Would You Put This In Your Policies???

[familyschoolcare]

I have a similiar policy in my contract. I do not remember the exact wording but it clearly states that any injuries are at the cost of the parent.

I laywer frind of the family said that even with that in my poilicy a person could win a court case if they could prove that I did not act in a "resonable" way.

I am in cal. so my parents have signed a form stating that I do not have home owner insurance because I do not own the building. (I have liablity but do not mention that to parents unless they ask) the form clearly states that this in no way release me form any liability.

[Mary Poppins]

I have a regular homeowner policy which states that if anyone is injured on my property I will be covered if they sue. There is no clause which excludes people such as running a business. There is seperate business insurance but it only pertains to employees. I'm in Canada so it might be a bit different.

Did you read your regular current liability insurance policy?

Hmm! Mine has no specific clause which excludes for running a business either, but I assumed (I know, I know ) that they would fight paying because I'm running one. And I am a bit nervous to call and ask them their stance on it because I don't want them to decide to drop us if they know I have a hdc. ::

[Mary Poppins]

I have a similiar policy in my contract. I do not remember the exact wording but it clearly states that any injuries are at the cost of the parent.

I laywer frind of the family said that even with that in my poilicy a person could win a court case if they could prove that I did not act in a "resonable" way.

I am in cal. so my parents have signed a form stating that I do not have home owner insurance because I do not own the building. (I have liablity but do not mention that to parents unless they ask) the form clearly states that this in no way release me form any liability.

Sorry, I'm a bit confused. So you have a clause stating you are not liable for expenses incurred but you are still held to some level of liability? As in criminally?

I guess the end result is a good attorney could fight for me in court and a judge would decide whether I am financially/criminally liable regardless if I add this to my policies... but it doesn't hurt to add a clause denying financial liability as an added layer of protection? :confused:

[familyschoolcare]

Sorry, I'm a bit confused. So you have a clause stating you are not liable for expenses incurred but you are still held to some level of liability? As in criminally?

I guess the end result is a good attorney could fight for me in court and a judge would decide whether I am financially/criminally liable regardless if I add this to my policies... but it doesn't hurt to add a clause denying financial liability as an added layer of protection? :confused:

You could be considerd liable if you did not act in a reasonable manner.


For example if a child fell down and cut thier leg.


If you followed all the steps you where taught to in your first aid class, and you keep your infant and child CPR and first aid curent then you would not be

held responsible. Even if the cut gets infected and cases problems. Because, you acted in a reasonable manner.


If you looked at the child and said I know you bleeding everywher but that is too bad you will have to wait for mom or dad to do something about it. Then

the cut got infected and caused problems. Then you could be held responseable. Because, you did not act in a reasonable manner.

[itlw8]

You can not sign away your childrens rights. Your homeowners can and will cancel you if they find you have a family childcare and it is not covered. It is not that hard anymore to find ins. Some of the companies will even put a rider on your homeowners. I know State Farm will. Read the article about why you need ins on the redleaf institute web site. That explains it better than anyone could.

[MyAngels]

When a parent signs that they are aware that there is no liabilty insurance, they are only acknowledging that fact, not signing away their child's right. I guess I am not understanding what rights a child has in regard to insurance coverage...

You are right, of course, but when I see providers putting that type of language into their contract I'm reading into it that they are telling parents "I don't have liability insurance, so I am not liable for any expenses incurred as a result of accidents or injuries that happen on my watch."

Unfortunately, even if a parent acknowledges that there is no liability coverage, it doesn't release a provider from all liability under all conditions.

I'm just putting this opinion out there so that other people who come across this later will do their due diligence on insurance, rather than just opting out of coverage. I've often said that operating a business such as ours without proper insurance coverages is like playing in traffic - you might get by with it, but you might also get hit by a truck ::.

[bice99]

I carry a 2 million $ policy and it's $500 per years. Specifically for childcare. And I could pay less, but I pay a certain amount per kid and want to make sure it covers me up to my limit, although I choose to keep a smaller group most of the time. And it's not required in my state. Even if parents sign off that they won't sue, their insurance sure will if something happens. I'd rather be covered.

[Mary Poppins]

I'm just putting this opinion out there so that other people who come across this later will do their due diligence on insurance, rather than just opting out of coverage. I've often said that operating a business such as ours without proper insurance coverages is like playing in traffic - you might get by with it, but you might also get hit by a truck ::.

Thanks for the input (not just you but everyone!).

I only have a very small hdc but I do see why this is so important even though my state doesn't require it. I sent an email to my agent asking about a rider policy (I didn't say I am currently operating a dc specifically just in case). I think a rider is my only option because I'm having a really hard time finding a standalone company that lists my state and the ones I did find say specifically NO RESIDENTIAL DC'S. Ugh!

Hopefully I'll never need it, but after all the great advice here I'd rather have it than a paragraph in my handbook that *may or may not* (and probably won't it seems) cover me.

This is why I love this forum. You ladies rock.

[bice99]

I run mine out of my home. What state are you in? I can ask my insurance broker if the company I use works in your state.

Thanks for the input (not just you but everyone!).

I only have a very small hdc but I do see why this is so important even though my state doesn't require it. I sent an email to my agent asking about a rider policy (I didn't say I am currently operating a dc specifically just in case). I think a rider is my only option because I'm having a really hard time finding a standalone company that lists my state and the ones I did find say specifically NO RESIDENTIAL DC'S. Ugh!

Hopefully I'll never need it, but after all the great advice here I'd rather have it than a paragraph in my handbook that *may or may not* (and probably won't it seems) cover me.

This is why I love this forum. You ladies rock.

[momma2girls]

I have seperate insurance for the daycare. I have carried it now for about 7 yrs. or more. The bad thing about this- we are looking for other home owner's and car insurances, that might be alot cheaper, but they don't carry a dayare rider that insures the daycare. We haven't been able to switch to a different insurance agency, because of it.

[wdmmom]

I have a standard homeowners insurance policy with higher limits of liability. I do not have a separate policy for the daycare. I could get an umbrella but I've already been told that the added expense wouldn't cover me in terms of liability any more than my homeowners would.

Here in Iowa, (while searching for homeowners quotes), I found some companies wouldn't even cover the home because I do business out of it, because I ran more than the insurance's suggested number of kids, etc.

State Farm only allows 3 children here although the state says you can have 5 unregistered. If you are registered, you can run up to 12 depending on the catagory of your registration!

I had a child get a nice goose egg by tipping over his pack n play a couple years ago. I filled out an incident report, contacted DCM and nothing was said after that. I had another one that tripped and lost a tooth (it was just starting to get loose), DCF again completely understood.

How as providers can we dismiss any and all liability towards ourselves though? I really don't think we can...

[Springdaze]

We had a great home owners ins and my husband wanted to switch to save like 300 a year. we tried to switch but they wanted to come out to the house and our house is in all kinds of remodelling phases so he didnt want them to come, so the original found out we had a DC and said we needed ins, got it for 250 a year and never did switch! I guess its better to have it, but because he couldnt leave well enough alone, we pay more! (boy, if Id a done that.....!)

[Meeko]

All my clients must sign a liability release form.

A few have been reluctant at first, thinking it means that I don't have to be responsible for their child at all! But that's not the case. If I were obviously negligent, my form would mean little.

It DOES stop the frivolous lawsuit types, who would sue because Princess fell over her own feet and skinned her knee in the yard.

[Countrygal]

I haven't read all of the posts completely, so I hope this adds to the discussion instead of just repeating what's been said somewhere else.....

I am not a lawyer, but have had some experience with insurance for various businesses (both as a manager and as an owner).

In WI we are required to have insurance to be certified or licensed.

That said, we are to carry liability insurance, not medical. I can't imagine anyone being able to afford medical insurance for a group of daycare children!

My liability covers things that I could have prevented, I believe. For example, when we had horses, even tho they were penned, we had to carry liability in case some child came onto our property and went into their pen and got hurt.

I am thinking that the liability for the dc is similar. If someone slips on my steps, for instance, or twists their ankle and breaks it walking around the yard - that type of thing. BUT I think they have to prove negligence or neglect to win the law suit. IOW - were my steps shovelled and salted? Were there huge holes in my yard just waiting to trip someone? Were they somehow marked if it was in an area where I knew people roamed (such as the play yard)? If a child gets hurt, was I allowing them to do something dangerous or was it something that all the kids knew enough not to do (like jump off a roof). And where was I when it happened? Were the kids adequately supervised? I know this is how it works for other businesses (I have worked in management). You know those "wet floor" signs you see all over - those are out for liability purposes (were people adequately warned of a hazard).....

My dc insurance also costs about 250 - 300 a year.


I might be wrong, but I think this is how it works for dc as well. If anyone knows this isn't so, please tell me! A lawsuit is my worse nightmare.

[MissK]

I have a standard homeowners insurance policy with higher limits of liability. I do not have a separate policy for the daycare. I could get an umbrella but I've already been told that the added expense wouldn't cover me in terms of liability any more than my homeowners would.

Here in Iowa, (while searching for homeowners quotes), I found some companies wouldn't even cover the home because I do business out of it, because I ran more than the insurance's suggested number of kids, etc.

State Farm only allows 3 children here although the state says you can have 5 unregistered. If you are registered, you can run up to 12 depending on the catagory of your registration!

I had a child get a nice goose egg by tipping over his pack n play a couple years ago. I filled out an incident report, contacted DCM and nothing was said after that. I had another one that tripped and lost a tooth (it was just starting to get loose), DCF again completely understood.

How as providers can we dismiss any and all liability towards ourselves though? I really don't think we can...

I work for State Farm here in MN and if someone had a regular homeowners policy it would not cover any liability that occurs in conjunction with a dc business unless it is specifically noted on the policy that a dc is run out of the home.
In otherwords, you may have awesome high liability limits, but if your policy does not list that you operate a daycare out of your home State Farm could/would deny your claim if one of your daycare kids were to get hurt on your property. I know each state is different even within the same company (for example we allow more then 3 daycare kids in Minnesota) - that is just how things work here