Guides
Pools, trampolines and attractive nuisances
Why pool and trampoline owners can be liable to children who were never invited, what your liability coverage pays, and what insurers ask for in return.
If a child is hurt on your pool or trampoline, your homeowners liability coverage generally responds, even when the child was a neighbor's kid who climbed over the fence without permission. The legal reason is the attractive nuisance doctrine, which holds landowners to a higher standard of care toward young children than toward adult trespassers. The insurance consequence is that pools and trampolines are among the features underwriters ask about most, and your insurer may require a barrier, add an exclusion or decline the risk.
This guide uses the ISO homeowners form HO 00 03 05 11 as its model. Your insurer's own form, endorsements and state amendatory wording control, so read your declarations page and endorsement list alongside it.
What the attractive nuisance doctrine says
Ordinarily a landowner owes little to someone who trespasses. The doctrine carves out an exception for children who are too young to understand a danger. According to Cornell's Legal Information Institute, which summarizes Section 339 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts, an owner can be liable for harm to child trespassers when all of these hold:
- The owner knows or should know that children are likely to trespass at that spot.
- The owner knows or should know the condition poses an unreasonable risk of death or serious injury to children.
- The children, because of their age, do not discover or realize the risk.
- The burden of removing the danger is slight compared with the risk.
- The owner fails to use reasonable care to eliminate the danger or protect the children.
Cornell's summary adds that courts apply the doctrine narrowly and that it mainly protects young children. Results differ by state. It notes, for instance, that Indiana courts have declined to apply it to ordinary pools without a hidden danger, on the reasoning that children understand drowning. Other states are less forgiving, and a court looking at an unfenced pool next to a school route will weigh the first and fourth elements heavily. Because the rule depends on the state, a local attorney is the one to ask about your exposure.
The Insurance Information Institute puts the industry view plainly: insurers treat a pool as an attractive nuisance, and owning one raises your liability risk (Triple-I). A trampoline fits the same pattern. It is built to attract children, it can cause serious injuries, and the owner can protect against many of them with inexpensive measures.
How your policy responds
The liability side of the HO-3 has no exclusion for pools or trampolines. personal liability (Coverage E) pays damages you are legally liable for because of bodily injury and provides a defense, and it applies whether the injured person was a guest, a neighbor or an uninvited child. The details are in Personal liability coverage (Coverage E) explained.
medical payments to others (Coverage F) works differently. It pays necessary medical bills regardless of fault, but the ISO form ties it to people on your property with your permission. A guest hurt on the trampoline qualifies. An uninvited child may not, and the claim then rests on Coverage E and on whether you were negligent.
The pool or trampoline itself is a separate question. An in-ground pool, a fence or a detached deck is generally property under Other structures coverage (Coverage B): fences, sheds and garages, and Triple-I recommends confirming that you carry enough to replace a pool after a storm. A trampoline is personal property, and its loss is limited to the named perils in Coverage C. None of this changes the liability picture.
The differences from the ISO form come from your insurer:
- Underwriting. The NAIC says some insurers may not write a property that has a pool or trampoline, and that policies may exclude liability for related injuries (NAIC, 2015).
- Conditions. An insurer may ask for a fence or locked gate, and may refuse a claim or cancel if you ignore its safety rules or fail to tell it about a new pool or trampoline.
- Higher price. The NAIC notes that a pool or hot tub purchase can bring an increased charge (NAIC, 2018).
An exclusion removes both coverage and the defense, so a claim that gets excluded leaves you paying a lawyer yourself. See Liability exclusions: what Coverage E won't pay for how exclusions are worded.
What insurers commonly ask about
Requirements are set by each company and filed in each state, so there is no universal rule. These are the questions that come up at application and renewal, and the answers a careful owner should have ready:
| Feature | What the underwriter is worried about | What you may be asked |
|---|---|---|
| In-ground or above-ground pool | Drowning, unsupervised access by children | Fence height and material, self-closing and self-latching gate, pool cover, alarms on doors that open to the pool |
| Diving board or slide | Head and neck injuries from shallow-water dives | Whether you have one; some policies exclude them |
| Hot tub | Drowning, entrapment, burns | A locking cover; drain covers |
| Trampoline | Falls, collisions, fractures | Safety net enclosure, padding over springs, whether a ladder is left in place |
| Pond or water feature | Same as a pool for toddlers | Fencing |
| Treehouse, zip line, large playset | Falls | Height, surfacing, who uses it |
| Dog or other animals | Bites | See dog bites, breed lists and homeowners liability |
The NAIC's questions for pool owners include whether the pool must be covered or locked when not in use, whether you need a pool alarm, whether the fence must be self-closing with self-latching gates, and whether drains need up-to-code covers to prevent suction entrapment. Triple-I recommends a fence with self-closing gates or another barrier on all sides, alarms on doors if the house forms part of the barrier, and layered protection such as locks, alarms and covers. Your town may require some of this by ordinance. Check with the building department before you install, because a pool without a permitted barrier can be a code violation and a liability argument at the same time.
The injury numbers behind the questions
Pools and trampolines are not exaggerated risks. The NAIC says more than 200 young children drown in backyard pools each year (NAIC, 2018). The Consumer Product Safety Commission estimated 104,691 emergency-room-treated trampoline injuries in 2014 (CPSC publication 085), and it recommends one jumper at a time, padding over springs and frame, no ladder and a net enclosure. The American Academy of Pediatrics goes further: its 2012 policy statement, which it has reaffirmed since, strongly discourages home trampolines because netting and padding do not prevent injuries on the mat itself (AAP).
That does not mean you cannot own one. It means a net and a rule against more than one jumper reduce the odds of a claim without removing them, and an insurer that asks about a trampoline is responding to the same data.
A worked example (hypothetical)
Say your Coverage E limit is $300,000 and you have an unfenced above-ground pool with a removable ladder. A six-year-old from two doors down climbs the ladder while you are inside, falls in and suffers a brain injury. The family's lawyer argues that you knew children lived nearby, that a fence and a removed ladder cost little, and that a child that age would not appreciate the danger.
- Your insurer defends the suit under Coverage E. Under the ISO form, defense costs sit outside the limit.
- If the claim settles at $2 million, the policy pays $300,000. The remaining $1.7 million falls on you unless you carry an umbrella.
- If your policy carries a pool exclusion, or the insurer shows you failed to disclose a pool it had required you to fence, the answer may be no coverage at all.
The numbers are invented to show the mechanism. Real values depend on the injury, the state's law and your policy. The point is that the limit is the part of the exposure you control.
Before you build or buy: a checklist
- Tell your insurer before the pool is dug or the trampoline is assembled. Ask for its barrier, net and gate requirements in writing.
- Check local code. Fence height, gate hardware and permits are set by your municipality.
- Install layers. A fence with a self-closing, self-latching gate, an alarm on any door that opens to the pool, and a cover for when it is not in use.
- Remove access points. Pull the ladder, keep furniture away from the fence, and keep toys and floats out of the water when it is not in use, since toys draw children to the edge.
- Set trampoline rules. One jumper, no flips, net closed, supervision at all times.
- Raise your limit. Triple-I suggests considering $300,000 to $500,000 of liability, or more if your assets justify it, and an umbrella policy for coverage above that. Most insurers want at least $300,000 of underlying liability before they write an umbrella (umbrella insurance for homeowners: what it adds and where it stops). Run the numbers in the How much liability and umbrella coverage do I need? and see how much liability coverage should a homeowner carry?.
- Mention it when you rent the house. If guests or tenants use the pool, ask your agent about the effect of rental use, as in Insuring an Airbnb or other short-term rental.
Key takeaways
- The attractive nuisance doctrine can make you liable to a child who trespassed, and your Coverage E liability limit and defense generally respond unless your policy excludes the hazard.
- Coverage F pays medical bills for guests on your property with permission, so an uninvited child's claim usually depends on Coverage E.
- Insurers may require fences, gates, nets or alarms, add exclusions, charge more or decline, and failing to disclose a new pool or trampoline can put a claim at risk.
- Trampoline injuries are numerous; the CPSC estimated 104,691 emergency-room cases in 2014, and the AAP discourages home use.
- Your liability limit is the variable you control: consider $300,000 to $500,000 or more, with an umbrella above it.