Start-up guide
Glamping Insurance for UK Sites, What Cover You Need
A plain-English look at the cover a UK glamping site usually needs, and the questions to put to an insurer before you buy.
You’ve got the huts, pods or bell tents ready, and now someone has asked whether you’re insured. Glamping insurance is a business policy made up of several covers. Most UK sites need public liability, cover for the units and their contents, and cover for lost income. Employers’ liability joins the list once you take on staff.
This guide puts those covers in order and gives you questions to ask before you buy. It’s general information, not advice, so a specialist broker should check the detail for your own site.
What glamping insurance covers
A glamping policy is usually built from separate covers, and you choose the ones that match what you run. The table shows the main ones.
| Cover | What it pays for | Who needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Public liability | Injury or damage to guests and visitors that they claim you caused | Almost every site |
| Employers’ liability | Injury or illness to people who work for you | Anyone with employees |
| Buildings and contents | Damage to or loss of units, furniture, hot tubs and equipment | Anyone who owns the units |
| Business interruption | Lost income after an insured event stops you taking bookings | Sites that rely on seasonal income |
| Products liability | Claims linked to things you supply, such as food or welcome hampers | Sites that provide them |
Public liability
Public liability pays out if a guest or visitor is injured, or has their belongings damaged, and makes a claim against you. It isn’t a legal requirement, but few owners would open without it.
Think about where claims come from on a glamping site. Wet decking, uneven paths in the dark, a tipped fire pit, a hot tub lid. Ask what limit of cover you’re being offered and whether it makes sense for the number of guests you could have on site at once.
Employers’ liability
Employers’ liability is required by law if you employ people, and the legal minimum cover is £5 million. You can be fined £2,500 for every day you’re without it, according to GOV.UK. Employing only close family is one of the few exemptions.
If it’s only you running the site, you don’t need it. The moment someone starts working for you, add it.
Buildings and contents for pods, huts and tents
The units themselves are usually your biggest asset, so they need cover for fire, storm, theft and accidental damage. Contents cover looks after what’s inside and around them, such as beds, bedding, furniture, hot tubs and tools.
Insure for what it would cost to replace each unit, not what you paid. A hut built last year may cost more to rebuild now, and being underinsured can reduce what you get paid out.
Business interruption
Business interruption cover pays for lost income when an insured event, such as a fire or storm, stops you taking bookings. For a site with three pods and a short season, losing a peak month can hurt more than the repair bill.
Ask how it handles deposits you’d have to refund, how long it keeps paying, and whether damage to a single unit counts. The answers differ more than owners expect.
Hot tubs, fire pits and activities
Anything that adds risk should be named to your insurer, because it can change both the cover and the price. That includes hot tubs, wood-fired tubs, fire pits, playgrounds, bikes, kayaks and farm animals guests can meet.
Don’t assume an extra is automatically included. A policy that doesn’t mention your hot tub may not respond if someone is hurt in it.
How much glamping insurance costs
There’s no standard price, because quotes are individual. We won’t guess at a figure, and it’s wise to be wary of any article that does.
What moves the price is fairly predictable.
- The number and type of units
- Their value and what they’re made from
- How many guests you host
- Hot tubs, fire pits and activities
- Your location and flood or storm exposure
- Whether you have staff
- Your claims history and the excess you choose
A claim can only be as good as the policy that describes your site.
Questions to ask before you buy
Put the same questions to every insurer or broker so you can compare like with like.
Common gaps
Most problems come from the gap between what the policy says and what is actually on site. These are the ones that catch owners out.
- A home or farm policy stretched too far. Paying guests are often excluded or must be declared.
- Under-declared extras. A hot tub added after the policy started but never mentioned.
- Underinsured values. Units insured at the purchase price, not the replacement cost.
- Closed-season conditions. Rules on empty units or draining water that you didn’t notice.
- Storm limits on canvas. Cover that excludes wind damage above a certain level.
- Unclear staffing. Casual helpers who aren’t covered by employers’ liability.
One more is easy to overlook. What you tell the insurer should match what guests are told. If your website says “sleeps six” or shows a hot tub, your policy should reflect the same thing. Keeping listings, your own site and your policy in step also makes the site easier to run.
Legal requirements accurate as of October 2026.
FAQs
Is public liability insurance a legal requirement for a glamping site?
No, public liability isn’t required by law in the UK, unlike employers’ liability if you have staff. Even so, most owners treat it as essential, because one slip on a wet deck or a hot tub accident could lead to a claim far bigger than the business could pay. Some leases may also ask for it.
Can my home or farm insurance cover glamping guests?
Usually not on its own. Home and standard farm policies are written for domestic or farming use, and paying guests count as a business activity that many policies exclude or need declaring. Ring your current insurer, tell them exactly what you plan to run, and ask for the answer in writing before the first guest arrives.
Do I need to insure a glamping site that closes in winter?
Yes, the units, contents and land are still at risk while you’re closed, from storms, theft and frost. Tell your insurer which months you open and ask whether the policy sets conditions for empty periods, such as draining water systems or regular site checks. Get those conditions in writing so a closed-season claim isn’t refused on a technicality.
How do I insure a shepherd’s hut used for glamping?
Tell the insurer it is a shepherd’s hut on wheels used for paying guests, then give its size, age, heating, such as a wood burner, and where it sits. Ask whether it’s covered as a building, as contents or under a separate unit cover, and whether it’s covered while being moved or delivered.
Next step
Once you’re covered, the next job is filling the huts. Send us your website and we’ll tell you, for free, what’s stopping it getting bookings. Get your free website audit, or read how glamping SEO helps you get found without paying commission.