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.
Also read:
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:
| Types of Injuries | Number of Patrons Injured | Settlement Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Abrasion and Contusion | 8,149 | $80,234 |
| Strain and sprain | 12,749 | $30,203 |
| Fracture | 2,363 | $159,274 |
| Internal Injuries | 3,280 | $278,293 |
| Laceration | 2,158 | $5,202 |
| Concussions | 1,564 | $15,229 |
Related: Zoo Insurance
Get all the best quotes from leading providers in a click of a button!
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:
| Type of Injury | Number of Patrons Injured | Settlement Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Strain and sprain | 5,628 | $10,446 |
| Abrasion and Contusion | 4,804 | $4,825 |
| Fracture | 2,454 | $45,535 |
| Internal Injuries | 4,559 | $143,463 |
| Concussion | 3,712 | $20,781 |
| Laceration | 1,654 | $3,024 |
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.
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.
Get all the best quotes from leading providers in a click of a button!
It is important to note that several factors determine the cost of amusement park, theme park, and water park insurance. For instance, the type of insurance policy you choose could increase or lower the total cost. If you want a comprehensive insurance coverage, you will have to spend more.
Similarly, the size of your amusement park business influences the cost of insurance. If you run a large business that receives hundreds of guests daily, you will spend more on insurance. Furthermore, the number of your employees is another factor.
Xinsurance offers protection to amusement parks, theme parks, family fun centers, adventure parks, trampoline parks, and special events with its commercial general liability coverage, which provides the funds for personal and property damage lawsuits, medical costs, and false advertising claims. What many like about this company is that it allows the customer to customize their CGL by adding other coverages such as business interruption, commercial auto, equipment breakdown coverage, and many more.
Allows the policyholder to customize their personal or commercial insurance
Fast and easy insurance renewal process
Has an updated record of existing customers for faster dispute resolution
Member of IAAPA
Might charge some of their customers unbelievable premiums
Best for : Customizable insurance
Our rating : 4/5
American Specialty has an AM Best rating of A+. But surprisingly, the BBB reviews of this company might take a customer aback. American Specialty offers amusement and theme parks’ general liability, liquor liability, business auto excess liability, property (including crime), and inland marine coverages. American Specialty provides insurance to all 50 states of the United States.
Insures a customer regardless of location
High AM Best rating
Business property damage coverage that doesn’t exclude embezzlement, theft, forgery, and any other business-related crimes
Can suddenly terminate a customers policy due to problems with payments made with credit or debit cards
Many report that American Specialty’s customer service isn’t responsive and customer friendly
Best for : Customers looking for coverage available in all states
Our rating : 4/5
The World Water Park Association isn’t an insurance carrier. However, by partnering with Haas & Wilkerson, the company made a WWA insurance program for its members. The WWA insurance program protects hotel and resort waterparks, indoor water parks, and spray parks. Insurance applies to accidents in wave and swimming pools , flume slides, tube slides, body slides, surf simulators, kiddie pools, and spray contraptions.
Pros
Premiums are not affected by the ups and downs of insurance markets
Caters to accidents in different water park equipment
Cons
Coverages are for WWA members only
Best for : Customers looking for insurance premiums that’s doesn’t change abruptly
Our rating : 3/5
Use anyone except Employers. Period. They are non-transparent and shameful. After I complained long enough to warrant a call from a supervisor, the supervisor called back from a PRIVATE NUMBER (no caller ID), left a message that they are not reversing their decision (without any communication with me), and failed to leave a phone number for me to call back. She was hiding! They also fact find via email and phone calls, which is terrific for speed and communication. However, after setting a precedence of email or phone calls, they send time sensitive information via email, without any heads up... they are hoping you miss it and forfeit via expiration. Evil policies. Go elsewhere.
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
Not all those who wander are lost.
Disclosure: Insuranks.com is an independent educational comparison service and an advertising-supported publisher. Some of the companies/offers that appear on the website are from our partners which we may receive compensation from. This may influence which companies/offers we write about and where and how it appears on the site. However, this does not impact our assessments. We solely highlight companies, products, and offers that can help you make smarter insurance decisions.
