Amusement, Water & Theme Park Insurance: Quotes From $5

Homepage > Business Insurance > Amusement, Water & Theme Park Insurance: Quotes From $5

Amusement parks, theme parks, water parks, and maybe even arcades are an excellent way for everyone to enjoy the  hot summer months. No matter the age, anyone can have a good time in these places as they offer wholesome and safe entertainment for social groups, teenagers, couples, birthday celebrants, and even married adults.

Running an amusement park, theme park, and water park business can be very lucrative given the high demand. However, they face various risks that could see you face lawsuits. Theme park, water park, and amusement park insurance can cover any claims. This guide discusses this in detail and helps you understand why you should get insured. 

Amusement Park Insurance

Amusement park insurance provides coverage for customer-related accidents, equipment breakdown, business interruption, and community lawsuits. As there are different kinds of amusement parks, there’s no one-size-fits-all model for amusement industry insurance. With that said, a theme park and a water park can also get covered using amusement park insurance policies but with unique coverages and terms. 

Federal and state governments impose numerous regulations on amusement parks. Throughout history, records have proved that it isn’t all fun and games. Accidents can easily occur in any 457 amusement parks of the United States, which may result to deaths and incapacitating injuries.

Amusement parks are liable for deaths and injuries caused by the failure to properly maintain park facilities and premises. Also, not educating the patrons about the use  and safety precautions of a particular amusement facility also results in liability.  

When amusement parks are at fault for accidents and injuries,  organizations like the IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) encourage patrons to file a lawsuit against the guilty party’s amusement industry insurance policy for medical costs and pain and suffering.

Those planning to start their own amusement parks should get amusement park insurance. There are two reasons why this is important. First is that getting insured provides protection from personal injury and property damage lawsuits. Second, amusement parks can’t operate legally without amusement industry insurance, and operating without insurance can result in monetary penalties or temporary business closure. 

But why are the authorities so set on mandating amusement parks to have insurance?  Authorities want amusement parks to protect patrons by getting insured. Tracing amusement accident records will allow one to understand the dangers of amusement parks to patrons. From 2013 - 2017, an estimated 9,214 people suffered injuries from amusement park rides.  Out of this, 1,229 needed extensive medical attention. The table below provides details about the most common injuries in amusement parks and their settlement cost, which insurance might cover:

Related: Zoo Insurance

Water Park Insurance

The activities in water parks are very different from a conventional amusement park. Obviously, all rides must have something to do with water. Therefore, slipping, tripping, falling and equipment breakdown are more likely to happen. 

From 2013 - 2017 at least 5,437 people were involved in water park ride-related accidents. This is considerably higher than the 4,200 reported by the CPSC (US Consumer Product Safety Commission) . The table below shows the most common injuries in water parks and their settlement cost:

Adding the settlement costs of injuries from the table, a water park might have to pay $228,000 for personal injury claims. But as we have seen, most water parks involved in lawsuits pay more than $1 million as compensation to the complainant. 

And so,  those smart enough to foresee the risks look for water park insurance companies.  Water park insurance provides basic protection for personal injury and property damage lawsuits with general liability coverage. Water park business owners policy provides more protection as it bundles several coverages.  BOPs may offer any of these aside from general liability:

• Business interruption

• Commercial property

• Products and completed operations

• Workers comp

• Premises liability 

• Active assailant

• Excess liability

• Liquor liability

• Equipment breakdown 

Waterparks aren’t complete without pools.  According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), swimming pools cause 60% of drowning-related deaths in children. 

The chance for anyone to drown in water park pools is high. Some evidence for this are:

• The 6-year old boy that drowned in the wave pool  of Daytona Lagoon’s water park

• The 14-year old girl who drowned in an Ohio water park after neglecting to wear a life jacket

• The indian man that died in Water Waves Water Park

• The man that drowned in California’s Fresno’s Water Park

Drowning doesn’t count as personal injury. Therefore, those who own water parks facing a lawsuit for a drowning accident can’t use their general liability to cover legal and settlement fees. Professional indemnity coverage can be used if it’s proven that the drowning accident was due to the negligence of the management. Also, comprehensive personal liability will cater drowning lawsuits but this is only a coverage in homeowners insurance. 

Also read:Basketball Insurance: Basketball Team Insurance Quotes From $11

Theme Park Insurance

Theme parks are as dangerous as water parks. Perils in theme parks exist because contraptions have complex designs that follow a complex theme (fairy tail, cowboy town, jungle, pirate ship, historical, etc.). If one thinks about it, rides and other equipment in Disney, Magic Kingdom, Universal Studios, Big Thunder, and Twilightzone have complex designs and functions that might be perilous. 

In 38 countries, including the United States, there are at least 182 theme park related accidents.  28% of these accidents resulted in deaths. Facilities in theme parks that are commonly involved in accidents are.

• Roller coasters

• Zip lines

• Mountain coasters

• Trampolines

• Bungee

• Thrill rides

Theme park insurance provides protection to zoological theme parks, historical theme parks, and regional theme parks.  Strangely enough, it also covers golf courses and equine resorts. 

Just like other policies, protection that theme park insurance provides starts with a general liability coverage.  It applies when:

• The rider’s body impacted with an object that’s shouldn’t have been present in the contraption

• A rider’s hair or piece of clothing got caught by a part of the contraption

• A simple theme park facility (umbrella or chair ) hit someone

• The rider is ejected from a ride

• Ride malfunctions and puts patrons into peril, leading to mass hysteria

General liability is useful even because it provides $1 million up to $2 million coverage. So far, $71,000, $500,000, $1.3 million, and $36 million were the settlement fees we knew theme parks had to have paid after losing their defense. 

General liability insurance is very important for theme parks offering go-karts and other free-riding equipment. From 2013 - 2017 go-karts caused 8,414 accidents. In go-kart accident personal injury lawsuits, theme parks might have to pay $1.3 million  for any of these injuries:

• Ankle fracture

• Shoulder fracture

• Wrist or hand fracture

• Spine compression fracture

• Organ rupture

• Eye injuries

• Contusions and concussions

• Pelvic and leg fractures

Aside from general liability, products and completed operations can also cover personal injury lawsuits from go-kart related accidents.

Some theme parks face professional liability lawsuits and pay $4.6 million for severe injuries. Just like general liability, professional liability coverage in theme park insurance also offers $1 million up to $2 million minimum coverage. It commonly applies when the theme  park is sued for an operator's negligence. Remember that general liability will never cover negligent acts. 

Sudden earthquakes doesn’t only endanger patrons but the theme park as well.  It could result in the temporary closure to do repairs and replacements. And so, insurance for theme parks offer equipment breakdown coverage and business interruption coverage. 

Business interruption coverage takes effect starting from the day the policyholder’s claim has been approved and up to the day all repairs and replacement of theme park equipment was finalized. It covers lost income based on the average quarterly income of a business. Theme parks who have business interruption can solve problems in employee wages, bills, taxes, and loans payments.

As for equipment breakdown coverage, it covers repair or replacement cost of the equipment destroyed during the earthquake. As an additional note, equipment breakdown and business interruption also provides coverage for property damage due to unforeseen events and storms, hurricanes, and other natural disasters. 

Professional liability, equipment breakdown, and business interruption aren’t only available in theme park insurance. These coverages are also in generic amusement park insurance and water park insurance.