Am I Required To Have Insurance for My Swimming Pool?

If you are paying off your home’s mortgage, you will be required to maintain homeowners insurance, which may cover pool-related injuries and certain kinds of damage to the pool itself depending on your insurer. However, your insurance company may require you to implement certain safety measures to mitigate the risks associated with your swimming pool.

Read below to learn more about swimming pool insurance requirements and how you can make sure you and your guests are covered during the hot summer months.

Key Takeaways Swimming pools are generally covered by homeowners insurance, which you are required to have if you are paying off your mortgage. Personal liability coverage can provide money for medical bills and legal expenses if someone is injured or killed in your swimming pool. Damage to the pool itself may be covered by dwelling, other structures or personal property coverage depending on your insurance company. Your premium will generally go up by 10% to 25% if you install a pool. Not all insurance companies will cover you if you have a pool and those that do will likely require you to set up a fence around your pool and implement other safety measures.

What Type of Insurance Do I Need for My Swimming Pool?

Pool-related risks are generally covered by a standard homeowners insurance policy, meaning you won’t need to purchase extra coverage as long as the insurance provider you select covers swimming pools. While not required by any state laws, home insurance is required by mortgage lenders if you need to take out a loan to buy your house.

Swimming pools are generally considered attractive nuisances because they have the potential to attract children to your property and cause them physical harm. Most states recognize the attractive nuisance doctrine, which means you can be held liable for injuries to a trespassing child if you do not take reasonable steps to limit their access to an attractive nuisance on your property.^[1][2] As a result, it’s crucial to maintain adequate liability coverage to protect yourself against potential lawsuits if you have a swimming pool.

Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Swimming Pools?

The type of homeowners coverage that applies to your swimming pool will depend on the kind of pool you have and your insurance company. In-ground pools could be covered by your dwelling or other structures coverage. Meanwhile, your insurer may cover above-ground pools through your dwelling, other structures or personal property insurance.^[3]

How Does Home Insurance Cover Swimming Pools?

There are various coverage types included in a standard homeowners insurance policy that may be relevant for your swimming pool and the coverage type that applies will depend on the situation.

Swimming Pool Injuries

Any injuries or deaths that occur due to your swimming pool should be covered by your personal liability insurance, which covers medical bills and legal expenses in case of a lawsuit after someone experiences bodily injury on your property.

Drowning is the leading cause of death in children ages 1 through 4 in the United States, with most of those drownings occurring in home swimming pools. Meanwhile, it is the second-leading cause of unintentional death among children ages 5 through 14 and about 30% of drownings among this age range take place in swimming pools.^[4] As a result, having sufficient personal liability insurance coverage is especially crucial if children live in your neighborhood or frequently visit your home.

In general, it’s recommended that you purchase between $300,000 and $500,000 worth of personal liability coverage.^[5] However, pool owners may also want to consider umbrella insurance, which can provide between $1 million and $10 million in excess liability coverage in case you exhaust your personal liability coverage limit on a costly claim.^[6]

Swimming Pool Damage and Leaks

Your homeowners policy should pay for necessary repairs to your swimming pool through your dwelling, other structures or personal property insurance. If you have an open perils policy, your insurance company will cover damage to your pool from any cause that isn’t explicitly excluded by the policy. Meanwhile, a named perils policy will insure your pool against damage from the following 16 perils:

Fire or lightning	Vandalism or malicious mischief
Windstorm or hail	Theft
Explosion	Volcanic eruption
Riot or civil commotion	Falling objects
Damage by aircraft	Weight of ice, sleet or snow
Damage by vehicle	Freezing of home systems
Smoke	Sudden/accidental power surges
Sudden/accidental tearing, cracking, burning or bulging of home systems	Water/steam discharge from home systems and appliances

Similarly, your insurance will only cover pool leaks that were caused by a peril covered by your policy. For example, your insurance carrier will likely pay to repair leaks caused by an intruder on your property but not those caused by poor maintenance on your part.

Exclusions

You may encounter various exclusions for both liability claims and property damage claims related to your swimming pool. For example, your insurance company may deny coverage for liability claims if you didn’t inform them that you installed a swimming pool.

In addition, your insurance company may require you to take safety precautions such as removing diving boards and water slides, keeping your pool full of water year round or adding a lock and audible alarm to your pool access door.

You will also need to install a fence around your pool, which is required by law at the state or local level throughout most parts of the country.^[7] If you don’t implement these safety features, your insurance company may reject pool-related liability claims or cancel your policy altogether.

Meanwhile, your policy likely won’t cover damage to your pool caused by wear and tear and may not cover floods, earthquakes and other common homeowners insurance exclusions unless you purchase extra coverage. In addition, even though home insurance policies typically cover ice damage, they often exclude damage caused by water that freezes in your pool.^[8]

How Much Does It Cost To Insure a Swimming Pool?

Installing a pool will usually cause your home insurance premium to go up by 10% to 25%, although the rate hike can sometimes range from as low as 5% to as high as 40% depending on the type of materials used to construct the pool and the safety measures you implement, according to Ryan Fitzgerald, a realtor and the owner of Raleigh Realty.

“In one case, a client added a gorgeous [PebbleTec] pool in a fully fenced area well away from exits,” Fitzgerald said in a message to SmartFinancial. “Thanks to those safety features, the carrier only bumped her yearly payment up by $120. Meanwhile, another policyholder with an older vinyl model situated right off the patio ended up forking over an extra $500.”

The average cost of homeowners insurance in the United States is $1,915 per year as of May 2024.^[9] If you opt to add more personal liability insurance to your policy to account for the increased liability exposure that comes with owning a swimming pool, you can usually expect to pay an extra $10 per year for every $100,000 worth of liability coverage you purchase.^[10]

How Do I Get Swimming Pool Coverage?

Typically, you will want to compare quotes from around three to five different insurance companies before settling on a homeowners insurance policy with swimming pool coverage. Remember that it’s important to mention up front that you have a pool or plan on installing one since not all insurance companies will agree to cover you if you have a pool.

Simplify the home insurance shopping process by using SmartFinancial. Our online platform simply requires you to fill out a brief questionnaire before we connect you with insurance agents who can help you find the right policy for your circumstances. Click here to start comparing homeowners insurance rates right now.