Having a Pool: Limiting Your Liability

When I spelled out my five principles early on in the life of this blog, one of them (principle 5) was to protect the value of your assets. One issue that falls under this principle is protection against liability and nothing seems to scream "liability" (at least to a homeowner) than the word "pool."

The Street takes on this issue and suggests ideas for protecting your backyard pool from tragedy (of both the human and financial kind.) The piece lists five things you can do with your pool to make it safer for everyone as well as reduce your potential liability. The first four are simply taking steps to make sure the pool is safe, guarded, and all laws are followed. Here's the final suggestion -- and the one that applies most to personal finances:

Get insured. Pools are considered an "attractive nuisance" by insurance companies, meaning they can increase your liability risk and your costs. Most homeowners' insurance policies come with at least $100,000 of liability insurance, although the III suggests pool owners increase that amount to $300,000 or $500,000. If the pool itself is expensive, make sure you have enough insurance to cover it in case of damage from a storm or other natural disaster, especially if you're in a risky area. There are also "umbrella" policies for an additional premium of $200 to $300 per year that will cover $1 million of liability above the homeowners' policy.

We don't have a pool, but several people in our neighborhood do. Of course we keep a close eye on our kids and have given them strict warnings about not going into a pool without us around. We've also given them several years of swimming lessons and both of them are fairly good swimmers.

We have looked at buying a home with a pool. Seems like there are lots of pros and cons to it. I'm wondering what the pool owners out there have to say on this issue. What thoughts do you have on the financial and non-financial issues associated with pool ownership?

Comments

[Colin]

Backyard pools are a money pit. Maintenance, extra insurance, extra utilities... the list goes on and on. Find a nice neighborhood that has a community pool. All the benefits of a pool, minus the liability and most upkeep.

[Kevin]

My parents got a pool when I was in junior high and it was great back then since I used it daily during the summer. However, once I was in high school and started having to clean it and vacuum it...not so much. Not to mention the 3 liners they've went through since then. I wouldn't ever buy a house with a pool unless I was wealthy enough to hire someone to maintain it.

[Carrie]

Don't do it. Use the community pool. I bought a home with an older in-ground pool and it was costing so much money and hassle in maintenance that I finally had it filled in. The amount of upkeep pools require is unbelievable. Plus, if you ever want to sell your home, you'll limit the number of people interested in your house right away because so many people don't want a pool (depending on where you live, of course).

[Sarah]

I grew up with a pool in my backyard and it's some of my best memories from childhood. I'm sure it wasn't easy for my dad to maintain, but it kept us entertained all summer and active. More than you can say for most kids these days...

[BigBoy]

My girlfriend has an inground pool in Maryland, in April we took the cover off and just today her brother is getting it ready for the summer. She is never home and last year she put over $1000 worth of chemical into it and she got an estimate to get it re-surfaced and it would cost her $5000. I have mentioned many times to fill it in w/ dirt and she wants it there for resale as it is desirable to have an in ground pool in her area.
Don't do it unless you like throwing money away which i know you don't

[Dale]

We bought a house with an inground pool 15 years ago. We have had a great experience owning it. Yes, the weekly maintenance is there along with the time spent opening and closing, but once the water is balanced and under control, it's relatively easy.

One of the first things we did when we purchased the house was get an umbrella policy for $1 million dollars. This helps give us a sense of security in the event a tragedy should occur.

Another suggestion to help limit your liablity is to post 'No Trespassing' signs on all potential entry points on your property. We've even posted them on the fence facing the woods behind our house. We also make sure that locks are on all of gates so that 'uninvited guests' have to go out of their way to pool hop. These common sense measures may not prevent an accident completely, but helps show that you are a responsible pool owner trying to limit your liablity exposure.

[Tiggy]

I have an inground pool and am so glad I do now that gas prices are through the roof. I only have to walk out my back door to have something fun to do. Family comes over, we have cookouts and hang by the pool all summer. It's not expensive to maintain - our whole-summer expense (maybe $500 including electricity) is significantly less than a week-long vacation for a family of 4. Of course we have a locked fence around the pool to prevent trespassers, it's mostly the neighborhood dogs who would like to take a dip in the pool when we're looking the other way!

[George]

I agree with Dale. We have an inground pool and have 3 younger children. They love it and that is where we spend the summer. It is not cheap, but cheaper than a vaca. At times it is a money pit, but very nice to have - if your only measure in life is how much things cost than this is not for you. However, once balanced, it is fairly easy to maintain and I have two days per year of hard work - the day I open it and the day I close it. I generally take a day off work to do both. The rest of the time my wife takes care of the chemicals and balancing.

[Rob]

One thing that most people ignore when buying a home with a pool is that you greatly limit the potential number of buyers for your home on resale ...