As a daycare provider, you are in the business of caring for children while their parents are at work. There are games, music time, crafts, story time and other activities that keep the children occupied while mom and dad are away. Despite your best efforts to keep the children safe, accidents can happen. Parents may become involved, and lawsuits could be filed. Facing a lawsuit could financially ruin your daycare business. You need to consider these seven reasons to invest in daycare insurance coverage as a means to protect yourself and your business.

1. State Requirements

As a daycare provider, you are required to operate under a license that is issued by your state department agency. The license comes with your agreement to fulfill several requirements, one of which is maintaining some form of insurance coverage. The amount of coverage you must have varies from state to state. At the very least, there will be a bare minimum insurance policy you have to maintain to operate your daycare.

More than the Minimum

You should strongly consider obtaining more that the state minimum requirement. Accidents and injuries are a natural occurrence when working with children. If a child breaks her leg on the swing set, her parents may consider suing you for the medical costs relating to that injury. Facing the expense of a lawsuit in addition to reimbursing the parents for their medical expenses could force you to close the doors of your daycare business. Full insurance coverage could prevent this from happening.

2. Automobile Travel

Your daycare business may cater to a wide age range of children. That means some of the children may require transportation to and from school each day while in your care. You may also go on field trips as a daycare that places all of the children in your care as you travel by automobile or small bus.

Coverage in Case of an Accident

If you get into an accident, having insurance in place will protect you from the legal action the parents may take as a result of their children being in an accident. This coverage also pays for vehicle repairs and medical treatment that you, the children or your staff members require as a result of the crash.

3. Medical Care

There will be times when injuries occur on daycare property. It can be from a child bumping into another or a parent slipping on your sidewalk as she is rushing in to pick up her child after work. A staff member may sustain an injury while caring for the children as well.

Insurance for Any Possible Medical Expense

Each of the scenarios can result in costly medical bills. Having insurance in place will help you offset these expenses while allowing you to keep your daycare business open.

4. Personal Property

Being in the daycare business means learning to live with unpredictability. You never know what is going to happen from one minute to the next. A tree could unexpectedly fall in the middle of nap time, taking out your jungle gym in the process.

Cover Unexpected Expenses

As a small business owner, you don’t have the extra cash on hand to replace the equipment. The absence of insurance coverage means your children may have no place to play outdoors during the day. However, if you make an investment in having quality insurance coverage, it will most likely cover the cost of a new jungle gym and the price to install it as well.

5. Liability Protection

You make every effort to hire qualified adults to help run your daycare business. Even so, things will happen that are beyond your control.

Be Prepared for Anything

An employee may take a personal frustration out on a child when no one is looking. Upon hearing of the situation, the parents could pursue legal action against you and your daycare business. False accusations of abuse can occur against you or one of your staff members. Having liability insurance protection in place will give you someone who will fight these scenarios on your behalf, and absorb the legal costs as well.

6. Employee Protection

Each state provides workers compensation to employees that sustain injuries on the job. You need to carry additional insurance coverage as protection against employee retribution. An employee sustaining a job injury may try suing you for medical costs not covered by workers compensation.

Consider Any Scenario

Having insurance in place will also protect you from wrongful termination lawsuits and situations where an employee faces accusations of engaging in harmful acts on a child that is in your care.

7. Home Day Care Protection

You may operate a daycare business out of your personal home. Your homeowner’s insurance policy will not provide coverage or expense reimbursement in the case of an accident or injury to yourself, your staff, a child or children, or your home property.

Additional Coverage is Required

You need to acquire additional insurance coverage to protect yourself and your business at all costs when operating out of your personal home.

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