In the United States, no summer is complete for families or groups of friends without spending their merry time on beaches, lakes, rivers, public swimming pools, waterparks , and other similar places.
Being in water can be perilous without knowing how to swim. It all takes one careless mistake for an enjoyable swim to become a disaster. For this reason, a lot of people in the United States look for swim teachers.
Swim teachers are similar to personal chefs or computer technicians in that they face certain risks while doing their job. For these risks, insurance provides the quickest solution for any arising problems. This article will discuss how helpful swim teacher insurance, swim club insurance, and swim school insurance are, their cost, and how they work.
Swim teacher insurance pertains to an insurance product that carriers offer for swim teachers. Insurance for swim teachers offers liability coverage, which provides protection against legal issues.
Teaching people how to swim isn’t that easy. Aside from giving instructions, a swim teacher also needs to make sure that the students don’t get injured. But sometimes, injuries still happen even if care is perfectly observed. Even if it’s the students’ fault for getting injured, a swim teacher still has liability. And so, facing a personal injury lawsuit is highly possible. The table below outlines the injuries swim teachers might have to pay for in personal injury lawsuits.
Type of Injury | Settlement Cost Swim Teachers Might Pay |
---|---|
Shoulder Injury | $215,000 |
Knee Injury | $165,000 |
Head Injury | $1,000,000 |
Ear injury | $67,000 |
The figures in the above table show that swim teachers might find it very difficult to pay for personal injury settlements using their own money. For this reason, carriers offer general liability coverage. General liability coverage in swim teacher insurance provides a minimum of $1 million for each personal injury lawsuit clients file. With general liability coverage, a swim teacher can have the money to pay for attorney fees and compensation to the injured person.
But general liability won’t only pay for personal injury lawsuits. It will also pay if the customer files a lawsuit due to damaged property. The coverage still works the same in this case and provides $1 million so that the swim teacher can reimburse the client equal to the cash value of their damaged belongings.
Swim teacher insurance doesn’t offer unemployment coverage. Those who want to be protected in case of unemployment must get a stand-alone unemployment policy. A stand-alone unemployment policy gives money to the policyholder on a weekly basis. Most of the time, it provides $50 - $500 or more a week to the policyholder. States offer unemployment insurance programs and it’s best to get a hold of them as soon as one starts working.
Most students take swimming lessons as a deterrent for drowning accidents. But sometimes, the exact opposite happens. Students drown in swim class instead of learning how to swim. In most cases, drowning accidents that happen during swim class might put the swim instructor at fault. And so, it’s important to ask whether or not swim instructor insurance covers drowning.
Swim teachers can use their general liability coverage if their insurance specifically lists drowning accidents as covered and if the student or any acquaintance of the student files a personal injury lawsuit. With that being said, it’s not 100% for general liability to work on drowning incidents.
Liability coverage that might work perfectly for lawsuits arising after a student drowned is professional liability. Most of the time, lawsuits put the blame on swim instructors because of negligence. Professional liability coverage is a policy that provides protection when the policyholder causes damage by being negligent.
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Swim teachers can’t help hold their student's arms, shoulders, torso, and legs while giving instructions. The problem is, some students can overreact to these gestures. The result? Sexual harassment lawsuits.
Still, we can’t blame people for overreacting when a swim instructor makes physical contact, as the United States is a place where sexual harassment is rampant. Here are some interesting statistics:
81% percent of women and 41% of men report that they’ve experienced some form of sexual harassment
Most sexual harassment victims are in their teens, usually between 11-17 years old
Nearly a quarter of men in the U.S. experienced some form of contact with sexual violence in their lifetime
1 in 5 women and 1 in 5 men in the United States must have been raped at any stage of their lives
Swim instructor insurance having employment practices liability with sexual harassment coverage will protect swim teachers against sexual harassment lawsuits. Just like general liability, employment practices liability gives the policyholder $1 million with a median deductible of $5,000.
A lot of studies have shown that attendance at swim schools can greatly reduce the risk of drowning in children. However, one can’t deny that unintentional drowning accidents also happen in swimming centers. Here are some examples:
A 13-year-old student drowned in a high school swim class. It’s important to note that the swim instructor and the school management failed to maintain a clean and safe swimming environment for the kids
A 6-year-old girl died after a near-drowning accident. Reports state that the instructor left the girl alone to look after the other kids. There were lifeguards but sadly, they failed to notice the girl drowning
A 14-year-old drowned in a swim class. It was only after the end of the class when the swim teacher and the other students noticed the deceased submerged at the bottom of the pool
Interestingly, there were 387 fatal accidents in the United States from 2016 - 2018 that happened in pools owned by swim schools and swim clubs.
Swim schools can face legal responsibility for any injuries that happen to students. And so, it’s not only their swim teachers that need insurance but also themselves. Swim school insurance and swim club insurance offer:
General liability coverage
Commercial property coverage
Professional liability coverage
Business interruption coverage
Public liability coverage
Management liability coverage
Aside from what’s above, carriers also offer business owners policy for swim schools and swim clubs. Business owners policy bundles general liability and commercial property and allows the policyholder to add any additional coverages without any significant increase in rates. And so, it’s the most viable option since it’s cheap and comprehensive.
Swim instructor insurance cost is $25 a month or $300 a year for a general liability insurance
Employment practices liability having sexual harassment coverage costs $56 a month or $672 a year
Swim schools and swim clubs pay a median of $55.83 a month or $670 a year for a general liability coverage
The cost of business interruption insurance for swim schools is $45 a month or $540 a year
Swim schools and swim clubs who want to get a business owners policy should prepare to pay rates starting at $84 a month or $1,008 a year
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Insuranks rating | 9.5/10 |
---|---|
Best for | Freelance and employed swim teachers and swim instructors |
Year Founded | 2015 |
CEO | Jay Bregman |
Headquarters | New York City |
Customer Support | hello@verifly.com |
AM Best Rating | A+ ( excellent) |
BBB Rating | A+ |
Number of Complaints | 53 |
Insuranks rating | 8/10 |
---|---|
Best for | Swim schools and swim clubs |
Year Founded | 1871 |
CEO | John Q. Doyle |
Headquarters | New York City |
Customer Support | Customer Service Portal |
AM Best Rating | A+ ( excellent) |
BBB Rating | A- |
Number of Complaints | 1 |
Has 15 years of experience in underwriting for swimming schools and other related businesses
Offers insurance for self swim teachers , volunteers, swim clubs, and swim schools
Has public and products liability, professional indemnity, business owner’s policy, and management liability
Claims can’t be filed and tracked online
Insuranks rating | 8/10 |
---|---|
Best for | Swim clubs |
Year Founded | 2001 |
CEO | N/A |
Headquarters | N/A |
Customer Support | dmcgregor@swimclubinsurance.com |
AM Best Rating | Not rated |
BBB Rating | Not rated |
Number of Complaints | N/A |
Offers very cheap rates for non-profit swimming organizations who qualify for insurance programs
Aside from its own insurance, Swim Club is also a partner of highly rated insurance companies and provides quotes from them
Insurance agents are bonafide swim club members and can quickly provide suggestions about the best coverage and best ways to save on premiums
Gives safety and risk management programs to swim clubs
Offers coverage in all 50 states
Not rated by AM Best or Better Business Bureau
Kasey Arey Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
This company gives you a price that was in place for a year and when you have to use it there is fine print were they can go back and charge you more. Would not recommend them to any one. Crooks
Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
Had general liability and workers comp with amguard. Paid high premiums and yet still got audited every year and had to pay more. Was able to prove less risk the first two audits and disputed price down but none the less had to pay more just so I could renew coverage. Third time the audit ( based on what I paid my premium on ) was ridiculous and tried to prove that there was no increase in risk from what I paid for my premium. However they would not believe it and required I paid full audit amount in order to have redline removed. Basically you do what they say and pay whatever outlandish bill they come up with or they will make sure you can’t run your business anymore. ????
Felicia Broadus Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
Avoid these SCAM ARTISTS! They don’t pay claims!!! Save yourself the trouble and money!
Felicia Broadus Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
They are the worst, my truck was hit in January 23 and the claim adjuster has not been out to this very day! They have every excuse in the book as to why. They have not been to the collision shop. PLEASE AVOID THESE SCAM ARTIST!
Dave Phillips Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: CoverWallet Business Insurance
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