How to insure a pool or trampoline for liability

A backyard pool or trampoline changes the liability side of a homeowners policy more than any other feature of the property. Injuries from both tend to be serious, they often involve children who were not members of the household, and the law in many places treats an unfenced pool as an attraction the owner should have anticipated. Carriers respond in several ways: some charge more, some set conditions such as fencing or netting, some exclude trampoline injuries entirely, and a few decline homes with diving boards or slides.

Pools are ordinary across Phoenix, Tucson, Las Vegas and St. George, and trampolines are common in family neighbourhoods throughout Utah and Idaho. This guide explains how to confirm the policy actually covers the exposure, what the carrier will ask for, and how to set liability limits that match what a serious injury claim can cost.

What to gather

The carrier's questions are specific, so have the answers ready.

• The type of pool: in-ground or above-ground, and whether it has a diving board, slide, or a spa attached.
• The barrier: fence height and type, whether gates self-close and self-latch, and whether the house wall forms part of the barrier with alarmed doors.
• Any pool cover, and whether it is a safety cover rated to hold weight or a solar cover that is not.
• For a trampoline: size, whether it has a safety net enclosure and padding, and whether it is anchored.
• Your homeowners declarations page with the personal liability and medical payments limits, and any umbrella policy.
• Your city or HOA barrier rules, which can be stricter than the carrier's conditions.

Step one: disclose the pool or trampoline

Tell the carrier about the pool or trampoline when you buy the policy, when one is installed, or when you buy a house that has one. The homeowners application asks directly, and an undisclosed pool or trampoline discovered after an injury can lead the carrier to rescind the policy or refuse the claim for misrepresentation. Carriers also find out on their own: aerial imagery reviews and underwriting inspections routinely identify pools and trampolines, and a non-renewal can follow if the carrier's conditions are not met.

Disclosure also tells you what the carrier does with the information. Some carriers insure pools with no special conditions beyond a barrier; some surcharge them; and some exclude trampolines, diving boards or slides by endorsement. Ask directly, and get the answer reflected on the policy.

Step two: read the policy for exclusions and conditions

Look through the endorsements listed on the declarations page for anything titled animal, trampoline, recreational or pool exclusion or limitation. A trampoline exclusion removes liability and medical payments coverage for injuries arising from the trampoline, which leaves the homeowner personally exposed. A limitation may cover the trampoline only if a netted enclosure is in place, or exclude diving board injuries while covering the pool itself. Where an exclusion appears, the choices are to remove the equipment, move to a carrier that covers it, or accept the risk knowingly.

Conditions matter as much as exclusions. A carrier may require a locked gate or fence of a stated type, a safety net, or removal of a diving board, and a claim can be contested if the condition was not met at the time of the injury. Cities across the region set pool barrier requirements, and in Arizona some are local ordinances with their own specifications that the city or county building department can supply; meeting the stricter of the code and the carrier's condition covers both.

Step three: set limits for the injury that could happen

Homeowners liability coverage pays for injuries to guests and others for which the homeowner is legally responsible, plus the defence. Medical payments coverage pays smaller medical bills for guests regardless of fault and can resolve a minor injury before it becomes a lawsuit. Neither is priced heavily, and the difference between a low and a high liability limit on a homeowners policy is often modest.

A drowning or a spinal injury from a trampoline fall can exceed the highest homeowners limit available. That is the case for an umbrella policy, which adds a layer of liability above the home and auto. Umbrella carriers set their own rules, and some exclude trampolines or require the homeowners policy to carry a minimum underlying limit. Check that the umbrella does not exclude the exposure the homeowners policy covers, and that the underlying limit meets its requirement.

Step four: reduce the risk carriers price

Carriers look for these measures, and some affect eligibility or price.

• A fence that isolates the pool from the house and yard, with self-closing, self-latching gates that open outward from the pool.
• Door and gate alarms, and a safety cover rated to support weight when the pool is closed.
• Removal of diving boards and slides where the carrier restricts them.
• A netted enclosure and frame padding for a trampoline, with one jumper at a time as a household rule.
• Locking or removing the trampoline ladder when adults are not present.
• Keeping the pool area clear of toys and furniture children can use to climb the fence.

Common mistakes

These are the errors that turn a covered injury into an uninsured one.

• Buying a house with a pool and not updating the policy.
• Assuming a trampoline is covered because the policy did not mention it at purchase.
• Relying on a solar cover as a barrier.
• Letting a gate latch break and not repairing it.
• Carrying an umbrella that excludes trampolines while the homeowners policy covers them.
• Choosing a low liability limit to save a small amount of premium.

A worked example

Suppose a family in Gilbert has an in-ground pool with a fence and self-latching gate, a homeowners policy with $300,000 of liability and $5,000 of medical payments, and no umbrella. A visiting child slips through a gate propped open during a party and suffers a near-drowning with lasting injuries, and the child's family sues for $1,500,000. The homeowners carrier defends the claim and pays its $300,000 limit, and the family faces the remainder personally. Now suppose instead they had raised the liability limit to $500,000 for $40 a year and added a $1,000,000 umbrella for $300 a year, after confirming it covered the pool. The combined $1,500,000 of coverage would have met the settlement. The figures are hypothetical; the barrier kept the policy's condition satisfied, and the umbrella decided whether the family's own assets were reached.

How to use this

If you have or are adding a pool or trampoline, send us the declarations pages for the home and any umbrella. We will check the endorsements for exclusions and conditions, tell you what the carrier requires, and compare liability and umbrella options across the carriers we represent in Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Idaho. If the current coverage already handles the exposure, we will tell you that.