7 Ways Hipcamp Protects Hosts from Risks

Hipcamp partners with landowners like you (who become Hipcamp Hosts) to connect your property with folks who are looking for places to stay and camp outside to help you earn extra money. All you need to get started is a flat spot where someone can pitch a tent or park an RV, or a structure (such as a yurt, canvas tent, or tiny cabin) for them to spend the night in.

There are several important measures Hipcamp has taken to help keep you, your land and property, and your Hipcampers safe. Hipcamp offers a comprehensive insurance policy, which protects Hosts for up to $1 million USD for general liability.

In addition, there are six more ways Hipcamp helps protect our Hosts from risk. Read on to find out more.

1. Hipcamp’s comprehensive insurance policy protects our hosts

We aim to provide our Hipcamp Hosts the peace of mind that you will be taken care of in the rare event of a camper injury or property damage. Our Hipcamp Insurance Policy protects hosts for up to $1 million USD for general liability claims per occurrence. The Hipcamp Insurance Policy is designed to cover camping activities that may not be covered under other insurance policies you may have ranging from guest injury to property damage. This policy is in excess to your homeowner’s insurance, and in the event you do not have coverage under a homeowner’s insurance, this would act as your primary coverage.

2. Verified bookings

If you accept a guest on your property through other platforms, or through no platform at all such as a Craigslist posting or a phone call, you run the risk of operating without a policy that will cover you if anything happens related to camping-specific activities.

Here’s what Hipcamp Hosts have said about our verified bookings in comparison to bookings from other platforms:

“Every time I’ve been generous and accepted a direct booking with someone who did not want to book on Hipcamp and paid me cash on arrival, something has happened, mostly boiling down to not respecting our rules and our property.” -Anna C., Hipcamp Host

“I have also noticed that Hipcampers are better behaved than my campers that arrive from other sources. Thank you Hipcamp for whatever it is you’re doing to educate and filter customers!”
-Gabriela L., Hipcamp Host

“I’m a stickler for doing everything through the Hipcamp site. If they want to add a person or stay an extra night, anything like that I ask that they go online and make the change official through the website. I just explain that I pay Hipcamp a percentage to manage the bookings, the money, and to provide the liability insurance coverage. Everyone gets it. If someone were to show up at my gate wanting to camp I’d say alright, but still have them book online before they could camp.”
-Hayden M.,Hipcamp Host

“In our case it’s not so much the insurance but that they sign up through Hipcamp and there is a record!” -Laurie R., Hipcamp Host

“I won’t allow a camper to stay without booking through Hipcamp. I’ll just ask them to book online right when they arrive.” -Gordon H., Hipcamp Host

3. Fair two-way reviews

To help build trust and reputation on Hipcamp, Hosts and Hipcampers write reviews of each other after each outdoor stay has been completed.

4. Trusted Hipcampers

Hipcamper profiles are verified by both Facebook and email. When a camper requests to book a stay at your property, you have the opportunity to click on their profile to learn more about them. In addition to verification, other helpful profile attributes that build trust include completed (past) Hipcamp trips, upcoming (booked) trips, public reviews of the places they’ve been, a photo, full name, an optional short bio, links to additional social networks and personal website.

5. A mindful “Leave It Better” community

The Hipcamp community has grown from a core set of guiding values. The most prominent value, “Leave It Better” ensures that campers visiting are doing so with good intentions. In addition to values, Hipcampers are upheld to a set of camper standards to make sure they respect you and your property.

6. A clear set of rules unique to camping, glamping, and RVs

Setting clear expectations and rules upfront may be one of the best ways to mitigate risk from the start. When you sign up as a host and create your listing, you are prompted to fill out information about which activities and amenities are available (or not available) at your listing and what rules your campers must adhere to. These amenities, activities, and rules are created specific to camping, glamping, and RVs, so you don’t have to think through all of the scenarios and questions a camper might ask, Hipcamp has already done the work for you!

See an example from Skyfarm Yurt:

7. Ability to prevent wildfires and enact a fire ban on your listing with one click

If your county has an active fire ban, or if you would like to temporarily not allow fires on your property for any other reason, you can toggle on a fire ban for your entire property at one time. The ban will be active across all listings you have on Hipcamp under that property.

When you first turn on the fire ban, emails will automatically be sent to everyone with an upcoming booking at your property to let them know about the change.

How to start earning extra money hosting campers on your land

The only risky thing left is not signing up to be a Hipcamp Host and sharing your experience with the world! Why not earn extra income to help pay for property taxes, home expenses, and future dream projects? Learn more about becoming a Hipcamp Host. (Use the promo code JOURNAL and get an extra $100 when you host your first Hipcamp guest.)

Read all about Hipcamp’s Insurance Policy and Hipcamp Insurance FAQs.