A second home in the White Mountains gets used by family and friends when the owners are not there. Everything that happens during those weekends is the owner’s liability.
Lending a property to friends is not a rental and it is not a reduced exposure. You still own the premises.
Three things about a property you are not at.
If a guest is injured at your cabin while you are three hours away, the claim is against you as owner. Being absent neither helps nor is relevant. Everything about the condition of the property, the stairs, the deck, the water heater, remains yours.
Lending a property to a friend for a weekend frequently means people you have never met using it. Your liability extends to them, and you have no practical control over what happens or how many turn up.
Accepting payment, even informally to cover costs, can move the arrangement toward a rental and into business pursuits territory, which personal policies exclude. The distinction between lending and renting is money, and it matters more than the informality suggests.
Liability at a property you are not watching.
Frequent lending is an ongoing exposure.
It can move the arrangement out of personal cover.
The three that produce injury claims at cabins.
Tell us how often others use the property and whether anyone contributes money.
We cover the weekends you are not there, which is most of them.
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