Guides
Golf carts, boats and ATVs under a homeowners policy
A standard HO-3 pays almost nothing for damage to golf carts, ATVs and boats, and its liability cover has speed, horsepower and location limits. Know the gaps.
A standard homeowners policy treats golf carts, ATVs and boats as exceptions rather than as part of the house. Under the ISO HO-3, damage to a golf cart or ATV is not covered at all, damage to a boat is capped at $1,500 for the boat, motor and trailer combined, and liability protection applies only when the vehicle or boat passes narrow tests for speed, horsepower, ownership and location. If you own one of these, assume you need a separate policy or an endorsement until your agent shows you wording that says otherwise.
This guide works from the 2011 edition of the ISO HO-3, form HO 00 03 05 11, as posted by the Maine Bureau of Insurance. Your insurer's own form, your state's amendatory endorsement and your declarations page control (see ISO homeowners forms and why your policy may differ), and some insurers write broader or narrower terms than the ISO baseline.
Two questions, two parts of the policy
Every toy-and-vehicle situation raises two separate questions. Section I asks whether the thing itself is covered property. Section II (Coverage E personal liability and Coverage F medical payments) asks whether the policy defends you and pays when someone is hurt or their property is damaged. A golf cart, for instance, can have limited liability protection and no damage protection at all, so each question needs its own answer.
| What you own | Damage to it (Section I) | Liability and medical payments (Section II) |
|---|---|---|
| Golf cart | Not covered property: it is a "motor vehicle" | Covered only if you own it, it seats up to four, it cannot exceed 25 mph, and the accident happens at a golfing facility or inside a private residential community run by a property owners association |
| ATV or side-by-side | Not covered property | Covered on your "insured location" if the vehicle is not registered; excluded if registration is required where the accident happens |
| Boat with outboard of 25 hp or less | Within the $1,500 watercraft limit, which includes motor and trailer | Covered, unless racing, rented, used for a charge or used in a business |
| Boat with outboard over 25 hp | Same $1,500 limit | Covered only if the motor was declared or reported on time (see below) |
| Owned inboard, inboard-outdrive or jet-pump boat (most ski boats, cruisers and jet skis) | Same $1,500 limit | Not covered, whatever the horsepower |
| Street-legal low-speed vehicle | Not covered property | Excluded if registered for public roads |
Golf carts
The HO-3 defines a motor vehicle as any self-propelled land or amphibious vehicle, and Coverage C does not cover motor vehicles, with narrow exceptions for unregistered vehicles used solely to service a residence or built to assist the handicapped. A recreational golf cart is neither. If it burns in the garage, is stolen, or floats away in a flood, the base policy pays nothing for the cart.
Liability is different. The motor vehicle liability exclusion has a carve-out for a motorized golf cart that you own, that is designed to carry up to four people, that was not built or modified to exceed 25 mph on level ground, and that is, at the time of the accident, inside one of two places:
- a golfing facility, whether parked or in use to play golf or cross the course, or
- a private residential community, including its public roads where a golf cart can legally travel, that is subject to a property owners association and contains your residence.
Two details trip owners up. First, speed: a lift kit and motor-controller upgrade that pushes a cart past 25 mph takes it outside the carve-out, and so can a battery conversion that does the same. Second, place: a cart driven on town streets outside your association's community, in a rural area with no association, or across a county road to a neighbor's farm falls outside the ISO wording. The same applies once a cart is registered. Federal rules define a low-speed vehicle as a four-wheeled motor vehicle that goes more than 20 and no more than 25 mph, with a gross weight under 3,000 pounds (49 CFR 571.3). States set their own rules for registering and insuring one, and the ISO exclusion removes liability for any motor vehicle registered for use on public roads. That is an auto-policy question.
Use for a business is also excluded, except for a motorized golf cart on a golfing facility, so a cart that hauls tools for a landscaping side business has no homeowners liability coverage.
ATVs and side-by-sides
Auto policies generally do not cover ATVs, and the NAIC advises that a homeowners policy "may partially cover" liability, which is an accurate description of the ISO wording. For an ATV that you own, designed for recreational use off public roads, the form covers liability only if the accident happens on an insured location: your residence premises, other residences you list, vacant land you own or rent, a place you are temporarily staying, or a premises you occasionally rent for non-business use. Ride the same machine on a trail, a neighbor's land or public land and the liability coverage is gone, because the vehicle is owned by an insured and the accident is off the insured location.
Registration is the other trigger. Some states require ATVs to carry a permit or registration to ride on public trails or public land. Under the ISO form, if registration is required by law or government regulation at the place where the accident happens, liability does not apply, even if you never registered the vehicle. Checking your state's off-highway vehicle rules is part of checking your insurance.
The ATV's own damage is not covered under Section I. Business use removes liability coverage as well, so a side-by-side that works a farm or ranch that earns income needs a different arrangement. See farm and ranch homes: when you need a farmowners policy if that describes your property.
Boats and personal watercraft
Damage. The HO-3 treats a boat as personal property in Coverage C, subject to a special limit of $1,500 for watercraft of all types, including trailers, furnishings, equipment and outboard motors. The limit applies per loss to everything in the category together, so a $20,000 boat and a $5,000 motor share the same $1,500. The wording is also narrow in two ways. The windstorm or hail peril covers watercraft only while they are inside a fully enclosed building, so a boat on a trailer in your driveway during a hurricane is not covered. And the theft peril excludes watercraft stolen away from the residence premises, so a boat taken from a marina or a roadside trailer is also outside the policy. The newer ISO 03 22 edition raises several special limits; the filing that describes it for North Carolina shows the watercraft limit going from $1,500 to $2,000. Neither figure comes close to the price of a modern boat. See special limits on jewelry, firearms, cash and collectibles for how these category caps work.
Liability. The ISO watercraft exclusion starts by removing racing, rental, carrying people or cargo for a charge, and business use. Then it removes everything except the following:
- a boat that is stored,
- a sailing vessel under 26 feet, or a larger one you do not own or rent,
- an inboard or inboard-outdrive boat, including a water-jet engine, of 50 horsepower or less that you do not own, or a larger one you neither own nor rent, and
- an outboard of 25 horsepower or less, or a larger outboard that is not owned by an insured, was acquired during the policy period, or was acquired earlier and then either declared at policy inception or reported in writing within 45 days of acquisition.
That last sentence means an owned jet ski or inboard ski boat carries no liability coverage under the ISO form, and an owned outboard over 25 horsepower is covered only if someone remembered to tell the insurer. The Insurance Information Institute reports that whether a boat is covered for theft or liability depends on its size, its horsepower and the insurance company, and that personal watercraft are generally not covered by homeowners policies.
Five hypothetical scenarios
These are invented to show how the wording operates. They are not claims results.
| Scenario | ISO HO-3 result | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A guest is hurt when you drive your four-seat, 18-mph cart down an association street | Liability responds; the cart's damage does not | Golf cart carve-out for a private residential community |
| The same cart, on a public street outside the community | No liability coverage | Not within a golfing facility or the community |
| Your unregistered ATV rolls on your own 10-acre lot and hurts a visitor | Liability responds | Owned recreational vehicle on an insured location |
| The same ATV, on a state forest trail that requires a permit | No liability coverage | Off the insured location, and registration required |
| A friend is hurt on your 150-hp outboard boat, bought three years ago and never reported | No liability coverage | Owned outboard over 25 hp acquired earlier and not declared |
How to close the gaps
- Add an endorsement. Many insurers will add golf cart or recreational vehicle coverage to the homeowners policy for physical damage, liability or both. Get the wording in writing, since these are insurer-specific, and read it against the list below. See endorsements, riders and floaters: what the words mean.
- Buy a standalone policy. Boats, jet skis and ATVs commonly carry their own policies, and a standalone boat policy can offer agreed-value settlement, navigation limits, towing and a storm clause. Compare how total losses are paid, and whether the policy covers custom parts.
- Check the umbrella. An umbrella policy sits above the underlying liability, so if the underlying policy excludes the boat, the umbrella may exclude it too, or require a specific boat policy first. Ask before the season.
- Tell the insurer when you buy. The 45-day reporting rule for larger outboards is a good habit for every purchase.
Ask your agent these before you ride:
- Does liability cover this vehicle, and where, and who may drive it?
- Are guests, children and rental users covered, and at what medical-payments limit? See Medical payments to others (Coverage F) explained and your kids, their friends and liability coverage.
- What speed, seating, horsepower and registration conditions apply?
- Is physical damage covered, and are aftermarket parts and trailers included?
- Is theft, fire and hurricane damage covered when the vehicle is parked or stored outside?
Key takeaways
- The ISO HO-3 does not cover damage to golf carts or ATVs, and it caps all watercraft damage at $1,500, so treat these as items needing their own coverage.
- Golf cart liability applies only to a four-seat cart limited to 25 mph, and only at a golf facility or inside an association-governed community.
- ATV liability under the ISO form applies on your insured location and stops at the property line, or wherever registration is legally required.
- Owned inboards and jet skis have no liability coverage under the ISO form, and an owned outboard over 25 horsepower needs to be declared or reported within 45 days.
- Ask for the endorsement or policy wording in writing, and have your umbrella carrier confirm that it accepts the vehicle.