Boat Rental Checkout Procedures- Address Lake Conditions

If you rent boats to the public or your customers, you should have a very good checkout procedure in place to educate your boat rental customer and to document that you have reviewed the boat operation, safety features and equipment, and boat navigation with your boat rental customer.


As a marina and resort insurance specialist, I review many checkout procedures for my clients. One thing that is often missing from the checkout procedure is language addressing current lake conditions. Why is this important?

A boat rental customer recently accused one of my clients of renting a boat in unsafe lake conditions. The lake was near flood stage and there was a lot of floating debris in the lake. The rental customer hit something in the lake, most likely a submerged tree, and damaged the lower unit on the boat. Of course, the rental customer was liable for the damage per the boat rental contract but they used the “unsafe lake conditions” argument to try to get out of paying for the damage to the lower unit.

Because of this recent experience, it would be a good idea to add a clause to your boat rental agreement or checkout procedure stating that lake conditions can be unpredictable and can change in an instant due to water current, winds, hail, lightning, high/low water levels, or other weather and water conditions. It is the responsibility of the boat renter to monitor conditions and decide whether they want to rent the boat and the boat renter agrees to hold boat rental company harmless if any damages/injuries occur due to lake and weather conditions. Of course, if the lake is full of floating timber or under threat of approaching severe weather, it is a good idea to stop renting boats until the dangerous conditions are not a threat.

Addressing lake and weather conditions on your boat rental contract or checkout procedure will help to protect against claims related to these issues.