Liability And Coverage: Options For Dealing With Insurance For Daycare Centers As A Business Owner/Operator
When it comes to insurance coverage, in and across the USA for example, different counties, geographical areas, have different regulations, pre-requisites, minimum coverage, licensing specifications etc. that you might need to explore and adhere to , in order to be a legitimate home-based day care provider, location and operating registered business (even if not licensed – not all providers are by the way!). Every state will have its own set of rules. You need to explore and find out what the ones are when you live, pertaining to the care and supervision of little ones (under-aged kids), supervisory type services in a home environment. You also, as a business owner, self-employed, or employer, all of the above, need to provide for yourself, your family, your employees, the families and any child in your care, your property, auto, life, health insurance, even third party, contents insurance to optimally protect all interests, investments and parties best.
Most local, brick-and-mortar, independent, banner-affiliate, insurance broker(s) can shed some light on accountability, costs, risk, policies and coverage. Simple, middle-road, types, comprehensive, packages etc. are all available. There are specific cost effective insurance programs for childcare centers, Montessori schools, preschools, and related businesses, all home-care type environments and entrepreneurial type pursuits for this type of care-giving and society assistance.
Size of the accounts and coverage, policies, terms, costs will vary, depending on the nature of the business, amount and type of coverage that you are interested in
Find a program and solution that meets your needs, and budget. Here are a just a couple of the things that you might want to consider as well
(WC) or Workers Compensation,
Daycare legal responsibility,
Building and contents coverage
Vehicles, automobiles, transportation equipment.
Accident and health insurance
There are many child –care specific type coverage that you can build into your policies to keep you, your business, family, assets, interests, investments, employees/staff, families and kids (clients/customers), optimally protected, while keeping it affordable still.
By law and federal government you need to have a certain amount of minimum coverage and protection as well as a long term care strategy and preparing some financial statements, calculations prior to meeting with the insurers/insurance professional, will help you wrap your head around what you need for your home-based business in supervisory care.
Most insurers will quickly tell you that basic service coverage and a single life insurance policy in most cases will not even start to be enough! You do need more. When it comes to legal action and suits against you want to ensure that you are fully protected and not going to lose your shirt, assets, investments, reputation and all your hard-earned dollar and effort in a court ruling!
Look for connections, rates, experience, support, larger industry exposure, credibility, reliability, and reputation when you pick a provider, broker, insurance carrier. Choose something rather that is customized for your particular business needs, rather than a pre-packed, general type policy, only to find out later that what you thought was covered, in fact is not! Both commercial and residential type day care facilities need to ensure optimal and sufficient protection type coverage.
Specialized coverage might include things like: child molestation and abuse limits, clauses, deductibles and minimum payments all need to be discussed, as would defense cost reimbursement specifications, non-owned, hired cars, transportation vehicles coverage, drop-in center coverage, field-trip type peace of mind, extended hour, overnight, special needs clauses, buildings, structure and contents, loss of income, business personal property, food contamination, communicable diseases coverage, medical, accidents, employment practice related responsibility, crime etc.
Get more information on this topic at http://nrc.uchsc.edu/STATES/states.htm from the National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education website, for state by state breakdown.