Do You Know Your Country Club Liabilities?

Country clubs are a great place to relax, that’s why you own one. Your customers expect a location where they can play a little squash, a few rounds of golf, or a tennis match, then go and grab some great food and a drink. What they don’t realize is how many liability your full-service country club is open to because of the services you provide. Are you?

General Liability

General liability coverage is a must have for any business, and country clubs are no exception. Not only do you have a location where people visit to relax, dine, and play a few rounds of golf and tennis, but your business also sells products such as sporting equipment and provide other services. General liability packages together multiple liability policies to create a broad coverage, including:

Premises Liability

If a person sustains personal injury or their personal property is subject to damage while on your property, you can be held liable for it. This insurance covers costs from lawsuits, medical bills, and repairs to damaged property.

Products Liability

Country clubs usually sell sporting goods for the on premise sports they have. If the goods you sell prove defective and injury your customers, this policy can cover legal defense costs, medical bills, and settlements.

Completed Operations Liability

If you provide services for a customer, such as cleaning or repairing their sporting gear, this insurance covers your club if these services are not rendered properly, resulting in damage to the goods or injury. The policy covers litigation expenses, settlements, or awards.

Herbicide, Pesticide, & Pollution Liability

To keep your lawns green weed- and pest-free, you probably apply pesticide, herbicide, and fertilizer to your country clubs grounds, especially if you have a golf course on your premise. This can be a prime weakness in your standard liability insurance policy, as most have exclusions where the policy won’t apply to bodily injury or property damage due to the release of toxic chemicals or runoff. With this insurance you’ll have coverage as long as your equipment, chemicals, and regulations meet local code.

Employee Practices Liability

Employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) provides protect to the company against claims made by potential, current, and past employees. This includes cases of discrimination, sexual harassment, discrimination, breach of contract, failure to employ, failure to promote, and negligent evaluation, among others. This policy helps put employees at ease and provides support to your HR. To learn more about the high cost of harassment, read this article by our own Brian Kilcoyne.

Restaurant, Food Service and Liquor Liability

As a country club, you serve alcohol, so there’s going to be circumstances where your patrons might have a bit too much to drink. It’s a good idea to provide coverage to your premise and property with liquor liability insurance. This will cover the costs of alcohol-related injuries and accidents that occur on premise, as well as protection against litigation related to intoxication by your patrons.

Did anything of these liabilities surprise you? Do you have these coverages for your country club or other business? If you’d like to talk with experts in Country Clubs and Golf Courses, please contact the H&K Insurance Agency.