Golf Carts and Unlicensed Vehicles

Why you should cover it and how.

     Golf carts are something that may be a huge part or not a part at all in your community.  In my experience they are found in smaller towns that have little golf courses, retirement communities or both.  There are a few occurrences of when they are classified as farm equipment and are driven around town but again smaller towns.  When you have an unlicensed vehicle that you use the some questions arise. A couple of those are do I need to insure it and if so how.

     Let's start with the first question.  Do you need insurance if you don't have to license it?  The answer is yes and no.  It all depends on how you use the vehicle.  If you own it and leave it at a golf course that is fully staffed and the golf course carries adequate coverage for their grounds then no.  If you ever drive it off the property then that is another story.  Keep in mind though that if you wreck the golf cart or damage it that will not be covered by the golf course since it is your personal property and you did it.

    To continue on the subject on if you need to cover it we will talk about another situation.  If you drive the cart on your land only which it never comes off do you need coverage for the golf cart the answer is no.  The golf cart will be covered on your homeowners with your liability covering any damage to others.  Some homeowners policies have endorsements on their policies to allow you to place the risk.  That leads to the next issue.  What if you damage the cart? Will the homeowners pay for it?  It depends on how much damage you have.  Your homeowners isn't designed to cover such a risk in most cases, unless you have an endorsement, so the deductible is very high.  If you have an average golf cart then the deductible will be 25%-80% approximately to pay for the damages.  Not a great return considering the claim will show up on renewals the next year and you will be faced with that claim showing for the next 3-5 years.  Some companies would be faced with the issue of dropping you for number of claims.  That wouldn't be much fun would it.

    There is one more option, which I believe is the best.  Place a small policy on it.  The risk is very low but you will be happy that you had it if you need it.  Why, you may ask, because of all the ways you would benefit if something was to happen.  The first coverage would be bodily injury.  This would be beneficial in that it would cover you if you broke a traffic law or created a wreck.  Instead of paying out thousands of dollars in liability for damages done to all parties, your policy would take care of it for you.  Next would be in a situation you damaged  something in a wreck, again your policy would take care of it.  If someone was riding with you and fell out of the cart again your policy would take care of it for you.  Finally if the cart was stolen, vandalized, started on fire, damaged by weather, you hit a deer or run into something you would be covered for a much lower deductible than you home.  This part is the best part,  it doesn't effect your home owners because it only effect the policy the golf cart is on.  Yes it will go up a little I'm sure but to compare if your home policy is $1000 per year and your cart policy is $100 per year, which would you prefer take a 5 % rate increase.  I think we all know that answer.

    In closing I believe it is important to have coverage on your golf cart and the best way is to cover it with a specialty coverage.  The first step in doing such it to speak with an insurance consultant such as myself to draw up the best plan.  It is important to have the right coverage because you must protect yourself in all possibilities.  The question we face now days is not if something will happen but when it will happen.