Leavitt Rec & Hospitality Insurance | The Glamping Insurance Market Is Starting to Shift. Finally.
AGA member guest blog written by Leah Bright, Leavitt Recreation & Hospitality Insurance
For the last several years, insurance has been one of the biggest challenges facing outdoor recreation businesses. You know who you are. Glamping resorts, campgrounds, guest ranches, whitewater rafting outfitters, corn mazes, and other recreation-based operations.
Many operators found themselves dealing with fewer carrier options, stricter underwriting requirements, and rising premiums. Your insurance agents often became the bearers of bad news instead of solutions.
Especially businesses in wind / hail areas, coastal properties, and those located in areas with significant wildfire risk.
The hard market hit outdoor recreation particularly hard. For years.
Many business owners saw carriers exit entire classes of business, reduce capacity, increase deductibles, or apply new underwriting requirements that simply didn't exist a few years earlier. Even operators with strong loss histories and excellent risk management practices sometimes found themselves facing premium increases with little explanation beyond "market conditions."
The good news?
We're starting to see things change.
New capacity is entering the marketplace.
More carriers are exploring outdoor recreation opportunities.
Underwriting is beginning to loosen in certain segments.
Pricing pressure is softening for many well-managed operations.
We're also seeing some carriers become more willing to take a fresh look at businesses that may have been declined in recent years. Operations that can demonstrate strong safety practices, proactive maintenance programs, documented employee training, and good claims histories are finding more interest from underwriters than they were seeing even a year ago.
That doesn't mean every business will see dramatic savings overnight.
And it doesn't mean every carrier is suddenly comfortable with your wildfire score, your Wibit, or horseback riding without helmets.
But it does mean there may be more options available today than there were just six months ago. That's worth paying attention to.
One mistake we often see is business owners assuming their renewal will look exactly like last year's renewal. Insurance markets don't stay static. What was unavailable or unaffordable twelve months ago may now be viable. That's particularly true in specialized sectors like glamping and outdoor hospitality where carrier appetite can shift surprisingly quickly.
At our office, outdoor recreation isn't a side niche. It's what we do.
We understand that a luxury glamping resort has very different exposures than a traditional campground. A guest ranch operates differently than a rafting company. A venue with a Wibit, zip line, horseback riding program, or agritourism component requires specialized underwriting conversations that many generalist agencies simply don't have every day.
We work with regional carriers, group captive programs, and alternative market solutions designed for businesses that don't fit neatly into standard insurance boxes.
The good news is that the insurance marketplace may look different today than it did at your last renewal.
Markets evolve. Carrier appetites change. New opportunities emerge.
If you haven't reviewed your insurance program recently, now may be a good time to see what's available. A short conversation could reveal options you didn't have before. And you know what? I'm your gal to do that. Here’s my contact information for you when you’re ready to chat.
Leah Bright - 605-423-4361 Leah-bright@leavitt.com
