Believe it or not, trampolines aren’t a home insurer’s best friend. While some homeowners insurance companies are more willing to insure families that own a trampoline than others, you might hit a few speed bumps with your insurer. Due to the risk factor of trampolines, you’re increasing your likelihood of filing a claim by having one on your property; since insurance companies also have to pay when you file a claim, they want to avoid this.
If you’re considering buying a trampoline, you might want to weigh the options of having one. While they’re a good way to keep your kids active, the added expenses and risks might cause you to shy away from it.
Attractive Nuisance
Like swimming pools and dogs, trampolines are considered to be attractive nuisances. An attractive nuisance is something that draws in people, particularly children, but are quite dangerous if not used properly. With attractive nuisances, the owner of the object is liable if any injuries occur from them. If a child drowns in your pool, gets bitten by your dog, or experiences an injury on your trampoline, you’re the one responsible for covering these damages. One particularly unappealing aspect of attractive nuisances is the fact that if someone uses the item without your permission and hurts himself or herself, you’ll be the one responsible for paying any bills associated with the injuries or any lawsuits that result.
Liability Coverage
The liability portion of your homeowners insurance policy should cover injuries. The liability coverage associated with your trampoline only covers people that do not live in your household. If your child’s friend falls off the trampoline and breaks his or her arm, your liability coverage will pay the medical bills associated with this injury. However, if your child gets injured on the trampoline, you’d need to either pay for the treatment out-of-pocket or receive coverage through your family’s health insurance plan.
When You Receive Coverage
Fortunately, most homeowners insurance companies want to protect homeowners that own trampolines. Your current insurance company may or may not have trampolines included in your existing policy. If it does, don’t be surprised if your homeowners insurance company will request you to add safety provisions to your trampoline to decrease the chances of people falling off or receiving injuries.
Safety First
Since your homeowners insurance company wants to make sure you don’t need to file a claim, as it costs them money too, they might want you to practice safety with your trampoline. They might recommend that you buy a safety net along with your trampoline to keep people from falling off. In addition, they might request that you only permit one person to bounce on the trampoline at a time.
When You Don’t Receive Coverage
Not every homeowners insurance company is willing to deal with such risky nuisances. Some homeowners insurance companies allow its policyholders to have trampolines, but specify that they will not cover any claims that result from this attractive nuisance. This might be a dealbreaker for you, as paying these liability costs out-of-pocket can be pretty steep. Make sure you understand explicitly whether or not your insurance company will assist you if you need to make a liability claim.
Other companies aren’t quite as flexible. Some homeowners insurance providers don’t want to be associated with a trampoline at all and may even cancel your policy or deny your renewal if they find out you have a trampoline on your property. If you really want a trampoline, you might want to shop around for homeowners insurance quotes and switch your policy.
Next Steps
246,875 medically-treated injuries from the use of a trampoline occur in the United States every year. This is an astronomical figure. Along with making sure that your trampoline is covered by your homeowners insurance policy, you should follow extra steps to making sure everyone is safe on your property. Safety nets, rules, and careful supervision will reduce the chances that anyone will experience serious injuries on your trampoline.
If you haven’t bought a trampoline yet, you should contact your homeowners insurance company to ask about whether or not trampolines are covered under your homeowners insurance policy. Most importantly, before you buy a trampoline, make sure it’s worth it; with the high risk level and potential costs, you might change your mind.