Rent my RV out as a business. Insurance needed?

garyhaupt wrote:
I started reading this thread, expecting to read the usual "sky is falling' comments and lo and behold...none. Yet, anyway.

I cannot add a darned thing, but to say...good for you folks for adding so much, for being so helpful to the OP and others who are just interested readers.


Gary Haupt

X2 :)

Always it is a good idea to discuss this completely with your CPA. They can tell you in advance how to best determine the deductions, depreciation, and other financial aspects of your planned business.

My concern with such an endeavor would be what the status would be if 6 months from now a customer gets in a serious accident and sues you which anyone can do at any time and it matters not all that much if you win or lose as the attorney costs will come out of your pocket either way. It is also important to know your options with lost income while you are still paying the RV related costs.

If a customer totals the RV will the insurance cover 100% of the true replacement cost? Will it cover the cost based on additions you have made like second AC or a satellite dish?

Earl E wrote:
My son has rented a couple different MH's from a place that actually rents out other people's rigs. The people provided no insurance, as such, and my son had to fill out some kind of short term insurance that he bought on the spot. My son clearly assumed all responsibility for any damage to the MH's and for liability. The place also rented trailers with the same kind of understanding.

How does your son know the owner or rental company did not have liability insurance to protect them from your son or other liability? Hertz has the option to purchase insurance through them when you rent a car. And I guarantee they still have a corporate liability policy in place.

My son has rented a couple different MH's from a place that actually rents out other people's rigs. The people provided no insurance, as such, and my son had to fill out some kind of short term insurance that he bought on the spot. My son clearly assumed all responsibility for any damage to the MH's and for liability. The place also rented trailers with the same kind of understanding.

RedJeep wrote:

The trailer is big enough that I could see doing long term rentals to construction sites or long term "cabin" rentals.

I caution you to go and visit the inside of any construction site trailer that's been on site more than a week before you decide to go that route.

I started reading this thread, expecting to read the usual "sky is falling' comments and lo and behold...none. Yet, anyway.

I cannot add a darned thing, but to say...good for you folks for adding so much, for being so helpful to the OP and others who are just interested readers.


Gary Haupt

We were in a somewhat similar situation with a 41 ft sailboat. It had been with an agency and the we pulled it out and handled it ourselves, somewhat. My comments are Colorado specific. We also owned a walk in gift shop in western Colorado which we had set up as a LLC. So we sort of added the sailboat rental to that LLC even though the boat was located in Florida.

The first thing I did with insurance was to go to a local broker and explain what I was looking for in the way of protection. This was after talking to my tax attorney and CPA. The boat added a bit of a problem in that it was financed and the mortgage holder was not willing to switch ownership over to my Colorado LLC. So we had to do some sort of formal lease arrangement between us, my wife and I, and the LLC. I personally kept making the boat's monthly payment after the LLC paid me the lease fee. LOL We were sort of like the OP in that we already had the boat, couldn't sell it and needed to do something with it. To have bought a boat for this convoluted setup would have never been worth it. Florida not having an income tax was helpful as well as my wife and I owning property in Florida, even though our state of residence was Colorado, where we worked. Took out a Florida business license for the boat rental portion.

I found several problems with vendors with our LLC the first few years, due it not have a credit history. On several of the financial transactions, I had to personally cosign the bank loans to say buy store inventory, because the bank had no recourse against the LLC if it went belly up. After four or five years that problem disappeared once we had a good track record.

I am sure setting down with my tax attorney and CPA, spending probably a $1,000, to get their opinions, before setting up the boat rental, saved me ten fold that amount in the long run. Just the paperwork that had to be sent to the state in Colorado, for a LLC, was a major pain in the tush, monthly, quarterly, yearly, separate tax filings, etc.

Hey OP - check out rvshare.com and click on the List Your RV link in the upper right corner. Here are some excerpts from that page:

100% FREE to list

When you sign up, we will help you get RV rental
insurance that will provide full liability and damage
protection. You and your RV will always be
protected.

You don't need to form a corporation and I'm sure you could also list it locally. There are a lot of RV's for rent on this site - I'm surprised people reccommending rental to newbies don't share this site. Good luck.

On Edit, I see the above poster included info on this site already.

Same boat. We bought the Sahara at the end of last season and the gasser is for sale. I had already started an RV inspection business and plan to put the old motor old up for rent, buy only if it doesn't sell this spring. I could also use it for a power source for checking out trailers, so I could use it in the business instead of buying a pickup.

I listed it for rent on RVShare.com. The guy that runs the website sent me the name of an insurance company that provides renting insurance, but I lost that e-mail. If you register with rv share, you'll get a welcome packet with the insurance info.

Sorry the site I saw is Australian. ezrvrental.comau
Frank.