Tennis injury - who is responsible?

We have liability insurance for our tennis courts. Our tennis pro also has liability and we are a named insured on her policy. If a person taking a lesson severely cuts himself on the surrounding fence while returning a ball, whose insurance covers the injury claim? Our HOA or the pros’s?

It would be between the insurance companies to figure out. If a pro is running a business on your tennis courts, you should talk to your insurer and make sure your policy even allows that.

I would never add them to the HOA insurance. They have to licensed and insured themselves. Unless somehow your HOA is employing them. Even then would have them as a 1099 contractor responsible for their own insurance.

You should direct this question to your insurance agent. Most of us aren't insurance experts, insurance is complicated, and the companies structure their policies to maximize profit and minimize risks. There will be exclusions and other "gotchas" that a pro can explain to you.

The HOA's insurance package hopefully has something called health (or similar name meaning the same thing) that pays for accidents on a no fault basis (up to your coverage limit for this, which may be $5,000 or $10,000). This is in addition to your liability coverage (which probably has a much higher limit). Check your insurance policy to see if health is included. I think it is generally included in HOA policies since it is good and may prevent lawsuits and larger claims for the insurance company.

Liability is determined on a case by case basis. As others have said, make a claim on your insurance and let your insurance company defend you.

The costs of the accident you described may be payed by the numskull (tennis player) who knew the fence was dangerous and failed to do "proper lookout" or "duty of lookout." The HOA and the instructor are not always liable to pay for every accident on HOA property. The HOA and/or the instructor have to be negligent or breach a duty of care in order to be liable. On the other hand, the HOA and the instructor may both be liable to varying degrees, so both insurances may pay.

I think the benefit of naming the HOA as an insured, is that if the HOA is sued and the instructor is at fault, then the HOA will be covered by the instructor's policy, and maybe other coverage.

If HOA has reason to know - with certainty - that the fence surrounding a tennis court is compromised in a way that could cause serious physical harm, and it doesn't address the health/safety concern and doesn't warn tennis players, then the HOA could be negligent. The same goes for a player that blows a knee on your court. I wouldn't think that a warning sign saying "Fence causes cuts" is reasonable nor would be expected.

If it's an accident and the fence is otherwise functioning as intended, the HOA would not be negligent. That doesn't mean the person can't ask for medical compensation or actually sue the HOA. You still want good insurance.