WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN CHOOSING PAINTBALL FIELD INSURANCE
It does not matter if you are a new field owner or one that has been in business for years, you need to have the correct insurance for your paintball business. One of the most important issues to consider is that the agent/broker you are working with is experienced in writing insurance for the paintball industry and is licensed in your state. The next issue to consider is the coverage that you are purchasing is correct and for operating a paintball field. The last issue would be that the insurance company is an A rated insurance company based in the United States. We will review each of these issues in this article.
First issue being that you work with an agent or broker that is licensed as a resident or non resident agent/broker in your state. You can Google "Department of Insurance, your state, and you will have a link for your particular state's division. There will be a link there to look up licenses. You should be able to type in the agents name and it will tell you if they are licensed or not. The agent/broker should have both a Casualty and Life and Health license in effect to legally transact insurance in your state. For example the website for the Department of Insurance in South Carolina is www.doi.sc.gov/licensing/producer
Our next issue is to purchase the correct insurance for operating a paintball field. Your homeowners insurance will not protect you for operating a business. There is an exclusion in all homeowner policies for business pursuits. You need a commercial general liability policy for the operation of a paintball field. You will complete an application for insurance which will ask you for estimated players per year and estimated gross sales. Some fields have retail store exposures that will need to be added on and you will be asked to separate those sales numbers from the rentals or field fees. Be aware that some policies may only cover the playing field and not the staging area. Be aware that some policies have exclusions that might not cover all your operations. When you are completing the application, make sure to answer every question, completely and truthfully. If you do not provide the correct information, falsify information such as misrepresenting your estimated annual participants or gross sales, you could put your coverage in jeopardy and have some additional legal issues.
If you have a pro shop on premises or have a retail store at a different location be sure to disclose to your agent so you can have the correct coverage. If you operate any other business on the premises, be sure to notify your agent.
When completing your application make sure that you put the correct "legal" name of the business entity. If you are not incorporated, and are operating as a sole proprietor, list yourself, if married complete as partnership. As an example: 123 Partners, Inc. dba Paintball Fields of Glory, or 123 Partners, LLC dba Paintball Fields of Glory, or John Jones dba Paintball Fields of Glory. Also make sure to list all locations that you will be operating your paintball field. Please be aware of the ASTM Standards for Operation of a Paintball Field F 1777-02 that can be purchased for $30 at www.astm.org .
What coverage's do I need? First you will need General Liability coverage which covers the entity, officers, employees and volunteers against negligence. Normal limits are $1,000,000 per occurrence / $2,000,000 aggregate per year. Most insurance companies that are insuring fields now require an additional policy providing Accident Medical coverage for participants with limits of $25,000 to $50,000 per person. Of course more is better. You may need to consider higher limits if you have assets in excess of $1,000,000 to protect or if your landlord requires higher limits.
The next coverage to consider is Property Coverage which will provide coverage for your inventory, rental equipment, compressors, possibly netting for fire, theft, and wind damage. You should also include loss of income in case of a covered loss while you are putting the pieces back together.
Workers Compensation insurance provides coverage in case one of your employees is injured and comes to you for medical bills, loss of wages, etc. The premium is based off of actual payroll numbers. Most states require this coverage by law, check with you state. Some field owners call their refs sub contractors; of course we all know that definition will not carry well in court. Be careful with this one, if you have control over what the person is doing, they are an employee. If one of these refs are injured on the field, a tank separates, an eye is lost, you could possibly be held liable personally also. Each state has minimum limit requirements from $100,000 to $1,000,000.
Inland Marine coverage provide insurance for property that is mobile by nature, if you have a Quad used in your paintball business, air compressor on a trailer, flat trailers, or enclosed trailers, etc. you would want to insure these types of items under the Inland Marine policy. Also if you go off premises with your field equipment this coverage will provide insurance for that exposure as your field policy will not.
The last coverage is Commercial Auto insurance which provides coverage for your automobile while used in the course of operating your business. Remember that your personal auto policy excludes business use. We usually recommend carrying limits of $1,000,000 on all your vehicles. If you have a trailer that you tow we would recommend adding it onto the commercial auto policy and the contents on the inland marine.
When the agent/broker provides you with a quote, please review the quote for coverage's and all exclusions. All exclusions should be disclosed on the quote letter. If not ask to see them so that you can review them and see if they pertain to your business operations. This is very important and can affect your coverage or what you thought was covered. If your agent/broker makes a statement about coverage that seems strange, ask for the agent to put their statement into writing on their letterhead.
Insurance has a distribution system just like any other product. As of today, there is no avenue for the consumer to purchase paintball insurance direct from the insurance company. You must go through an agent/broker to purchase your insurance. Beware of so called associations in the sport of paintball that require you to join the association for access to their insurance program. Not one association in paintball has a proprietary insurance program where you have to go through them to purchase. You cut the middle man out and save hundreds of dollars in association dues. Some associations do not exist but operate under that association name. To see if the association exists, go to the Secretary of State in your state and see if it is filed as a business. For example in South Carolina the website is http://www.scsos.com/Search%20Business%20Filings
Now you will want to see the name of the insurance company on that quote letter that you received. Go to www.ambest.com and type in the name of the insurance carrier to see the financial rating. You will want to see an "A" rating or higher such as A+15.