Trampolines--why are they on the insurance bad list?

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'm trying to figure it out--the reasons just seem to be--illogical to me, given that most homeowner's policies allow swimming pools.

My kids would like one, but for that reason alone, we'll never get one.

But we have an inground pool, just fine. Per law it has to be gated/screened and it is.

Contrast that with the gymnastics studio my girls go to--they have several and I am sure they have a handsome liability policy to cover it.


So why are trampolines increasingly uninsurable?

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Very easy, friends have accidents and parents sue over them. Lots of broken arms, cracked heads, etc.. Children may drown in a pool, but it's much more rare compared to the never ending trampoline accidents.

 

[CapeMayMommy]

The previous owner of my home owned a trampoline.

When I purchased my home, in order to close on my home, I needed to buy home owners insurance in advance. Someone from the insurance company came by before the closing went through and on closing day, my home owners policy was CANCELLED.

It took MONTHS to straighten that mess out---I had to get notorized letters that stated that the trampoline was not mine, and there was never a trampoline on the property as long as I owned it.

So, insurance companies do not mess around when it comes to trampolines. They'll drop you in a heartbeat.

They don't want to pay for the lifelong expenses of a paralyzed person

 

[golfgal]

You wouldn't get a homeowner's policy if your pool wasn't fenced either but since most towns require that it is a non-issue.

The problem with trampolines is the number of claims companies experience because of injuries. If your neighbor child is injured on your trampoline and needs to go to the hospital, your homeowner's insurance company will be the primary insurance company on the claim and there isn't anything you can do about that. The other family doesn't even have to sue you, it is just how insurance works. It doesn't even have to be major problems, it can be something as simple as a few stitches. Again, like the dangerous dog post, it comes down to statistics. Insurance companies receive a LARGE number of claims on homeowners insurance policies so they either rate you higher for having one or won't give you coverage. Not all insurance companies exclude coverage for trampolines either.

 

[akcire]

Our neighbors (two houses over) had a trampoline and their child played on it safely he was less than 10 years old. He is never unattended so it was really a fun thing for him and one of his other friends.

A high school kid from the next subdivision over would sneak into their backyard when they were away. He liked to move the trampoline next to the house, and jump as high as he could until he could get on the roof. Once on the roof he would jump from the roof onto the trampoline and do other assorted stupid things. Multiple times I called the police and the teenager ran off.

One day two summers ago I came home and opened the back patio door and heard this strange animal like howling. Since the house between ours and the trampoline house was vacant--I set off to investigate (assuming it was an injured animal and I would have to call animal control). Nope, not an injured animal, it was the teenage kid--he had been laying there for hours. He shattered his leg jumping off the roof--from what I understand he missed the trampoline! Instead of calling animal control I got to call 911 and his mother (who was a total nut job).

Even thought the kid had been trespassing and had been warned to stay away in the past--he just jumped the locked fence. His mother sued our neighbor, and the neighbor kid lost his trampoline. The best part was the teenager admitted to being high while he was jumping on the trampoline. Previous trampoline owner neighbor now pays a TON of money for basic homeowners.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I wasn't going to try and sneak one or anything. It is just something I don't get. Why not an increased liability policy or why not a private use policy or something and then the insurance is null for claims from guest?

It just all seems unfortunate.

 

[wilderness01]

My neighbor's brother is an orthopaedic surgeon and says that trampolines are one of his best customers.

 

[Poohbear123]

THEY ARE DANGEROUS this is why you need the Insurance. If I had one in the yard, of a new house, I would REMOVE it Immediately! We passed by a house around the corner from us, and there must have been 8 kids below the age of 11 jumping on the trampoline in thier back yard! DH and I said: "One of those kids is gonna get hurt!" Not a Parent in sight either.

 

[okeydokey]

My friend is an ER nurse. Trampoline injuries are very common.

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

there was an article in our newspaper a year or so ago saying the most frequent summer time injury at the emergency room was from TRAMPOLINES.

 

[barkley]

I wasn't going to try and sneak one or anything. It is just something I don't get. Why not an increased liability policy or why not a private use policy or something and then the insurance is null for claims from guest?

It just all seems unfortunate.

i think the issue is that like a pool, trampolines are considered attractive nuisances in the insurance industry. trampolines however, unlike pools don't have laws regulating them (how they are set up, what reasonable steps to prevent accidents a homeowner has to take with one on their property)-so if an insurance company offered coverage while they might be able to limit who/what's covered, they could potentialy spend lots of money defending themselves against a non coverage claim.

i don't know if it ever came to pass but the town we used to live in was considering banning those portable basketball hoops, and our former insurance agent had said at the time that the major company he worked for was already considering just not covering them (same policy as they had with trampolines). the issue the city had was people kept putting them up on the street next to the curbs-it ate up parking spaces, created dangerous situations with kids playing in the streets....the issue the insurance company had with them is they had paid out one too many claims where the wind whipped up and one of those suckers came down either damaging the asphalt (in which the city went after the homeowner's insurance) or damaging a car. the agent said, that like trampolines people went out and bought them from a variety of companies who all had slightly different set-up and maintainance instructions, so when a claim came in the insurance company spent too much money having to research if a particular homeowner followed their particular manufacturer's instructions. he said pools were clear cut-no matter who manufactured or installed, there were industry standards and both local and state ordinances so the claims were clear cut.

 

[mykidsand_i]

It totally depends on the area you live in- but POOLS won't be covered AT ALL if it's not in an 'enclosed area/fence' on the home owners property. Our neighbors put a pool in, claimed it on insurance and were 'put on warning/threatened by their insurance' that they'd be dropped if it was not enclosed.

MOST people with trampolines don't have them in enclosed areas- and for every kid that comes and plays on it, the home owner is liable for those kids and what ever injury they get. THERE ARE THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS more injuries a year on trampolines- complared to pools. They are of course going to raise your insurance a hefty sum or drop you, because of the sheer numbers of accidents alone!

...I just looked at the numbers- the numbers in the article I read about 'pool injuries recorded each year AND trampoline injuries recorded each year...

Trampoline accidents 75,000 (on average) each year. Out of those include broken bones, concussions, internal bleeding, large cuts requiring stitches and even death.

Swimming pool and hot tub accidents combined average 4,000 a year, this does not include accidents in lakes, oceans, rivers...

So going by numbers alone- it's very obvious that the risk (which insurance looks at) percentage is very high for tramps. compared to pools.

 

[horseshowmom]

Even thought the kid had been trespassing and had been warned to stay away in the past--he just jumped the locked fence. His mother sued our neighbor, and the neighbor kid lost his trampoline. The best part was the teenager admitted to being high while he was jumping on the trampoline. Previous trampoline owner neighbor now pays a TON of money for basic homeowners.

You have to wonder where common sense has gone in the legal system. It seems like they should have been able to sue him (and his stupid mother) for having trespassed on their property. If that had been my child, I would have had a problem with HIM not them.

We used to have a trampoline (always supervised). That said, I don't think I've ever known anybody who didn't have some sort of an accident on their trampoline. On the flip side, I've never known anybody who had a pool who did have anything happen. Trampolines are definitely a lot more dangerous than pools.

 

[luvmy3]

My ds was just at his friends yesterday and hurt himself on the trampoline. I made sure that I told him that he couldn't go on it if it didn't have an enclosure and that he should be on it alone. None of that mattered, when he landed he hyperextended his knee. We are off to the docs tomorrow.

 

[minkydog]

My kids have been banned from trampolines for the past 20 years. I took care of a young boy, 9yrs old, who ended up in ICU after he suffered a closed head injury. The actual head injury was rather minor--he hit the back of his head on the metal frame. Went home and said he had a headache, but he seemed fine....Two WEEKS later, sitting at the breakfast table before school he turned to his dad and said, "I don't feel good" and went into a gran mal seizure. Wait! it gets worse. He didn't come out of it. At the hospital a quick CT scan revealed a huge blood clot was pressing on his brain stem. A trip to surgery cleaned that out and the boy returned to the ICU for a couple weeks until he could get stable enough to go to a rehab floor.

This poor child lost all abilities to walk, dress, feed and toilet himself. He spent a year on a peds rehab floor relearning everything.Missed his entire 4th grade year. Eventually he learned to walk and talk again, and caught up pretty well. There were some residual difficulties, balance issues and learning disabilities that hadn't been there before. I saw this boy's parents age almost overnight. You wouldn't have recognized them by the end of that year, they had changed so much. So I'll just leave you with the advice THEY gave to me: Don't buy a trampoline!

 

[anniemae]

They are so very dangerous and people can sue the homeowner if their child is hurt.

I have a friend who is a pediatric nurse practioner and she says they treat a ton of trampoline injuries. She won't let her dd on one and neither will I. The stories are horrific.

 

[minniecarousel]

My son swam in friends' pools - no problem (he had had swimming lessons.)

He broke his elbow on a friends' trampoline (he had never had a lesson on a trampoline.)

I think it makes sense.

 

[HelenePA]

He broke his elbow on a friends' trampoline (he had never had a lesson on a trampoline.)

You could always put him in gymnastics to learn for "lessons" I had lots of fun learning there!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Interesting.

I had a friend who had a sunken trampoline and even she had to remove it.

It makes me wonder about the ones that seem to always be for sale at Sam's club and who is able to actually buy them legitimately.

 

[marlynnp]

Interesting.

I had a friend who had a sunken trampoline and even she had to remove it.

It makes me wonder about the ones that seem to always be for sale at Sam's club and who is able to actually buy them legitimately.

legitimately buy one???
They aren't cars - you don't need to show proof of insurance to buy one.