If you run a daycare out of your home, you’ve probably put a lot of love and hard work into making it successful. Running a daycare out of your home requires more than just opening up your doors to children. There is a lot of work that goes into running a successful home daycare.
In order to operate a daycare in Michigan, you have to be licensed. It is illegal to run a daycare in Michigan without a license. In addition to all the work involved in caring for children in your care, you also have to manage your business, which means paperwork, billing, marketing, and planning your daycare’s day-to-day activities.
A daycare is not like other businesses
When you are taking care of children, it’s not like other businesses. You are taking care of little ones, and anyone who has raised a child knows that children are more prone to having accidents. If something goes wrong, your business, reputation, and livelihood could be at risk. Even if you are diligent, careful and do everything right, accidents happen. This is why all home daycares should have home daycare insurance.
Risks involved when running a daycare out of your home:
- Accidents while playing – According to the Journal of American Medical Association, the most common daycare injury is falling and the most common body part injured is the head. An injury to a child’s head requires immediate medical attention and is a very common injury that might occur in a daycare center.
- Altercations between children – Biting, pushing, kicking, and other injuries caused from children in your care is something you can expect if you run a daycare. You are responsible for what the children in your care do, not just your own behavior. What if one of the children in your daycare injures another child or infant?
- Slips, falls, and other accidents – Children under the age of five are more prone to accidents than older children. If you are caring for young toddlers, there is a good chance that a child will slip or fall while in your care at some point, even if they are being properly supervised.
- False accusations or employee misconduct – One of the biggest risks a daycare provider might worry about is being wrongfully accused of injuring or abusing a child. Even if you are not at fault, you still may have to defend yourself in court if you or an employee are accused of wrong-doing.
Will homeowners insurance cover accidents inside the home?
Your home insurance is intended to protect your home from activities that happen during a normal home owner’s life. It’s not intended to protect a business that is run out of the home. It doesn’t protect your business from lawsuits or accidents that happen while conducting business. This is why most homeowners insurance policies exclude coverage for businesses run out of the home.
What is home daycare insurance?
Before you started your daycare business, you probably never realized that there was insurance created specifically for daycare providers. There are circumstances that you as a home daycare owner may deal with that other businesses do not generally deal with, such as abuse or molestation allegations.
It is especially important to have coverage if you have employees helping you run your home daycare. Even if you don’t have full-time help, you might have someone fill in for you when you are sick, or transport children back and forth for you. If your employee makes a mistake, your business could be liable.
What does home daycare insurance cover?
Home daycare insurance will protect you from lawsuits that could happen to a daycare provider. Even if you are not at fault, you could spend thousands of dollars in legal fees. Home daycare insurance not only protects you from accidents and damages to your property, it also protects you from lawsuits.
Home daycare coverage you might need:
General liability – All business owners should have general liability insurance. General liability will cover the cost of replacing damaged equipment or property. It also covers medical expenses if a child or parent is injured in your home.
Corporal punishment liability – Most daycares have written forms that discuss discipline practices in the daycare. What if a child accuses you or one of your employees of hitting them? Corporal punishment liability will protect you from medical expenses or lawsuits if you or an employee is accused of striking a child in your care.
Abuse or molestation liability – This is a sensitive topic that you might not have considered. Abuse or molestation allegations could destroy your business, reputation and cost you a lot in legal expenses to defend. Even if the allegations are completely untrue, having to defend yourself in court could be expensive. This liability coverage protects your business from legal fees and medical expenses that could result from an abuse or molestation allegation.
Commercial auto insurance – If you use your vehicle transporting children to or from your daycare, a standard auto insurance policy may not be adequate. You may be required to have commercial auto insurance if your vehicle is used for transportation.
A home daycare policy is an affordable way to protect your business. With everything you have put into your business, why wouldn’t you want to protect it? If you are a daycare owner, find out more about daycare insurance coverage for your home day care.
