Is Home Insurance Higher on Haunted Houses?

If you enjoy getting people good and scared each year in your haunted house, you’ll be happy to know your homeowners insurance will protect you from the risks, as long as you don’t charge admission. If you charge admission for your haunted house you’ll have to buy a separate insurance policy just for your haunted house. So weigh the pros and cons of charging admission to a haunted house carefully. This article will help you to decide.

Here’s a look at the ins and outs of insuring a haunted house.

Negated Liability for Haunted Houses that Charge Admissions

If you charge admission for a haunted house, the liability portion of your homeowners coverage could be negated. So you’ll be paying out of your own pocket if someone suffers an injury on your property. That’s why it is such a smart move not to charge admission to a haunted house. Your liability coverage stays intact.

Admission Affects Homeowners Policy

Why does charging admission to a haunted house impact your homeowners insurance? Because most homeowners policies exclude any business-related activities and charging admission counts as business.

What Do I Need for Charging Admission on a Haunted House?

What should you do if you really wish to charge admission for your haunted house? Consider purchasing a business insurance policy. With a commercial insurance policy, you’ll get the coverage that you need for your haunted house and you can make as much money as you want.

You’ll also want to check local zoning laws. Is it okay for you to operate a for-profit business out of your house? Even if you only allow guests into the haunted house once a year, it still counts as a business.

Not Charging Admission on a Haunted House

Decided not to charge admission for your haunted house? Make sure you have adequate liability levels in your homeowners policy if you invite visitors. Let your insurance agent know that you are hosting a haunted house. Ask him or her about recommended liability levels. You want to have enough liability protection if something should happen to a guest.

Other Coverages for Haunted Houses

Haunted house owners also will want to check their personal property coverage. This insurance coverage protects against damages to your personal possessions. Will your guests damage your personal property as they go through your haunted house? Make sure your personal property coverage levels are high enough.

Do you have Additional Living Expenses (ALE) coverage? If anything happens to the haunted house and you are not able to live in it, ALE gives you the funds to stay in a hotel while the covered damages are repaired.

Halloween Hosting Tips

Park your car in a sheltered area. No cleaning off an egged car for you this Halloween.

Bring pumpkins inside. There won’t be smashed pumpkins and they will look great inside your haunted house.

Be sure to have adequate lighting. You want guests to see where they are going, especially young trick-or-treaters.

Mend cracks in the driveway or put out a traffic cone to direct people out of its ways.

Make sure the entryway to the haunted house is clear. You want guests to have a straight shot to the entrance, no confusion.

Exits need to be clearly marked as well. Guests need to know when they are finished with the haunted house experience and are returning to normal life.

The Cost of Insurance for Haunted Properties

What if you believe your house is haunted? Insurance companies don’t believe in ghosts. So a ghost story or a house’s history aren’t likely to affect the costs or insurance eligibility of a house.

Haunted houses are known as stigmatized properties in the real estate business and can be difficult to sell. Sellers are required to tell the history of a home including events such as murder and suicide, which can put off potential buyers.

So that haunted house with all the history is just another property in the eyes of your insurance company.