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.
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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
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 $1 million 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 $1 million 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 |
Offers instant certificate of insurance upon purchase of the policy
Provides general liability and professional liability coverage
Has short-term swim teacher insurance, which is great for those who run swimming classes only in peak seasons
Policy limits start at $1 million or $2 million
No other way to contact customer support but through email only
Thimble offers on-demand and short-term insurance for swim teachers. You can instantly get insured online. Once you're covered, Thimble gives you an ACORD 25 certificate of insurance.
| 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 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
Marsh offers a packaged insurance product. Note that one of this company's specialties is underwriting policies that perfectly cater to unique exposures swim clubs, schools, and teachers face.
| 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
The Swim Club takes pride in its insurance agents who are also bonafide swimming professionals. Therefore, you're sure to get coverage that's very useful. The Swim Club offers very cheap rates to non-profit swimming organizations.
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!
It really can't get any better than this... wow
Not all those who wander are lost.
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