Neighborhood Kids

[aliciaredd]

I just had a pool put in and I am the only one on the neighborhood with one and I also have 4 children. As you can imagine there are tons of kids at my house everyday even before the pool came.
My question is...
Where can I find some kind of template or download for a permission note that will protect me and my home from any unfortunate accidents. I want the parents to sign it every time there kids swim at my house so I they will know there are no life guards or any other life-saving devices at the pool.
I know this sounds mean but that's not what I want I just want to make sure that I don't lose everything I have worked so hard for because a child gets hurt.

 

[bk406]

A "permission slip" unfortunatly, will not relieve you of any liability. You can't sign liability away, it wouldnt be worth the paper it's printed on. You can still be sued. Whether they would win is another matter, though.

 

[coloeb]

I would consult your insurance company or a local attorney, there may be specifics they can add that will protect you a lot better than some generic form.

 

[Bama Rambler]

What I would do is that you ask your insurance company what they recommend. I don't know that having them sign a release will really absolve you of anything. It all depends on where you're located.

If you still want a release you can do a Google search for "swimming pool release of liability" I found a bunch of them.

 

[bk406]

If you still want a release you can do a Google search for "swimming pool release of liability" I found a bunch of them.

I'll just reiterate what i said earlier, these releases are not worth the piece of paper.

FWIW, my mom is a superior court judge that does civil cases and my step father is an attorney, so I do have some knowledge of what i speak

 

[gkruske]

I was encouraged to get an umbrella policy, which I did. It will go above and beyond the normal liability policy tied to your home, in case something happens. I got a 1M dollar umbrella, which was actually fairly inexpensive. This gives me a total of 1.5M in liability.

But even with that, if we have any kids over, we definitely encourage that their parents are there as well. Usually tied to an informal gathering, or a birthday party. Just not worth the risk, and the kids' parents should definitely understand that.

 

[geekgranny]

We've had an umbrella policy for a kazillion years. Ours covers from $500 K (what our home owners goes up to) to 1 million. It also covers for auto accidents and other instances. We used to pay around $250 a year but it is a little over $300 now. I just added it on to my regular monthly home insurance payments. A quick call to your current home insurer will probably be all that is needed, and the policy should be in effect that very same day. Just tell them you want an Umbrella policy added to your homeowners insurance.

In the US anybody can sue for any reason. If it turns out to be frivolous you are still responsible for your legal expenses (unlike more advanced countries where the suit is deemed frivolous - the suing party pays) There may be some exceptions to this but I certainly wouldn't count on it.

My DH was once included in a broad suit that included municipals, hospitals, clinics, staffs, nurses, councilors, doctors, etc. Each entity had to hire their own lawyers. Every one knew it was frivolous but the multitude of lawyers made millions before the suit was dismissed.

My DH once slid through a stop light, going < 5 mph and literally only scraped the side of a car; not even denting the surface. The police were right there and saw it happen. They left the scene as it wasn't bad enough to get involved. There were five people in the car who obviously could not have been even scratched. DH and driver exchanged lic/insurance info and that was that. About a month later we happened to find out that all five people in the other car sued for injuries. The insurance company wasn't even going to tell us about it. I don't know what the outcome was, either but the insurance company paid for all legal expenses. Otherwise how much money would we have been out???? The last lawyer I had do some work for me, just reasearch only, billed at $500 per hour.

The small cost of an umbrellas policy is PRICELESS.

gg=alice

 

[gkruske]

Fairly common. As mentioned above as well, disclaimers just don't work. For example, the ones you sign when you go bungee jumping. If you die or cave your head in, you promise you won't sue them. Don't see too many of those portable bungee-jumping rigs anymore, do you?

You can't sue them since your head is caved in, but your mom/dad/wife sure can.

 

[momov2]

I am a property and casualty agent and unfortunatelly for you all of this "IS" true. Call your homeowners insurance agent. He/She will need to raise your homeowners liability to a minimum to qualify for the umbrella policy. In MS the homeowners needs to be 500K (most policies already have 100K). It does not cost very much for the increase in liability on your HO policy about $25/year per $100K. You can then purchase the umbrella for 1mil to 3 mil (in some states more). You will have a retained limit if a claim is filed against you (usually $250.00) the retained limit acts as a deductible for the umbrella to kick in. If you were to be sued, your homeowners insurance liability would pay out the maximum first at no deductible, then after you pay an additional $250.00 the umbrella will kick in up to your limit of coverage. I am sure you have fenced it in, but it would also be a good idea for these parents to know you will not tolerate trespassing when you are not home. Swimming pools are what we call an "attractive nuisance" similar to a trampoline. But when the parents are away the kids will play if you catch my drift. Doing your part to protect your investment is also wise. Post a "no trespassing" sign on the outside of your fence and also have hazards clearly marked. That way if the worse happens and your insurance adjuster investigates the grounds, he will see that you have done your part to protect yourself. I have been in the business for 12 years and I have only had once claim like this and it was related to a boating accident. No swimming pool injuries yet.

 

[NWMNMom]

Make it clear that nobody under 18 swims without their parents present. That keeps most of them home because the parents are too busy - why should you and your pool be the neighborhood babysitter?

 

[rrc1962]

We don't have kids now, but when we did, the rule was no kids in the pool unless parents are present. If the parents go to use the bathroom, the kids come out of the pool. If they had an issue with the rule, they were not welcome in the pool. I did that on the advice of my lawyer who had handled quite a few pool liability cases. He said the only hope of winning is if the kids parents were there watching their own kids at all times. If they are not there, technically you are acting guardian and responsible for anything that happens.

 

[poolgirl22]

Make it clear that nobody under 18 swims without their parents present. That keeps most of them home because the parents are too busy - why should you and your pool be the neighborhood babysitter?

This is what I was going to say. I'm pretty strict. There's a big difference between having neighborhood kids over in the yard, in the house, etc playing and having them in the pool.

We had a strict rule for wandering over neighborhood kids who would ask to swim and every adult who is at our house is aware of it..."If your mom or dad will come with you and supervise you, then you can." Most never showed up again. We have one neighbor girl who is one of my daughters best friends, so of course this rule does not apply, but WE exempted her from it. You have to set boundaries or you will end up being the babysitter and that's not fair to you and it puts unnecessary pressure on you. Plus, you need breaks from the constant watching and it's other parents responsibility to do their part.