Summer and Sports Camp Insurance
(How you can easily get started today)
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More than seven million people visit our site every year looking for unbiased information about insurance and other related topics. And with great readership comes great responsibility, which means we’re dedicated to providing honest and accurate information.
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Paul Martin is the Director of Education and Development for Myron Steves, one of the largest, most respected insurance wholesalers in the southern U.S.
Summer camps. Sports camps. Band camps. Math camps. There’s absolutely no shortage of getaway camps out there for the kiddos these days. And every one of them is a great opportunity for kids to get out of the house, explore, learn, and have fun.
But as the owner or director of the camp, you have more than just fun to think about. You have to make sure everyone, and everything is safe and protected.
Luckily, our independent insurance agents are here, ready to help you track down and compare multiple policy options before securing the protection that’s right for you. But first, let’s talk about the risks and protections you need to consider before taking the next step.
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3 Big Liability Risks All Camps Should Recognize
- Premise liability: Camp owners have a responsibility to review their activities and inspect their grounds and facilities to reduce the risk of injuries to the campers, staff, and visitors.
- Failure to perform background checks liability: Camp owners have a responsibility to perform backgrounds checks on their employees, volunteers, and counselors. If they don’t, they can be held liable for any harmful acts committed during the program.
- Risk of injury liabilities: Camp owners have responsibility for camper injuries even if a waiver has been signed for higher risk activities like football or jousting.
Reducing Your Risk Exposure with Camp Insurance
The thing about risks is that they can be pretty sneaky, which makes it hard to be properly prepared and protected. A solid summer camp insurance policy will go a long way toward protecting you from the liability issues you face and the cost of accidental injuries that happen to campers or staff.
DID YOU KNOW?
Your camp may also be your business, be sure to cover the risks associated with the business operations of the camp as well.
A comprehensive camp insurance policy provides you general liability and accidental medical coverage, as well as property damage, workers compensation and business interruption coverages.
Protecting Campers and Staff with Accidental Medical Insurance
Everybody knows kids will be kids. Accidents often happen at camp, but an accidental medical group insurance policy can provide medical care compensation if, and when, that time comes.
Group accidental medical coverage usually covers injuries or sicknesses that happen while at camp, or injuries and sicknesses that start at camp but continue for some time afterwards.
Some policies will also cover dental injuries as medical expenses. These policies normally come in two packages: a primary medical coverage and one that pays excess benefits for those already insured by individual personal insurance. Here's the differences:
Primary:
- Necessary for groups that may not already have accident or health insurance
- Pays claims first after an accident
- Pays covered claims even if you have other insurance
Excess:
- Generally covers personal plan deductibles, coinsurance, or expenses left over after your personal plan pays claims
- Applicable to groups who are already covered by other insurance
- Pays out for coverage even after your personal coverage pays
- Coverage is not as extensive as your personal insurance
With your accidental medical policy, you can choose to cover staff and campers or just the campers alone. Typically, this insurance covers all sponsored and supported activities of the camp and travel to and from camp activities, unless otherwise excluded in your policy.
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Covering Camp Liabilities
A key part of your camp coverage is a general liability policy. This policy provides the following risk protections:
- Bodily injury: Covers you if someone is injured on your premises or due to the operation of the camp and you are held legally responsible for resulting medical treatment costs and pain and suffering charges.
- Property liability: Covers property damage caused to a third party by you, your employees or your camp operations.
- Medical payments: Pays medical expenses of those injured on your property. Normally excludes camp participants.
Insuring Sports Camps
One of the most popular types of summer camps is a sports camp. Many colleges, schools, and local organizations offer a number of different sports camps, from basketball, to football, or volleyball.
These policies typically include group accidental medical coverage that is customized to the specific sport. Some camps may also require waivers to be signed by participants if there is a reasonable expectation of injury.
Basketball camps are particularly popular with the kids. Whether it’s a day-camp format or more of a sleepover-type camp, it can be run by athletes, coaches, or volunteers from the community.
If you're running a basketball camp, you’ll want to make sure you purchase adequate medical coverage for your staff and participants, as well as general liability insurance for the court, the locker room, and any lodging facilities.
Obviously, a math camp won’t have as a high-risk as a full-contact football camp. And this is taken into careful consideration when insurers are formulating their quotes.
Some injuries due to high risk activities may be excluded on some policies, so be sure to talk it all through with your independent insurance agent. Your agent can help you make sure you've got all the coverage you need to host a camp safely.
Protecting Your Business Interests
The final type of insurance that can be an asset to a camp is a business owners insurance policy (BOP). The protection you’ll need under your BOP includes:
- Business Loss of Income: Replaces your income if your camp operations are interrupted for a covered loss; includes paying wages to employees and other operating expenses
- Commercial Vehicle: Covers your cars, buses, trucks or other camp vehicles used for business purposes; normally includes liability and property damage protections
- Workers Compensation: Covers your employees if they are injured, become ill or die as a result of job-related activities; pays for medical treatment and covers lost wages if the employee cannot return to work
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Finding the Right Camp Insurance Policy
The right summer camp insurance gives you the peace of mind you, and your campers, need to relax and enjoy the time. An independent insurance agent in our network can help you fit all the appropriate camp insurance coverages to your specific needs at a cost that makes sense for your budget.
The Benefits of an Independent Insurance Agent
Independent insurance agents are kind of like the Google of insurance quotes. You tell them what you’re looking for, and they bring in the results. And since they aren’t tied down to one carrier, they’re free to shop around and bring multiple policy options to the table.
And it gets better, you don’t have to review the policy options alone. They’ll walk you through everything you need to know about finding the right coverage, and price, for you. But it doesn’t end with your signature.
Along the way, if something bad ever happens, they’ll handle the entire claim process for you and deal with the carrier, so you can focus on your camping empire.