liability of letting someone borrow your boat

Was curious if anyone has experience or advice on this one. A firend of our has bought a cabin and we are considering letting her use our boat occassionally in exchange for using the cabin. I am comfortable if she breals something, she will fix. My bigger concern is if someone gets hurt while she is driving or we are not there, where does liability fall? I think my insurance will cover it since it covers the boat, not a person; but I am not sure if personal liability will come to me or her, or both?

I would check with my carrier. They also have an issue with you getting hurt at their cabin.

I know on my boat insurance (Boat US), it asks me to list the drivers and some demographics of the other drivers of the boat. If you do that, your insurance should be in force. The other thing to consider is how responsible they are at fixing things that will break and care for your boat. They would have the same concerns for you in their cabin though.

When I setup my insurance for my boat there was an option to add other drivers. They required drivers to be declared if they would be operating the boat more than a certain percentage of the time. The additional drivers didn't actually have to be a member of your household. So, it might be as simple as adding her as a driver on your policy. My father in law has me as a driver on his boat policy and I live 2 hrs away. In addition to that she might be able to carry her own liability policy on your boat. Not sure how that would play out though having 2 liability policies on the same HIN.

I've also wondered about this myself. the property side of things is not an issue IMO---property can ultimately be replaced. . the liability is the big concern. Unforntunately there was a death out on our lake over memorial day, the driver of one the boats was using a "friends" boat. No criminal charges were pressed . It was ruled a no fault accident, but there are pending civil charges. I will be curious to hear the outcome.

The owner of property is liable for damage the property causes. If a shopping cart rolls downhill at a store the store has some liability if it damages a vehicle.
Check with your agent, but your insurance shoulc cover your boat with someone else using it. Their insurance might also cover them.
It's kind of fair. They've got liability for their cavin while you use it.

So if a shopper of the store rams a shopping cart into someones car the store is responsible or liable for the damage to the car?

Originally Posted by ldr

So if a shopper of the store rams a shopping cart into someones car the store is responsible or liable for the damage to the car?

Only if he lets go of it just as it's rolling down the hill.

My insurance agent says that when I let someone else drive the boat I am accepting liability for anything that happens while they are behind the wheel. Boat loan terms said that insurance must not have any driver restrictions, had to change policies to meet their requirements. Its okay to do but realize that if an accident occurs you will be named if a lawsuit is filed.

Everyone is liable and will be pursued, just ask any attorney. Those with the deep pockets will be pursued even more.