Your backyard swimming pool may be the highlight of your neighborhood's summer, but it is also a very real danger. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 260 children under the age of five drown in swimming pools each year. Of course, there are some commonsense steps you can take to protect your family and friends, including erecting a fence at least 4-feet high around the pool, keeping a careful watch on children in your yard, and keeping rescue equipment and a phone nearby. However, the law also plays an important role in defining what you must do to protect yourself from legal and financial liability.
Legally, pool owners are responsible for what happens in their pools. In order to fulfill your legal duty, you must do your best to provide a safe environment and know what to do should an accident occur. If something were to happen, you could be held liable for money damages on a legal theory of negligence. Negligence is the idea that although accidents and injuries sometimes just happen, with no one intending to cause them, doctors' bills, lost wages, and emotional losses still need to be covered. Under the law of negligence, the person who caused the injuries can be held responsible even if he or she never intended any harm. If a pool accident were to occur under theory of negligence, a court will look to a variety of factors to determine the owner's liability. These include the likelihood that such an injury was to occur, the steps the homeowner took to avoid the injury, and how much of a burden it would have been on the home owner to totally avoid the circumstances resulting in the injury. Because pools are what the law calls "attractive nuisances," you likely will be held to a higher standard of care than under the traditional theory of negligence. The doctrine of attractive nuisances says that if there is access to a dangerous part of your property, including a swimming pool, it is your responsibility to erect barriers and take other safety precautions to protect children who may access your property, even without your knowledge.
Local Standards. Additionally, many states have specific statutes requiring protective measures around a swimming pool; for example, a certain height of fence or a certain type of gate. Failure to adhere to these safety standards would probably make you liable in case of an accident. Check with your local building officials or your attorney to determine the laws in your area - and make sure you obey them.
In deciding which safety procedures to take, don't simply rely on "swim at your own risk" signs. Such signs likely won't be enough to make you immune from legal liability. Even trespassers, particularly children, may have a case against you should they be injured in your pool, regardless of the signs you have hung.
Homeowners' Insurance. Even if you take every precaution and follow your legal responsibilities to a tee, there is still a chance an accident could happen and you could be held legally liable simply because you are the pool owner. Should this happen, your homeowners' insurance policy should be your financial safety net. Broadly speaking, your homeowners' insurance policy should cover the repair or replacement of your house and belongings in the event of some damage, for example, a pipe bursting, but also monetary damages associated with a legal claim or judgment against you for injuries people suffer in your home or on your property. How much the insurer pays will depend, of course, on the limits of your policy, which in turn depends on how much you've paid in premiums.
Umbrella Policies. Umbrella liability policies, sometimes called a "personal excess liability" policies, protect you in case of a big judgment that would quickly eat up your regular policy coverage. People usually determine their need for umbrella liability coverage not so much by how many hazards there are on their property but by the assets they have to protect. After all, the wealthier you are, the more you have to lose if someone is injured on your property. You should consult with your insurance agent or attorney for help in deciding what type and amount of coverage is best for you.
It's summer; you should be spending your time relaxing and enjoying the sun and warm weather with your family and friends. This isn't the time of year you want to spend worrying about your legal liability, your insurance policies, and the appropriate safety precautions you should be taking. However, if you have a pool in your backyard, don't let these issues go to the back of your mind simply because the temperature rises; when it comes to pool safety and liability, the old Benjamin Franklin quote applies: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.