Daycare Insurance in Massachusetts
Daycare insurance policies are specialized commercial policies that have been carefully designed to meet the needs of childcare programs. In order to protect programs from multiple potential risks.
Traditional daycare and childcare
Home-based childcare businesses
Private, public and religious nursery schools
Early childhood education
The potential cost of a liability lawsuit can be quite high for childcare programs. The legal fees and possible settlement of a suit involving just one child could be expensive, and those figures only multiple if more than one child is involved in an incident. For these reasons, childcare programs usually should consider selecting high limits when setting up their policy’s liability coverages.
What is Daycare Insurance?
The work that childcare programs do exposes them to a litany of potentially serious risks, for a single incident involving a child could result in a costly and devastating lawsuit. Moreover, this one risk doesn’t take into account the many other perils, such as fire, vandalism and wind damage, that are common to daycares and many other businesses. While it may be impossible to fully insulate a childcare program form all risk, daycare insurance often offers programs in Massachusetts with robust protection against a variety of potential risks.
Daycare insurance policies are specialized commercial policies that have been carefully designed to meet the needs of childcare programs. In order to protect programs from multiple potential risks, most policies are drafted as package policies that contain several individual coverages within them.
What Childcare Programs in Massachusetts Should Have Insurance?
Generally speaking, the vast majority of childcare programs in Massachusetts ought to have insurance in place. Just a few examples of businesses that might need a daycare policy include:
- Traditional daycare and childcare programs
- Home-based childcare businesses
- Private, public and religious nursery schools
- Early childhood education programs
- After-school childcare programs
- Businesses that offer short-term childcare to customers
- Employers who have childcare services for employees
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Do Childcare Programs with Waivers and Affidavits Still Need Insurance?
Having parents sign waivers and/or affidavits might be legally advisable and helpful in the event of a liability suit. These documents, however, normally aren’t a substitute for an insurance policy.
These documents don’t necessarily guarantee that a lawsuit will go in a program’s favor, and they also don’t necessarily stop people from trying to file lawsuits that result in attorney’s and other fees. For these reasons, having an insurance policy that provides extensive coverage against liability risks is generally a good idea regardless of what other protections are in place.
What Limits Should Childcare Programs Choose for Their Liability Coverages?
The potential cost of a liability lawsuit can be quite high for childcare programs. The legal fees and possible settlement of a suit involving just one child could be expensive, and those figures only multiple if more than one child is involved in an incident.
For these reasons, childcare programs usually should consider selecting high limits when setting up their policy’s liability coverages. An insurance agent who specializes in this form of insurance can help programs determine exactly what limits they want to carry.
What Are Occurrence Policies and Claims-Made Policies?
Most childcare policies are underwritten as either occurrence policies or claims-made policies. The former typically determines coverage based on when an incident took place and sometimes extend coverage beyond the end of their effective period so long as an incident occurred during that period, The latter tends to determine coverage by when a claim is filed, often covering only claims that are filed during the effective period.
As a broad guideline, occurrence policies provide more extensive coverage and afford better protection. Many programs select this type of policy because they want the added protection. Since each policy has its own terms and conditions, though, programs should review any policy to make sure its coverages are robust enough to meet a program’s needs.
How Can Childcare Programs in Massachusetts Get Daycare Insurance?
For help insuring a childcare program that’s in Massachusetts, contact the independent insurance agents at Scotti Insurance Agency. Our agents have worked with many daycare and similar programs in the state, and they have the expertise necessary to help you find a policy that meets your program’s needs. Because we’re an independent agency, our team is able to recommend the best available policy no matter what insurance company offers it.
