How Pools Affect Your Homeowners Insurance

If you are considering either an in-ground or above-ground swimming pool, it’s a good idea to call your home insurance company first. The pool will likely have an impact on your homeowners insurance. 

What You Should Know. 

Pools present two insurance considerations – damage coverage and liability coverage. Damage protection helps repair or replace your pool if it is damaged by a “common peril” such as fire, lightning, or falling debris. Liability coverage will help pay legal and medical costs if someone is injured using your pool. Without insurance, you could get stuck with these costs.

How Does a Pool Increase Your Liability Risk For Home Insurance?

In short, installing a pool increases the possibility that someone will drown on your property.

In fact, insurance companies consider pools an attractive nuisance. This is defined as any feature of a home that attracts children but has the potential to cause them harm. Due to the greater risk of installing a swimming pool, it is essential to increase your liability insurance. Adding additional liability insurance is beneficial because a swimming pool inherently causes more potential for injury.

Keeping Your Pool Safe. 

Aside from ensuring that your coverage is suitable for the type of swimming pool you own, be sure to follow the requirements your city or town has surrounding pools. For instance, a lot of local municipalities require a fence that’s at least 4 feet tall to be installed around the pool or property for safety reasons. If your carrier learns that you don’t have a proper fence, they may exclude your pool from your liability coverage.

Here are a few other ways to protect your pool and keep it safe: 

• Safety Covers
• Pool Alarm
• Fencing
• Rescue Equipment

Most homeowner’s find that adding a swimming pool has a minimal effect on their home insurance premium. Having good safety features on the swimming pool, as well as having adequate liability limits on your home insurance policy offers you peace of mind so you can enjoy your pool all summer long! Contact us today at https://panichelleinsurance.com/contact-us/ to discuss how a pool could affect your homeowners insurance and how we can help!