Insurance For Home Daycare Businesses And Workers

If you offer home 0daycare services, you need insurance to protect your business. Any business that involves working with children puts you at a high risk, so it’s crucial to make sure you have all the types of coverage you need. This post will go over the different types of daycare insurance, costs, and where you can get home daycare insurance quotes.

Who Needs Home Daycare Insurance?

To find out if you are required to get home daycare insurance, start by checking the laws for your state. Most home daycare providers are required to purchase daycare insurance. Some homeowner’s insurance policies may include an add-on for children not related to you. But it is usually capped at a pretty low number. More than that, and you will need to get home daycare insurance.

You may also want to purchase home daycare insurance even if you have some coverage through your homeowner’s insurance policy. There are some specific types of coverage that your homeowner’s insurance likely does not provide.

Types of Daycare Insurance

The different types of home daycare insurance include:

• General liability. Childcare liability insurance protects third parties and their property. So, for example, if one of the kids in your daycare trips and falls, general liability insurance can pay for their medical costs. Or, if a child in your care damages your neighbor’s property, general liability insurance can kick in if your neighbor sues you to repair or replace it.

• Errors and omissions insurance. This type of insurance covers you when you make a mistake (i.e. offering bad advice).

• Commercial auto insurance. Daycare providers who sometimes use a vehicle to transport children need commercial auto insurance to cover the vehicle.   

• Business property insurance. This type of coverage protects your property (remember, general liability insurance covers property belonging to third parties).

• Corporal punishment liability insurance. This is a specialized type of coverage that covers you or your staff if a parent accuses any of you of using corporal punishment on a child.

• Abuse and molestation liability insurance. This is a similar type of specialized coverage. It can help cover expenses if you or one of your staff are accused of sexually abusing a child.

Be mindful of exclusions when you are shopping for home daycare insurance policies. Incidents involving swimming pools are a good example of a common exclusion from daycare coverage.

When you first buy home daycare insurance, make sure you get all the coverage you need to satisfy your state’s requirements. After that, if you can budget for more, purchase the additional types of coverage you need to fully protect your business.

How Much Is Daycare Insurance?

The cost for home daycare insurance can range anywhere from around $500 to $2,000 a year. That is just for general liability insurance. If you get other types of coverage as well, that will push your costs up more.

Here are some other factors that can raise or lower the total cost to insure your daycare business.

• Location: Daycare insurance can be significantly more or less expensive depending on where you are operating. The licensing requirements from your state may also require you to purchase more coverage in some states than in others, which can increase your costs.

• Coverage limits: The higher your coverage limits are, the more your insurance will cost.

• Deductibles: If you want to lower your daycare insurance premiums, you can try going for a higher deductible. But if you do that and you have to make a claim, you will need to pay more out of pocket before your insurance begins paying out. Figure out what fits best for your business.

• Business size: The more children you have in your daycare, the more expensive your insurance will be. Each child is an added risk factor, and a large group of kids all in one place multiples that risk even more because of how much chaos they can create as a group.

• Activities: If the activities at your daycare expose kids to higher levels of risk, then your insurance costs will also be higher. A simple example would be if you drive children out on field trips sometimes, instead of just always staying in your home.

• Claims history: Daycare providers who have demonstrated experience with childcare and who have no claims history may qualify for better rates than those who are brand new to daycare and/or have claims on their records.

• Bundling and discounts: If you bundle multiple types of home daycare insurance policies, you might qualify for a discount. Some carriers might also offer additional discounts for taking certain safety precautions around your home.

• Underwriting: Since underwriting varies from one insurance company to the next, two different carriers can give you two different quotes, even though all other factors are the same. That is why it is smart to get quotes from multiple carriers before you decide which to go with.

Where to Get A Custom Home Childcare Insurance Quote

If you are opening a home daycare business, you need insurance to legally operate and to protect your business. Now you know more about the various types of home daycare insurance policies and the factors that impact costs. To find daycare insurance companies offering excellent coverage and competitive rates, click the link below.