Why You Need Additional Swimming Pool Insurance

If you install a swimming pool in your backyard, you absolutely need additional swimming pool insurance. Your homeowner's insurance alone will NOT BE ENOUGH TO COVER YOU in the event of an accident. I don't mean to shout there, but most people don't realize that their regular home insurance isn't nearly comprehensive enough in case you get sued.

If you're not properly insured, and someone gets hurt in or around your pool, you are inviting law suits. I know you're probably thinking your friends and family are the only ones who use the pool, and they would never sue you....

Guess again.

It's not that people love to sue or even want to sue. They may have to sue. With the high costs of hospitalization and related medical expenses today, someone who suffers a serious injury probably can't afford not to sue. If someone--god forbid--drowns, you can be their family will come after you. And if a person is injured at your pool in your backyard, guess who's technically at fault?

You are.

If someone gets hurt, don't be surprised by a lawsuit: expect it. And don't think you can watch the pool every moment to make sure nobody gets hurt. Accidents will happen no matter how assiduous you are in trying to prevent them. It's statistically proven that accidents are very likely to happen around backyard pools and hot tubs.

This isn't to say you should pour dirt into your pool, plant a sweet safe flower bed, and post "stay out of yard" signs all around your backyard. You just need to make sure you're adequately covered when it comes to insurance.

Now that you've been warned of the dangers, you probably want to know how to make sure you're covered. Good. Here we go:

If you own a swimming pool or hot tub, you should carry very high liability insurance, i.e. in the range of a million dollars or more.

This can be tricky since many home insurance policies limit the maximum exposure of the insurer to around $100,000. Sometimes you can get this increased to $300,000, but getting more than that, from your homeowner's plan alone, will surely prove difficult.

This is why you should look into an umbrella plan. An umbrella plan is a separate liability policy that you get in addition to your homeowner's coverage. It generally picks up where your standard home insurance leaves off. This way, you can get coverage of several million dollars.

The cost for this additional coverage is usually not too bad--in the ballpark of $500 per year. This may seem pricey, but considering the millions of dollars of coverage it affords you, it's definitely worth the money, especially if you have a hot tub or pool and ever entertain. The additional insurance coverage will give you peace of mind.

One last thing to note is that you may have to buy all your insurance from the same place. This would include home and auto. If you have a pool or spa, it's probably worth changing insurers to find one who offers an umbrella plan.