Senate panel approves requirement that peer-to-peer boat rentals carry commercial liability insurance

The Senate Finance Committee on March 20 passed House Bill 2398, which requires owners who rent watercraft and operators of peer-to-peer watercraft sharing platforms to maintain commercial boat liability insurance and provide certification to the Arizona Game and Fish Commission.

Representative Biasucci, sponsor, said the bill targets an emergent gap "like Uber, Turo, Airbnb" but for boats: third-party apps list privately owned vessels for rent without adequate insurance or oversight, creating liability and enforcement challenges. "When people are renting out their cars or their homes, they're required to have insurance now when you're renting it out to somebody else. It's now happening in the boat industry," he said.

Progressive Insurance counsel Carrie Hayden said the bill’s amendment allows personal boat policies to be written to provide commercial coverage for charters, and explained the minimum limits the bill requires: $25,000 per person bodily injury and $50,000 per occurrence for bodily injury damages (testimony noted those amounts align with automobile floors). Commercial operators and state concessionaires from Lake Havasu testified that many app-listed rentals are unregistered, uninsured and bypass safety checks; one operator said the apps do not verify contracts or insurance and that the practice has led to accidents.

The amendment also sets requirements for peer-to-peer platforms to certify proof of insurance and to require platforms to include an option for insurance at booking or include it in the rental fee. Committee members noted training and enforcement questions; proponents said fines and existing enforcement mechanisms will apply when law enforcement finds a rental lacking required coverage.

HB 2398 passed committee with a due-pass recommendation.