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Texas Hunting Lease Checklist; Texas A&M AgriLife Texas Agriculture Law blog, Texas Landowner Liability Part III: Recreational Use Statute (2015).
Sponsored
