Kids are one of the most precious things to humanity. That is why we must do everything we can to protect them from potential harm and one the ways to do that is to make sure they are insured.
If a child is responsible for causing injury or property damage, and the parent is being held liable, the homeowner’s insurance will respond to it. If the child falls under the category of ‘who is insured’, and its not an excluded action, then the liability portion of either the homeowner’s or renter’s will respond to provide defense. Resident relatives are included as insured under the standard industry homeowner form, as long as they are residents of the household. There are more stipulations if they are resident non-relatives or students away at school full time. It applies when a full-time student who was a resident before moving out to school is under the age of 24 if a relative or under 21 if not a relative.
One of the key elements is whether or not the child is a resident of the household. It is critical to watch out for situations in which children move away from home but still maintain the parents’ address for mailing purposes, or keep belongings stored there. A case in 1996 involved a 19-year-old man who was sued for injuring a woman while skateboarding. At the time, the man had his residence for six months, but when the incident happened the parents’ house, carrier denied liability. The victim was awarded $123,000 against the man. The parents tried to sue their carrier, but the court ruled in favor of the insurance company, because they determined that the man was not insured because he was physically living elsewhere.
In the case of the child injuring themselves, it could change how decisions are made. There is a case law that states when a child is 5 years and 10 months and is injured, they have the potential for sharing negligence. This means that when a child is under 6 years old, they could be restricted from a risky activity such as using the trampoline. However, a property owner could still be held responsible for a guest injury.
There are statements claiming that owning a trampoline could cause someone’s homeowner’s insurance to be cancelled, but that is a myth. The worst-case scenario foreseen in the market is an extra premium charge that would be applied to the policy. The suggestion that is given to trampoline owners is to make sure their personal liability limits are adequate and give serious consideration to purchasing an additional umbrella policy at reasonable price. Due to 100,000 accidents being caused by trampolines in a year, and 20% of those accidents being spinal injuries, it is not only important, but also recommended by most insurance agencies, to get an additional umbrella policy.