The question of daycare center insurance is a tricky one for every owner. What kind of coverage to get? What are the state regulations, and should you go above the minimum requirements even if you are a small daycare?
In order to help you get through the paperwork and focus on running your daycare, Hopping In has invited Todd Eggert to help us answer frequent questions. Todd is an expert in childcare insurance with over 11 years of specialized experience in childcare insurance, and he assists more than 200 centers in Illinois and the Midwest.
It’s better to be safe than sorry when you run a daycare, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a reasonable insurance option. Let’s demystify the terms and help you make the right decision for your daycare.
Demystifying daycare center insurance terms
When it comes to daycare center insurance coverage, there are a few terms you should know:
Liability defines the situations that good insurance can help you resolve.
The bare minimum most states require is general liability, which covers claims for negligence lawsuits. However, this doesn’t include coverage for situations like worker’s compensation, employers practices, property claims or more.
When selecting the policies, keep an eye out for medical pay. This liability coverage pays for student accidents.
Annual premiums Depending on the policy and coverage included, this is what you will be paying for your policy. Look out for fees and choose a company with flexible payment options.
What kind of insurance coverage should I get?
The rule of thumb in daycare center insurance is: the more your policy covers, the better you are protected.
According to Todd, there are options available for a variety of different centers. He recommends at least $1 Million in general liability per occurrence, and $2M – $4M on the annual aggregate.
In his experience, professional liability coverage is a really important coverage to have when you’re operating a school type of business. There’s a great potential to get sued for “not teaching”, even though it may not be your fault.
There have been situations where a client would “guarantee” to parents that their child would be reading before kindergarten, and Todd’s client got sued when the child couldn’t.
This is where professional liability insurance coverage helps, as the insurance covers legal fees, court costs, and a potential lawsuit.
When selecting a daycare center insurance policy, keep an eye out a variety of child care specific liability.
In Todd’s case, his company offers a policy which includes general liability, professional liability, abuse and molestation coverage (at policy limits), business lost income insurance, medical pay, employer’s practices liability and many more.
How often do claims and lawsuits really occur?
Optimism matters in daycare, but it’s still good to have fail-safes in case the worst happens.
When asked about how often lawsuits happen to unsuspecting daycare owners, Todd says that there’s not a crystal ball that can determine it. He’s seen new centers get sued within the first three months of opening, and other centers have been in business for 30 years without a single claim.
Neighborhoods and exclusive facilities don’t matter either; there’s no way to tell, but a good policy can ease your mind.
It may seem like a lot of money, especially in daycare where the budget can sometimes be thin, so it’s good to look into options of generating extra revenue. For example, Hopping In lets parents in your daycare book extra care when they need. It’s also risk-free, since you only pay a fee when Hopping In helps you sell your daycare’s unused spots.
When done right, daycare center insurance can help you worry less.
What should I look for in policies?
First things first: find a professional childcare insurance agent. It’s not a common field and there are only a few agents who specialize in it. Other agents who aren’t in the daycare center insurance can find a sub-standard carrier and sell it to you.
Todd sees a lot of these. A week ago, a daycare center had medical accident coverage of $5,000 per accident but there was a small problem – it didn’t include children. This commonly happens when insurance is contracted with agents and companies who aren’t specialized in childcare.
When discussing daycare center insurance, find the right agent to guide you through it. Insurance is necessary if you want to run your daycare without stress, but don’t settle for a policy that only offers sub-standard coverage.
Our expert on daycare center insurance, Todd Eggert, loves assisting daycares so if you’ve got a question, you can reach him at 708-420-1057 or todd@willowinsure.com.
And if you’ve got a question about Hopping In, feel free to contact us and browse the benefits of using it in your daycare.
Author: Hopping In Blog
Sholom Strick is an expert on the business of running daycare centers and founder of Hopping In, a tool that helps childcare centers and family daycare providers fill unused spots.
To contact him or for media inquiries email s.strick@daycareteam.com
