Clubhouse rentals - insurance

Ask your association master insurance carrier. In our association I've never heard of this requirement, but you also know we live in a society where people sue over a ham sandwich for not having mayonnaise and so you have to be cautious.

Sometimes additional insurance may be necessary for certain types of events. For exampke, I would hope you wouldn't need one for a kids birthday party, but if a resident wanted to host his/her wine tasting club, a little extra insurance may be helpful in case someone forgets there's a difference between tasting and chugging, leaves the event and runs into a school bus with little kids in it.

Your rules may help reduce that risk (e.g. Events where alcohol is served may need to limit the number of guests and all must be over 21) so be sure to review them with the association attorney and insurance company. Your company may already have some of coverage you can add to the policy - add it to the rental fee regardless of the activity and out language in the agreement where the association can't be held responsible for injury, death, etc.

Sadly this is becoming the new normal. I was a member of a Ham Radio club that actively volunteered for charity events like breast cancer walks/ runs and Bike races. When a good Samaritan was sued and lost,
this caused many to reevaluate their participation. One Club had to raise dues to cover an umbrella liability policy that covered participating in charity events for other organizations as well as liability coverage
for all club sponsored events like regular meetings and picnics.

We do not require the member to get insurance. It is covered under our general liability. I'm not sure how common it is but insurance companies do offer that type of insurance. I was required to get a 1 million dollar policy to teach a class at a municipal community center in Virginia. However, the class was for profit. I do not think they required it for non-business related rentals.

We do this also, although I checked with our insurance broker and we are covered for just about any kind of accident by our HOA policy so it's not really necessary.