Learn what campsite public liability insurance covers in 2026, how occupiers’ duties apply to your tent field, and what records to keep.
Hello. The council checks your days. Your insurer checks your ground.
The 60-day Class BC right in England can allow a temporary recreational campsite without a planning application, if you meet its limits and conditions. It does not insure your site. It does not remove your duty to take reasonable care.
Keep these regimes separate. Planning rules govern land use. Occupiers’ liability governs safety. Insurance may help meet the cost of a covered claim.
What your campsite insurance actually covers
Public liability insurance can respond if someone claims your campsite business caused their injury or damaged their property. The insurer’s response depends on your policy wording, evidence and the facts of the claim.
It is not a safety certificate. It does not make an unsafe site safe. It does not guarantee that every claim will be covered.
There is no general legal requirement to buy public liability insurance just because you run a campsite. But a contract, landowner, booking arrangement, trade body or assessment scheme may require it. Many operators arrange cover because an injury claim can bring legal costs as well as compensation.
Before you open, tell your broker what you plan to do. Describe the site, guest numbers, activities, temporary facilities, events, fires, contractors and operating dates. Ask the insurer to confirm that the policy covers them.
Your planning right and your liability duties are separate
In England, Class BC permits a recreational campsite for up to 60 days in total in a calendar year, with up to 50 pitches. It also sets conditions, including on-site toilets and waste disposal, written notice to the local planning authority before use each calendar year, and flood-zone prior approval where required. Check the Class BC rules before you set dates or take bookings.
Do not apply the England rule across the border. Wales introduced Class BA in 2026. It allows up to 60 days in a calendar year in many places, but up to 28 days in a National Park, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or World Heritage Site. It also requires an application to the local planning authority for a decision on whether prior approval is needed. Read the Welsh Class BA provisions, then check your site’s status and process with the council.
These permitted development rights can remove the need for planning permission when you meet the rules. They do not cancel occupiers’ liability. They do not replace insurance. They do not settle separate questions such as campsite licensing.
For more on planning routes and site checks, visit Open Sky Adventure’s legal guide.
Who owes what to whom?
Visitors: the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957
If you control the field or campsite, you may be an occupier, even if you are not the landowner. Under section 2 of the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1957, you owe visitors a common duty of care.
Take the care that is reasonable in the circumstances. Make sure visitors are reasonably safe when they use the site for the purpose you allowed.
A visitor can be a paying camper, a guest, or a person invited onto the site. A tradesperson may also be a visitor while carrying out work. A person using a public right of way is treated as permitted to be there for that purpose.
The duty is about reasonable care, not a promise that nothing can ever go wrong. But you should identify foreseeable risks and take practical steps to manage them.
Non-visitors: the Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984
The Occupiers’ Liability Act 1984 covers people who are not visitors, including trespassers. The duty is narrower.
It arises if you know, or have reasonable grounds to believe, that a danger exists; you know or have grounds to believe someone is, or may come, near it; and it is reasonable to expect you to offer some protection. If the duty applies, take reasonable care to prevent injury from that danger.
The Act concerns personal injury, not property damage. It also says there is no duty for risks a person willingly accepts. Do not assume that a trespasser has no rights, or that a sign ends your responsibility.
What counts as a visitor on your tent field?
Think beyond registered campers. Consider anyone you invite, permit or expect to enter the areas you control.
That may include guests walking to a toilet, a delivery driver, a contractor, or a visitor at a farm or hospitality business that shares the field. Check how your boundary, booking terms and site layout affect where people can go. Make sure your insurance describes the real use of the land.
Then walk the site as a guest would. Look at the route from the entrance to pitches, facilities and parking. Check uneven ground, drains, wet grass, loose cables, gates, fire areas and any equipment or structures. Repair hazards where you can. Mark or close off areas where you cannot.
A warning sign is not a shield
Under section 2(4)(a) of the 1957 Act, a warning does not automatically discharge your duty. It must be enough, in the circumstances, to help the visitor stay reasonably safe.
Put up a sign where it helps. Do not rely on it instead of fixing an avoidable hazard, blocking access or giving clear instructions.
The same practical point applies to policy exclusions. A policy may cover public liability in general but exclude an activity, event, structure or part of your business. Read the wording. Ask the insurer to confirm any uncertain point in writing.
Children and contractors can raise the duty
The 1957 Act says you must be prepared for children to be less careful than adults. A site that welcomes families needs a walk-round that reflects how children may use it. Look for hazards within reach, tempting shortcuts and areas where a child could wander into danger.
The Act also addresses work by independent contractors. You may still be answerable for faulty construction, maintenance or repair unless you acted reasonably in choosing the contractor and took reasonable steps to check their competence and the quality of the work.
Keep the checks. Ask for relevant qualifications and certificates. For electrical work, retain the electrician’s records. Check that the work was completed properly. A contractor’s insurance does not remove your own duty as occupier.
CROW access land has a limited carve-out
On land where public access rights under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 apply, the 1984 Act removes the duty for certain risks. These include risks from natural landscape features, rivers, streams, ditches and ponds, and injury from crossing walls, fences or gates other than by proper use.
There is also a carve-out for specified physical features on coastal margin. Read the detail in the 1984 Act and check whether the land and access right qualify.
This is not a general exemption for campsite hazards. The exception does not protect a danger you create intentionally or recklessly. Treat machinery, buried anchors, guy lines and fires as risks to manage. Do not assume the CROW rules remove your responsibilities to paying campers or other visitors under the 1957 Act.
Build the right cover stack
Public liability limits
A £5 million public liability limit is common campsite market practice. Operators hosting events or larger gatherings may be advised to consider £10 million. These are market norms, not universal legal limits.
Check what your policy covers, not just the headline limit. Confirm the land and campsite activity are named or clearly included. Ask about guest numbers, pitch limits, temporary facilities, fires, events, equipment, contractors and the season dates. Check excesses and exclusions too.
Some campsite schemes and clubs ask for proof of public liability cover. Requirements can vary by scheme and may change. The Caravan and Motorhome Club and the Camping and Caravanning Club may set conditions for certificated sites. Ask the relevant club for its current requirements and keep the confirmation with your policy records.
Employers’ liability for seasonal staff
Public liability is not employers’ liability. If you employ people, including seasonal or part-time staff, check whether the law requires you to hold employers’ liability insurance.
The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 generally requires cover of at least £5 million from an authorised insurer. The Government says you can be fined £2,500 for each day you are not properly insured. You can also be fined for failing to make the certificate available to staff or an inspector.
Display or make the certificate accessible to employees. Keep copies for your records. Narrow exemptions apply in some cases, including certain close-family-only businesses. Confirm whether an exemption applies before relying on it.
The claims that actually happen
Campsite insurance claims often involve slips, trips and falls. Wet grass and uneven ground are familiar sources of risk. So are potholes, muddy routes, hidden edges and temporary cables.
Set a daily hazard walk-round. Repeat it after heavy rain, maintenance work or a change in site use. Check the areas guests use most. Fix hazards promptly, or close the area until you can.
Keep an incident log. Record the date, time, location, conditions, people involved, action taken and any witnesses. Take photographs where appropriate. Keep maintenance records, inspection sheets, contractor paperwork and policy documents together.
A clear paper trail helps show what you knew and what you did. It does not decide a claim on its own. But it gives your insurer and adviser useful evidence.
Five checks to make before opening
- Check the planning route. Confirm whether you are relying on England’s Class BC or Wales’s Class BA, then check the days, site limits, protected status and any required council process.
- Check your liability policy. Confirm that it covers temporary tent camping, the land, your activities, guest numbers and operating dates.
- Check the limit and exclusions. Review the indemnity limit, excess, events, fires, facilities, contractors and any excluded activities.
- Check staff cover. Arrange employers’ liability where required, make the certificate available and keep your records.
- Check your evidence routine. Set walk-rounds, log incidents, take photographs where useful and retain maintenance records.
If you are opening a field or adding camping to a farm, pub or rural hospitality business, compare your plans with the detail on unlocking your land and its potential. You can also join the Open Sky Adventure community and sign up through the website.
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