A campsite is a business whose customers sleep outside, walk about in the dark, light fires, and bring their own equipment. The liability is for the ground, the trees, the water and the buildings rather than for a treatment or a product.
The ground, the dark and the water
Trips and falls on uneven ground, injuries near ponds, rivers and lakes, burns from fire pits and barbecues, and carbon monoxide incidents in tents and units are the claims. Public liability answers, and the defence is the site risk assessment, lighting, signage, the rules given to guests on arrival and the record of how they were given. Insurers ask about water features and open fires specifically because both are frequent and serious.
Trees, which are a standing liability
A site with mature trees over pitches carries a duty to inspect them, and a failed limb onto a tent or a caravan is a claim with a straightforward question behind it: when was that tree last looked at, by whom, and what did they record. Insurers expect a programme of inspection proportionate to the risk, and a site that has one is in a different position from a site that has not thought about it.
Accommodation units, facilities and utilities
Glamping pods, safari tents, shepherd's huts, static caravans and lodges are property with their own values, often timber, often heated, and vulnerable to fire and storm. Shower blocks, kitchens and laundries bring water and electricity into constant public use, and legionella management applies to any stored or recirculating water system. Business interruption matters because a season lost is a year's income for a seasonal site.
Licensing, and what the site is allowed to do
Caravan and camping sites operate under a licensing regime with conditions about spacing, fire points and access, and those conditions are also the insurer's risk controls. Sites that add events, a bar, a cafe, activities, hire equipment or dog friendly facilities have added activities to declare. Insurers ask what the licence permits and what the site actually does, and the gap between the two is where the underwriting problem usually sits.
Questions people ask about campsite insurance
What does a campsite insurer ask about?
Water features, open fires and fire pits, lighting, the site risk assessment, tree inspection records and what rules guests are given on arrival.
Are glamping pods covered as buildings?
They are insured as property with their own values, and being timber and heated they are a firmer fire risk than a masonry building, so the figures and conditions differ.
Do I need to tell the insurer about a bar or activities?
Yes. A bar, a cafe, events, hire equipment and organised activities are separate declared activities beyond running pitches.