Are you planning to open your own private daycare? Or are you already in business? To help you take full advantage of your home daycare venture, Assurances Multi-Risques would like to give you some home insurance tips. Goodbye problems, hello little ones!
What you should know about in-home daycare and insurance
The number one rule in insurance is to always notify your insurer of any changes that may affect your policy. This is what the insurance industry calls “aggravation of risk.” (To learn more about this subject, click here.)
Therefore, if you start a business in your home, such as a daycare, you must immediately notify your insurer, as this is excluded from your home insurance policy. If you have not notified your insurer, you could have an invalid claim and potentially even lose your most important asset: your home.
Contact your insurer immediately and ask your insurance agent or broker if they will cover home daycares. Unfortunately, not all insurance companies will cover private daycares.
Factors that affect your home insurance
Here are some factors that you should consider before opening your daycare, as they could have a significant impact on your home insurance.
- Check with your insurer or broker to see how many infants (under 18 months) are allowed, as there are limits.
- Ask if your insurer allows you to care for children with a mental or physical disability.
- It is very important to be honest with the insurer if you have a dog or cat. An insurer may refuse to insure you if you own animals, including reptiles. If you hide the truth and something happens, you could be risking a lot. Don’t make this mistake!
- Make sure your property is fenced and safe for little ones to play in!
Insurance options for your private daycare
Has your home insurance company just agreed to cover your home daycare? That’s great! Here are some of the options available to you.
- Adding a liability extension for home daycare: in the event that a child is injured at your home, you will be covered in case of a lawsuit.
- Assurances Multi-Risques also advises you to add a professional liability (errors and omissions) coverage extension. Did you know that dispensing medication is not included in your basic liability extension policy? This is why it’s so important to get professional liability coverage. It would also be helpful if you inadvertently offered a child food to which they were allergic.
- You can also add a home-based worker package: depending on your home insurance policy, your business assets may be limited. In your insurance policy, all items used for your daycare, including toys, are defined as business assets. The home-based worker package allows you to increase your professional coverage.
This additional protection can also cover loss of income if your daycare is closed due to a home insurance claim (for example, if you have to close your daycare for 2 weeks because of water damage requiring renovations).
Final thoughts
We know that it isn’t always easy to navigate the various insurance options available to home daycares. That’s why we strongly recommend that you contact an insurance broker. They will be able to guide and advise you through the details.
At AMR, we carefully analyze each customer’s needs to offer insurance policies that are right for them, all for the best possible value on the market. Since we are independent professionals, we have access to a wide range of insurers across the country, some of whom do not sell directly to the public.
Trust us with your insurance so you can take care of those little ones without worrying about the rest. You take care of the children as if they were your own, and we’ll take care of your insurance as if it were for us.