Keeping Paying Guests Safe Across Acres of Open Ground, Hookups, and Amenities.
Protecting parks, their guests, and their grounds
RV parks and campgrounds rent overnight and short-stay sites to travelers with RVs, tents, or glamping units, typically across sizable acreage with electric, water, and sewer hookups plus amenities like camp stores, pools, playgrounds, bathhouses, clubhouses, and lakes. Unlike a hotel contained in a single building, a campground is a large open-premises operation spread across many acres with natural hazards, guest-owned vehicles, outdoor recreation, and utility hookups the operator supplies to each site. And unlike a mobile-home park serving permanent residents, an ideal RV park is transient — a mix underwriters strongly favor. A park needs coverage built around open-premises liability, recreational and utility hazards, and catastrophe. This is a specialized corner of hospitality insurance built for how campgrounds actually get sued.
Properly structured coverage protects the park, its guests, and its buildings.
The Campground's Signature Exposures
Large open-premises liability across acreage combined with recreational and utility-hookup hazards is the differentiator — unlike a contained lodging building, a campground exposes transient guests to a sprawling outdoor environment the operator must keep reasonably safe, with pools, playgrounds, lakes and docks, fire pits and campfires, ATVs and golf carts, plus the electric, water, sewer, and propane hookups delivered to each site. The premises are hard to monitor, the hazards are numerous and outdoors, guests turn over constantly, and a single utility or recreational failure can injure many people. Undisclosed amenities are a top cause of denied claims, weather and wildfire threaten structures and guest property, and on-site bars, events, camp-store retail, and propane sales add liquor, auto, and products exposure. A park dominated by long-term residents takes on residential characteristics and becomes a harder, different risk.
Key Risks in RV Park & Campground Operations
Campgrounds face exposure related to:
Pool or lake drowning and playground falls across open grounds
Campfire and fire-pit burns, and campfires that ignite a brush or wildfire
ATV, golf-cart, and boating accidents on park roads and water
Electrical hookup failures and propane fires or explosions
Slips and falls on uneven ground, docks, and trails, and falling limbs
Weather and wildfire catastrophe to buildings and guest property
An undisclosed amenity leading to a denied liability claim
Open-premises, recreational, and utility hazards across acreage are what most define the park.
Core Coverages for RV Parks & Campgrounds
A properly built campground program typically includes:
Commercial General Liability — Covers guest bodily injury and property damage across the grounds and amenities, with legal defense — amenities and activities must be disclosed or a claim there can be denied.
Commercial Property — Covers the camp store, bathhouses, office, clubhouse, cabins and glamping units, and pump houses, written to full replacement value.
Business Income / Interruption — Replaces lost site-rental and store revenue when a covered event shuts the park down — critical for a highly seasonal operation.
Liquor Liability — Responds to alcohol-related claims from on-site bars, beverage service, or events.
LP Gas / Propane Coverage — Addresses propane storage and sales fire, explosion, and products exposure.
Inland Marine — Covers golf carts, mowers, and movable maintenance equipment.
Commercial & Hired/Non-Owned Auto — Cover owned park vehicles and shuttles and vehicles used in operations.
Equipment Breakdown — Repairs pool pumps, HVAC, and electrical and utility systems after failure.
Workers' Compensation — Provides legally required coverage for grounds, store, and amenity staff.
Umbrella / Excess Liability — Adds the higher limits a drowning, propane explosion, or mass-casualty claim demands.
What's Commonly Overlooked
Campground programs are most often weakened by:
Amenities or activities not disclosed, so a claim there is denied
Business income left off despite acute seasonal dependence
No propane or LP-gas coverage where fill or storage exists
A long-term-resident mix quietly turning the risk residential
Umbrella limits below catastrophic recreational-claim severity
The gaps that hurt most are undisclosed amenities and missing business income and umbrella.
Real-World Claim Examples
A guest drowns or is injured at the pool or lake with inadequate signage or fencing
A child is burned at a fire pit, or an unattended campfire ignites a wildfire
A golf cart or ATV rolls over on a park road or trail
An electrical hookup fault damages guests' RVs or starts a fire
A tornado or wildfire flattens bathhouses and cabins during peak season
Any one of these can be significant, and the recreational, utility, and catastrophe losses are the most distinctive.
Regulatory & Licensing Context
Most states license RV parks and campgrounds, often through a health or environmental department with annual inspections covering electrical, plumbing, waste and septic, drinking water, and sanitation. Swimming pools and certain amenities require separate permits and are inspected under pool and health codes covering barriers and anti-entrapment drains, camp stores and concessions need food-service permits, and the ADA requires accessible routes from check-in through the store, restrooms, and amenities plus accessible campsites. Site-plan, zoning, and density rules vary dramatically across states, and utility codes govern electrical pedestal amperage, propane handling, and septic and sewer systems.
Why Proper Placement Matters
Underwriters weigh site count and hookups, cabins and glamping units, revenue, buildings, amenities and activities, food and liquor service, special events, payroll, owned vehicles, location, prior claims, and catastrophe exposure from wildfire, coast, and tornado. They reward a predominantly short-term transient guest mix, documented and enforced rules, well-maintained modern utilities, disclosed and well-managed amenities, and staff training. Well-run, transient, low-catastrophe parks place in admitted and program markets, while long-term tenancy, heavy catastrophe exposure, high-hazard amenities, aging infrastructure, or poor loss history move the account to excess-and-surplus lines. Placing the account with every amenity disclosed and business income and umbrella in place is what keeps it responsive.
Our Approach
At Cory Washington & Co., we insure RV parks and campgrounds around the reality of a large open-premises recreation business. We make sure every pool, playground, campfire, and activity is disclosed so a claim isn't denied, add propane, business income, and equipment breakdown, and coordinate property, liquor, auto, workers' compensation, and umbrella into one program placed in admitted or surplus-lines markets to match your exposure and geography. We also insure related hospitality businesses, including hotels and motels, vacation and short-term rentals, and hostels.
Keeping paying guests safe across acres of hookups and amenities is a distinct risk — we build the coverage to match every corner of the grounds.
All insurance descriptions on this website are provided by Cory Washington & Co. LLC strictly for general informational purposes. They are not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, legal, financial, or insurance advice. The information presented is general in nature and does not guarantee the availability, terms, conditions, or scope of any insurance coverage. Actual coverage is determined solely by the specific policy language issued by the insurer and remains subject to underwriting approval. Nothing on this website creates or implies an agent-client relationship, binds coverage, or alters any existing policy. Cory Washington & Co. LLC expressly disclaims any liability for actions taken, or not taken, based on the content provided here. For advice regarding your particular situation, please consult directly with a licensed insurance professional at Cory Washington & Co. LLC or another qualified insurance professional, and always review your policy documents in full.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get rv park & campground insurance through Cory Washington & Co.?
Request a quote or contact our team. We start with a short conversation about your operations, analyze your exposures, then negotiate rv park & campground insurance across multiple carriers that compete for your account and present options with the trade-offs explained. Cory Washington & Co. LLC is licensed in all 50 states.
What drives the cost of rv park & campground insurance?
Premiums vary from business to business. The main drivers of rv park & campground insurance pricing are the nature of your operations, your revenue and payroll, your loss history, and the limits you carry. Rather than quote a flat figure, we negotiate across several markets and walk you through the options, so you only pay for the protection you actually need.
Do I need rv park & campground insurance?
It depends on your situation. Some coverage is required by law; more often, rv park & campground insurance is required by a contract, lease, lender, or client before they will do business with you — and even when it is not mandated, it guards against exposures that can be severe. We review your operations and obligations and tell you plainly what you need and why.
What if another agency has already declined or non-renewed my coverage?
Difficult, specialty, and previously-declined placements are a core part of our work. We access excess & surplus (E&S) and specialty markets that many generalist agencies cannot, and we explain the trade-offs clearly so you can decide with confidence.
Available in all 50 states. See how requirements differ in California, Texas, Florida, New York, or choose your state.