Big Insurance increase because of our pool with diving board

[Isaac-1]

Re: Big Insurance increase because of our pool with diving b

The simple fact is diving boards are a potential source of accidents, ask any long time pool owner that has a diving board that is at least somewhat actively used. In the 30 year history of my pool I know of at least 3 memorable incidents involving the diving board;

1, teen age girl dove off the board at too shallow of angle and caught the slope to the shallow end face first in about 5 feet of water, almost lost some teeth in the process, thankfully she had braces which ripped a finger size hole in the liner.

2, Adult man weighing about 270 pound jumped on the diving board and broke it in half, no injury, but you could see how it might be possible. (pool is now on its 3rd diving board, 2nd board was replaced as soon as the fiberglass started showing any small cracks)

3, Pre-teen boy jumping in feet first jumped too close to the diving board, hit his arm and broke it on the board on the way down.

Add to this various close calls, general tripping hazard, etc. and even in a relatively large residential pool, with careful monitoring of activity things can happen.

 

[2.ooohhh]

Re: Big Insurance increase because of our pool with diving b

The simple fact is diving boards are a potential source of accidents, ask any long time pool owner that has a diving board that is at least somewhat actively used. In the 30 year history of my pool I know of at least 3 memorable incidents involving the diving board;

1, teen age girl dove off the board at too shallow of angle and caught the slope to the shallow end face first in about 5 feet of water, almost lost some teeth in the process, thankfully she had braces which ripped a finger size hole in the liner.

2, Adult man weighing about 270 pound jumped on the diving board and broke it in half, no injury, but you could see how it might be possible. (pool is now on its 3rd diving board, 2nd board was replaced as soon as the fiberglass started showing any small cracks)

3, Pre-teen boy jumping in feet first jumped too close to the diving board, hit his arm and broke it on the board on the way down.

Add to this various close calls, general tripping hazard, etc. and even in a relatively large residential pool, with careful monitoring of activity things can happen.

Wow, I can't imagine my pool without the diving board, but then again I frequently jump off 50+ foot rock formations into water for fun. People occasionally push too hard or make bad decisions and get hurt, it's part of the nature of being human and a large part of how we learn. If I looked at my work's injury admission statistics and tried to dictate my family's leisure actions we also wouldn't have any motorcycles, alcoholic drinks, sports cars, guns, fireworks, ladders, 4 wheelers, open flames, or Poisonous Chemicals.

 

[eaamon]

Re: Big Insurance increase because of our pool with diving b

good to see a few responses. the pool home I bought had the diving board removed due to insurance
'prices. must have had same as thread starter, $800 increase.
this is something I am going to have to look into....

 

[glitter&guns]

Re: Big Insurance increase because of our pool with diving b

I just wanted to let you know that if your company is giving you a hard time about diving boards, they will most likely let a diving rock slide. I have a couple of friends that have installed those because insurance company was OK with rocks, not with boards.

I recently did insurance with a pool shopping for the first time and was shocked that insuring a pool wasn't that hard. Insurance on a trampoline would have been near impossible it seems (I don't have one, but that was everyone's question).

 

[MassNerd]

Re: Big Insurance increase because of our pool with diving b

To follow up on my situation, Isaac scared me away from a diving board. That and I didn't like my insurance companies answer that "they would insure me with a diving board only because I was an existing customer". It seems like the type of situation where they could change their mind any time. So we'll be building a pool without!

 

[griffths]

Re: Big Insurance increase because of our pool with diving b

My issue was not a diving board, or slide, but the fence around the pool. Allstate told me I had 90 days to fence it in, then dropped me 10 days later. Nationwide said I had to have a fence, and my agent said the rails I had up for hanging pickets constituted a 3 rail fence...whatever.

Same exact issue as I had with Allstate. Ironically I called Esurance and got a policy without any trouble at all and it was less than the Allstate policy. The ironic part about this is that Esurance became a is wholly owned subsidy when it was bought by Allstate a few years ago. I guess it's a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

Forgot to mention that we have a diving board AND no fence and not a problem with Esurnace.

State Farm didn't have a problem with the pool or diving board either but wouldn't insure the house because there is Boston Ivy growing on the garage. No rhyme or reason with insurance I guess.

 

[eaamon]

Re: Big Insurance increase because of our pool with diving b

I have seen very many accidents around diving boards. and the people that use them. most were
learning to use a board and making a small balance error. I have even caught my back doing a dive,small scrape.
I had been training in the 1960s and my brother too caught his head doing a flip. I have been on 1 and 3 meter boards.
I use to life guard at a pool that at my local college, even the pro's have accidents...it is not uncommon.
funny thing is I have seen much more accidents by people just walking around pools and slipping and falling.

 

[94SupraTT]

Re: Big Insurance increase because of our pool with diving b

I have AAA and our premiums did not increase when we added the pool. I researched about adding a diving board and that would not change anything either, but we did not install one. We did bump up to million dollar coverage and our premium increased $50. We have a 12" inch raised wall and 18" raised spa that the kids use as their launching pad. If we didn't have the raised wall I would have put in a board as the kids are constantly jumping in.

Thanks for this post!

AAA quoted me almost $500 less per year for home owners. I'm just waiting to see what they come back with on car insurance. I'm only doing one car with them my other car (94SupraTT) is moving to a collectors car insurer.

 

[diyindux]

Re: Big Insurance increase because of our pool with diving b

Diving boards get a bad rep. I've seen exponentially more trampoline injuries than diving board injuries. In fact, in 14 years of ER nursing, I can only recall one diving board injury and it really wasn't the diving board's fault. It was the beer's fault.

Don't get me started on motorcycles though.

How about bicycles? Way more injuries on those than diving boards or trampolines. But the homeowner's insurance doesn't have to pay for bicycles. I think the risk of trampoline and diving board injuries is preferable to the overweight video game addict kid on the couch.

 

[steveg_nh]

Re: Big Insurance increase because of our pool with diving b

I'm another one with Liberty Mutual. No increase for the new IG pool or for the diving board. They just asked that it be fenced in, and they suggested if we didn't already have it, that we consider an additional liability policy. So 0 change.

 

[Bluebonnet]

We use Allstate in Texas. No extra charge for having a pool OR a diving board.

 

[Killer95Stang]

Pool raised our premium $30 for the year, but my professional work discount was - $60, so I was still ahead. Almost nobody in .CA will insure a new pool with a diving board, so I added a 4 foot waterfall with a big flat spot on top.

 

[bmoreswim]

Keystone (AAA Insurance out of PA) wouldn't cover our diving board. So we switched all of our coverage to Nationwide. Went really well. Didn't notice any price increase, certainly not much, though it was hard to tell because we did an insurance overhaul at the same time.

I'll use this as my occasional pitch to encourage all to obtain umbrella policies. Especially now that we all have pools!

 

[stevecody]

We are in South Carolina and use USAA and I specifically asked about the pool with diving board. Even adding a pool didn't directly increase our premium. They suggested that I might want to consider increasing my liability coverage to $1,000,000 and add more coverage for things like the pool and fence in case of damage. All in all, my premium when up $80 for the year because of increasing those two areas.

 

[erhanuyar]

Liberty Mutual here as well, no problems or questions about diving board. They asked if I own a pool but thats it

 

[imrodee]

Just got a surprise bill about $800 a year more than in the past. Agent says it's because they are very limited in companies that will insure a home that has a pool with a diving board. I guess I'm going to have to talk to another agent to see what I can do. Anybody else come across this issue?

ALWAYS take the diving board off (or have the Sellers do it) and store it in the attic or shed. I know this is an old thread, but even now, take it off and tell them it is no longer a "diving pool". The popular thing now is to have a "diving rock" when building a new pool.

 

[bmoreswim]

Old thread, but good topic. My insurance company also required the diving board mounting jig be removed. I declined and changed companies.