Insurance for a farm or guesthouse offering activities: the law and what to ask

A farm or guesthouse that offers guests activities (riding, cycling, walks, workshops) is liable for harm a guest suffers. The law makes insurance compulsory only in some cases. The rest is your own decision, agreed with an insurer.

In short

• The new Law on Tourism was published in Službeni glasnik RS no. 49/2026 on 2 June 2026 and entered into force on 10 June 2026. It repealed the 2017 law (nos. 45/17 and 16/23, Article 118). Tourism businesses have six months from its entry into force to comply (Article 113), that is until 10 December 2026.
• Anyone who commercially offers sports and recreation activities must insure the participants against accidents when organising these services (Article 58). A sole trader who does not do this faces a fine of 2,000 to 10,000 KM (Article 106).
• The provisions on rural tourism (Article 52) contain no duty to insure guests.
• You are liable for harm to a guest even without compulsory insurance. Under the Law on Obligations you answer for damage you cause unless you prove it happened without your fault, and for damage from a dangerous thing or activity even without fault.
• A liability policy is not the same as accident cover for the guest. You need to know which one you need.

Who it applies to

• Compulsory accident insurance: companies and sole traders who commercially provide the services in Article 57. These include rafting, kayaking, canyoning, sport climbing, paragliding, caving, cycling and mountain biking, hiking, trekking, mountain guiding and "other similar activities". Horse riding is not named. Ask the Ministarstvo trgovine i turizma (Ministry of Trade and Tourism) whether the law covers it before you rely on your own reading.
• Travel agencies: must hold a guarantee in the form of a bank guarantee or an insurance policy. The law describes it as a "liability limit of up to 100,000 KM", or up to 30,000 KM for agencies under Article 33(2) (Article 34). It protects travellers if the agency cannot pay or goes bankrupt, or fails to perform the contract properly. It is not a policy for your property. An agency must also offer the guest accident insurance (Article 25, point 12).
• Household with rooms and guests on the farm: the law does not require a policy, but the general rules on compensation for damage apply.

What to do

1. Check whether what you offer falls under Article 57. If it does, insure guests against accidents before the first service and keep the policy.
2. Before the activity starts, give the guest written information on the risks and explain it in person. The guest must sign a statement that they understand and accept the risk. Children under 18 may take part only with the consent of a parent, legal representative or guardian (Article 58).
3. Tell the guest about every insured event in the policy. The law requires this explicitly (Article 58(1), point 4).
4. Decide whether you need a liability policy for damage to belongings and injuries a guest suffers because of you, your equipment, animals or buildings. It is not compulsory, but it protects you as well as the guest.
5. Before you sign a contract, ask the insurer the questions below.

What to ask an insurer

• Does the policy cover exactly your activities, and does it name them one by one (riding, tractor rides, picking, workshops)?
• Does it cover injuries caused by an animal or a tool, and damage to the guest's belongings?
• What is the limit per event, and the total per year? What is your excess?
• Who is insured: only the owner, or also family members and hired helpers?
• What are the exclusions (alcohol, unreported activities, a guide or instructor without a licence, faulty equipment)?
• Does it apply only to organised activities, or also when a guest rides or cycles alone?
• Is the premium paid per guest, per activity or per year, and how is a claim reported (deadline, documents)?
• Does the insurance of your building and contents also cover the rooms and areas guests use, or must they be listed separately?

Prices and terms are not given here because they differ from company to company. Ask for written offers, ideally from two or three insurers.

Deadlines and amounts

• Fines for not insuring guests against accidents, or not warning them about the risks in writing and in person: 2,000 to 10,000 KM for a company and for a sole trader, and 1,000 to 5,000 KM for the responsible person in a company (Article 106). Article 110 sets 3,000 to 15,000 KM for a legal person for the same omission. The law does not say which of the two provisions prevails, so check the range for a company with the Ministry of Trade and Tourism.
• Fines for not telling guests about the insured events in the policy: 1,000 to 5,000 KM for a company and for a sole trader (Article 107), while Article 110 sets 1,500 to 7,500 KM for a legal person.
• A business that repeats an offence under Article 110 within two years of the final decision gets, besides the fine, a ban on tourism activity of up to 90 days (Article 112).
• A claim for damages expires three years after the injured person learned of the damage and of the person who caused it, and in any case five years after the damage occurred (Law on Obligations, Article 376).
• A guest must report loss of or damage to their belongings as soon as they learn of it. If they do not, they are compensated only if they prove your fault (Article 726).
• A host is liable for belongings guests bring up to an amount set by a separate regulation. The host pays in full for items handed over for safekeeping and for damage caused by the host's own fault (Article 724). A posted notice saying you are not liable for guests' belongings has no legal effect (Article 727).

Where to go

• For the duties under the Law on Tourism: the Ministarstvo trgovine i turizma Republike Srpske (Ministry of Trade and Tourism of Republika Srpska).
• For a dispute with an insurer: the insurance ombudsman at the Agencija za osiguranje Republike Srpske (Insurance Agency of Republika Srpska), Bana Milosavljevića 8/II, Banja Luka, potrosaci@azors.rs.ba. The procedure is free, but you must first use the insurer's own complaint procedure. The complaint must be filed within one year of the insurer's last answer. The agency's page says complaints are filed by natural persons, so a sole trader or company should first check whether the procedure applies to them.
• The register of market participants shows which companies and intermediaries operate in Republika Srpska.

Guest safety on riding and cycling is covered in the article on hiking, cycling and horse riding. The subsidy for insuring crops and livestock has its own article.

Laws and sources

• Zakon o turizmu (Službeni glasnik RS, no. 49/2026), Articles 25, 33, 34, 52, 57, 58, 106, 107, 110, 112, 113, 118 and 119
• Zakon o obligacionim odnosima (Službeni list SFRJ, nos. 29/78, 39/85, 45/89 and 57/89; Službeni glasnik RS, nos. 17/93, 3/96, 39/03 and 74/04), Articles 154, 173, 174, 376, 724, 726 and 727
• Agencija za osiguranje Republike Srpske: insurance ombudsman procedure