A Guide to Pool Safety, Liability & Insurance

Having a place to swim on your property is likely to add fun and value to your life, but it can also present unforeseen risks, such as drowning. An accident or injury can result in an expensive lawsuit.

Before you dive into building a pool, it’s important to understand safety precautions, how much home insurance coverage you'll need and ways you can protect yourself from any increased liability as a homeowner.

Pools present a number of risks regardless of whether you’re swimming, hanging out on the steps, or not getting in the water at all. In addition to personal precautions you should take, every city and town has its own laws regarding pool safety standards and building codes. Be sure to check them before buying a house with a pool or building your own.

You’ll need to work with your home insurance company to make sure you’re meeting coverage guidelines. Whether required by law or insurance, the following precautions should be taken by all homeowners before and after building a pool:

• Installing proper fencing and safety perimeters
• Purchasing safety alarms for your home and pool
• Keeping your pool chemically balanced
• Having an automatic and lockable cover
• Understanding your guests’ swimming abilities before allowing them in your pool
• Having an emergency rescue plan
• Keeping safety equipment easily accessible

As a pool owner, you will want to ensure that anyone who swims in your pool is having an enjoyable and safe time. If you’ve never owned a pool, however, knowing how to keep your pool safe can feel overwhelming. Here are the most common safety questions.

Insurance companies consider pools an “attractive nuance” and a liability. Since you are responsible for anyone who swims in your pool whether they have permission to be there or not, adding a pool will impact your home insurance rates.

The good news is that your home insurance will typically provide coverage for your pool in several ways.

First, it will help pay to repair or replace any damage that is done to the pool as a result of covered perils such as fire, wind, storms, theft, vandalism or falling objects. In addition, your included liability coverage will pay for third-party injuries or property damage that may happen at your pool.

Any injuries that occur as a result of negligence or poor pool maintenance will not be covered. Your home insurance will also only cover guest injuries. If an immediate family member is injured, you’ll need to file a claim with your health insurance.

Under most state laws, property owners are found liable for child-related pool incidents under the following conditions:

• If it’s determined that a pool inherently puts the interests of children at risk
• If a pool is determined to be dangerous
• If it’s determined that you should have known a pool was dangerous
• If you did not take proper precautions to make a pool safe

To receive proper coverage, you’ll most likely need to increase your liability limits. Many insurance experts recommend increasing your limits to $500,000, which could cost an additional $50 to $75 annually, on average. Every insurance company is different, so shopping for the best insurance companies for homes with a pool can help save you money.

In-ground pools are often detached from a home and therefore considered an “other structure” from your house. This type of insurance is referred to as Coverage B, and the policy typically covers 10% of your dwelling coverage. If you have $200,000 in dwelling coverage, your pool would be covered for about $20,000. Note that to properly cover your pool you may need to increase the amount of “other structure” coverage you have on your home insurance policy.

Above-ground pools are considered part of your personal property coverage through your home insurance policy. This type of coverage is known as Coverage C and has a percentage of coverage for dwellings. Typically, this is between 50–75% of the insurance on your structure. If you have $200,000 of dwelling coverage, then your pool may have upwards of $100,000 in protection.

A variety of resources can help pool owners understand safety, maintenance, insurance and costs. The following sites are a good place to start:

• The Pool Safety Resource: This resource provides a comprehensive set of resources for pool owners and parents on swimming lessons, CPR, pool security, barriers, alarm systems and more.
• The American Red Cross: The American Red Cross offers an online course on water safety for parents and caregivers which explains how to minimize the risks of drowning for young children. The Red Cross can also help you find CPR certification locations in your city or state and show you where to find swimming lessons in your city and county.
• Pool Safely: This site is part of a federally backed educational campaign from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission which provides resources to reduce childhood drownings, submersions, injuries and entrapments.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): The CDC offers information for swimmers, pool owners and organizations to provide healthy and safe swimming experiences.
• Safe Kids Worldwide: Safe Kids Worldwide offers articles, videos, checklists and statistics on pool safety and maintenance that can help show you how to keep children safe.
• Pool and Hot Tub Alliance: The Alliance provides education, advocacy and research on the residential pool and hot tub industry. The site includes educational resources, certifications, safety code information and relevant events.
• American Academy of Pediatrics: In this "Prevention of Drowning" report, the American Academy of Pediatrics shares strategies that can be effective in preventing drowning.