Anyone have (or know of) a homebased co-op preschool? I have ? about Liability insurance

[kfillmore]

Hi,

I am starting (with a few other moms) a co-op preschool. We are planning to be homebased (on a rotation) and for us to teach (rather than hire anyone). We are trying to figure out what other groups do about insurance. We called one place and they said only a business can apply. We are trying to be safe about anyone getting sued if something happened in their home.

Anyone have any thoughts or ideas of where to get this info?

Thanks

[dogmom327]

*Disclaimer* I don't run a co-op although I do have liability insurance for my company.

You might be able to get a rider to your home owners policy that basically gives you a larger amount of coverage. My late grandfather was a State Farm agent and a few years ago my grandmother mentioned that if we had a lot of kids playing at our house with our kids it would be wise to get a million dollar rider to our home owners or renter's policy in case someone got really hurt. Granted we're not personally there yet since our kids are young and don't really do play dates but it's something we are keeping in mind. The thing is though that I'm pretty sure each family in the co-op would need one. Supposedly they aren't all that expensive but I don't know that for sure.

Alternatively, you might want to look at setting up an official business to keep track of money, etc. anyway (also possibly better for tax purposes). It might be worth asking your insurance agent if you have a business with a rotating location how that affects your potential coverage.

[ilovemygirl]

It sounds like this isn't for profit and you have no interest in declaring this a business. Is that right? Are you going to be charging tuition and such? 

If not, I don't see why you would need special insurance. Moms babysit each others kids all the time. I don't see why adding some educational activities to it would change anything. It's still just having friends over or having your child go play in a friends home when other friends are over also. I know several moms who swap babysitting all the time to get some free time. They don't sign waivers or anything.