Youth Summer Camp Liability Insurance?

Summer camps aren’t just available for youth sports participants. If you can think of a topic or activity to base a camp program around, chances are that you can find eager participants in your local community. After all, there are plenty of young people everywhere who are looking for new recreational, academic or occupational opportunities during the summer. Plus, with the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic beginning to wane across the country, summer 2021 looks a lot more conducive to group activities than summer 2020 ever was. 

Whatever your objectives for your summer camp, you have the ultimate responsibility to look out for the welfare of any youth participant. Whether working with preschoolers or high school graduates, camp participants are still children, and they all are entitled to attend a safe, secure camp. Your priority should be to institute a strong risk management strategy that will ensure participant security. 

However, it’s an unfortunate reality that you cannot guarantee a 100% risk-free camp experience for every participant. That’s why you must be prepared to accommodate those whose negative experiences might be your fault. A comprehensive liability insurance portfolio will be there to assist you under circumstances like these. 

Bene-Marc Insurance is committed to helping you develop a strong liability insurance benefits package that will be customized to your camp’s operations. Let’s take a closer look at the most essential liability benefits that you should include within your policy portfolio. 

Why Summer Camps Need Liability Insurance 

By operating a summer camp—either independently or as part of an organization—you have to recognize that you are responsible for its successful execution. You have a duty not only to provide a fun experience for your attendees, but also to provide a safe one. After all, anyone who participates in your camp is in your care for the duration of their experience with you, and if something bad were to happen to them, then it might be your responsibility to assist them with their recovery. 

In insurance terms, to be responsible for something is to be liable for it. Therefore, you assume a liability for the safety of participants at your camp. Should something go wrong, and negatively impact your participants, it might be your responsibility to assist them. Worse still, some might even sue you as a result of the harm you caused. You could face financial strain as you work to make up for the problem which, though it affected a third party, might still be your fault (even when it was unintentional). 

Liability insurance benefits will offer the financial assistance you need to avoid significant financial losses, despite these challenges. It recognizes the fact that at times, you might simply make mistakes that cause a camp participant harm, and that you will have to take financial responsibility for them. Liability benefits will pay your recovery costs on your behalf. Therefore, you won’t face an unsustainable financial burden caused by a third-party accident claim.  

Overall, this coverage is a stabilizing force that will help you protect your camp’s operations and reputation. 

Essential Available Coverage 

Primarily, summer camp operators need to carry extensive general liability insurance benefits. This coverage can provide protection against a number of common, ever-present liabilities including: 

• Bodily injuries sustained by participants 
• Property damage caused to the belongings of participants 
• Property damage to a rented premises where you are hosting the event 

• Personal & advertising injuries 
• No-fault medical payments (for both participants and non-participants) 
• Professional liability insurance 
• Hired/Non-owned auto liability insurance, which covers you when you are driving as part of the camp’s activities, and are at fault for an accident. 

Additionally, your general liability insurance benefits can provide legal assistance coverage, which will help you pay your court costs in the event that these liability claims originate from lawsuits. Even if the suit comes to nothing, the cost of defending yourself could still be extremely high, which is why this benefit should be considered an added perk. 

Furthermore, summer camp operators should also consider the need to add a sexual abuse/molestation liability insurance benefit into their insurance portfolio. While you must institute a strong risk management procedure to weed out potential bad actors, and while you certainly hope that no one ever accuses your camp of such horrific misconduct, the fact is that you cannot eliminate all such risks in all cases. This benefit is critical to have simply because it’s a protective measure against a worst-case scenario. 

No matter what the size, scope or objective of your summer camp, you have a duty to protect all of those who participate in it. It’s liability insurance that will show participants that you have a strong risk management plan in place, and that you will be responsive to their needs if your mistakes ever cause them harm. Let Bene-Marc insurance help you institute a strong liability insurance package to optimize your camp’s security plan.