Golf Cart Insurance: What It Is and Why You (Might) Need It

Owning a golf cart is great. Not only does it come with a lot of perks (convenience and customization for starters), but there’s the cool factor, too. A lot of first-time golf cart owners don’t realize, however, that purchasing a golf cart insurance policy is almost always mandatory, depending on where you live. While some Homeowner’s Associations will make this necessity very clear, other situations leave some guesswork, making it unclear about if insurance is needed at all and, if so, which type is required. And that's completely ignoring the general risk of not having an insurance policy regardless of legality. Can you imagine losing your beloved golf cart to an accident, storm or hazard and not having a golf cart insurance policy that covers you?

Having some type of golf cart insurance is almost always a good idea. Not only will an insurance policy protect you and your cart, but it will help keep the people around you safe, too. The type of insurance policy you’ll need for your golf cart depends on a few things, including the type of cart you drive, how you drive it, and where you drive it.

To make things a little easier, we’ve broken the types of carts into three different general categories so that you can get a jump start on learning which low-speed vehicle or cart insurance policy might be the appropriate one for you. While it’s not the definite “right answer”, it is a great place to start learning more about the requirements for owning one of these vehicles. Knowing your insurance policy requirements, coverage and benefits is an important responsibility for being safe on and off the road.

Basic Golf Carts: Your typical type of golf cart, these are the ones that are designed to drive just on a golf course or on your own property. These carts don’t have a license plate and don’t go on the street. With its speed maxing out around the same as a riding mower, the best type of insurance for these carts is actually your homeowners' insurance. You can add a golf cart endorsement to your homeowners' plan and be covered.

Speed-Modified Golf Carts: These faster carts typically max out at around 25 miles per hour, making it possible to drive on the street in neighborhoods. If you do take your cart on the street, then you’ll want to look at getting auto insurance for golf carts. You’ll find that these carts will fall under the Low-Speed Vehicle (LSV) category under most insurances.

ATV “Golf Carts”: Three wheelers, four-wheelers, and quad bikes; these types of go-anywhere golf carts are driven on neighborhood and city streets, and sometimes on golf courses. For these carts, you’ll want to get low-speed vehicle auto insurance as well as an umbrella insurance plan just to be sure that all of your bases are covered. Many states make ATV insurance mandatory, so make sure you look into coverage before buying. 

If you live in a community with a HOA, or if you drive your cart in an HOA neighborhood, you’ll definitely want to check out what their specific requirements are. In most cases, the HOA will want to be listed as an additional insured on your insurance policy. While the cost of each policy will vary based on a variety of factors, you can expect that plans that are added to your homeowners' insurance will start at around $50 extra each year and standalone plans for low-speed vehicles and golf carts that go on the road will begin at $12/month but could go up as high as $400 to $1000 each year.

Popular Golf Cart Insurance Coverage Options:

• Custom Parts and Equipment

• Roadside Assistance

• OEM Parts

Coverage Common Golf Cart Insurance Coverage*:

• Bodily Injury Liability

• Guest Passenger Liability

• Property Damage Liability

(*Golf cart insurance requirements vary depending on where you live.)

Enhanced Coverage Options:

• Comprehensive -Collision

• Medical Payments

• Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (UM/UIM)

Coverage Golf Cart Insurance Providers:

More ways to protect your golf cart:

READ MORE: Why you NEED a golf cart floor mat