Let’s face it, swimming pools are fun.
The idea of kicking back and relaxing while you float around your pool is inviting, isn’t it? Some of our best memories of growing up revolve around being in our backyard pool with friends and family.
However, there is a dark side to pool ownership that few care to think about. Did you know that about 300 children under age 5 drown in their backyard swimming pools? The sad truth is that it only takes a second for a child to slip under the water to drown before anyone notices what has happened. This raises an important question:
Are swimming pools covered under my home insurance policy?
The only way to find out for sure is to call your agent and talk to them openly about your situation.
The odds are that your pool is covered, however, they may have a few requirements before insuring you. Don’t be surprised if they require that you install a locked gate surrounding the pool to prevent children from going in unsupervised. Others may say no to a water slide or a diving board.
In the meantime, during your discussion with your agent, they will address the following two parts of your policy. As you recall, each homeowner’s package includes both property insurance as well as liability insurance:
- Property insurance: Your property component of your homeowner’s policy most likely covers your swimming pool. In-ground pools can be very expensive depending on the size and the water features you install. So be sure to talk to your agent and find out if you need to increase the amount of coverage that you already have to cover damages to your pool. Remember that maintenance issues are your responsibility and not the insurance carriers, so be sure to drain your pool before winter comes! More importantly, you want to seriously discuss the second part of your homeowner’s package with your agent.
- Liability insurance. We have already mentioned that 300 children drown each year in backyard pools just like yours. That doesn’t even take into consideration the thousands that go to the emergency room each year with pool-related injuries, like slipping or diving in the shallow end of the pool.
Worst case scenario: What if a pool-related injury or death happened at your home? Would your current liability plan cover you from the legal and medical expenses from the injury? Now is the time to ask such questions, not later. Imagine if someone broke their neck diving in your pool.
- First, think of the medical costs.
- Second, think of the liability costs of someone that is paralyzed and will never walk again.
We don’t mean to sound morbid. However, the facts show that these type of tragedies do happen every day. Do you think a $100,000 coverage would be sufficient to protect you from losing your home? As a minimum, you can see why many people upgrade their liability to at least $500,000. Others wisely invest about a dollar a day to get a million dollar umbrella insurance package.
As we discussed, the only way to find out the facts about swimming pool insurance is to pick up the phone and call an InsuranceHub agent right now. They are standing by to answer all of your questions about backyard pools and your home insurance.
