Daycare centers insurance checklist: what a daycare center should carry

The daycare center insurance checklist

QUICK ANSWER

Daycare centers usually carry general liability, abuse & molestation and professional liability (e&o). Licensed daycare centres care for dozens of children under state ratios and inspections, transport them in vans, serve meals, and carry abuse coverage because licensing, parents and the carrier all require it. The funder and your landlord ask for proof of each. The checklist below says what every item does, who requires it and how to check it on the policies you already have.

Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 12, 2026 Updated Oct 14, 2026

Who asks a daycare center for what

Who	What they usually want to see
Grant funders & government contracts	General liability, professional and abuse coverage at stated limits, directors and officers, and a crime bond over any funds held
Landlords & commercial leases	General liability with the landlord as additional insured, property coverage on tenant improvements and workers' compensation
Cities, counties & permits	General liability, auto and workers' compensation at the limits in the permit or contract

Each of them wants a certificate, and most want it again at every renewal. A live certificate link from the wallet shows today's coverage to every holder and tells them when it changes.

How to check what you already have

General liability declarations page. Three liability numbers matter: each occurrence, general aggregate and the products–completed operations aggregate. Then the forms list: blanket additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording satisfy every contract; scheduled forms satisfy one.
Abuse and molestation. A separate limit, not a sublimit of general liability; whether it is occurrence or claims-made; and whether the organisation and the individual are both covered.
Professional liability declarations. Claims-made or occurrence, the retroactive date (it should not have moved), the limit per claim and aggregate, the deductible, and whether defence costs sit inside or outside the limit.
Workers' compensation information page. Item 3.A must list every state you work in, item 4 must carry the right class codes, and the employers' liability limits should meet what contracts ask. Check that the estimated payroll is close to this year's.
Property section. Limits for building, business personal property and tenant improvements against replacement cost, the coinsurance percentage, the deductible, and whether flood and earthquake are excluded (they usually are).
Auto schedule. Every vehicle listed with the right garaging address and use; symbols that include hired and non-owned auto; physical damage with the lender as loss payee where the vehicle is financed.
Business owner's policy declarations. Liability limits on the first page, then the property section: building (if you own), business personal property, business income and the named extras such as spoilage, equipment breakdown or employee dishonesty. Confirm the property values are current.
Business income. The limit or actual-loss-sustained wording, the waiting period, the period of restoration and whether extra expense is included.
Employment practices declarations. Limit and retention, third-party coverage for claims by customers, and whether wage-and-hour claims carry any defence sublimit.
Hired and non-owned auto. Look for the symbols 8 and 9 or an endorsement by that name on the auto or general liability policy; without it, staff in their own cars are uninsured on company business.

What usually goes wrong for daycare centers

An abuse limit buried as a sublimit far below the general liability limit.
Field trips and transport with no commercial auto and no booster-seat policy.
An abuse limit far below the general liability limit, buried as a sublimit.
Field trips in staff cars with no hired and non-owned auto.
Tenant improvements insured by nobody, because the lease says one thing and the policy another.
Property values set when the doors opened and never raised.

What underwriters will ask a daycare center

Licensed capacity and ages, staff ratios and screening, transport, and the licensing authority's requirements
Licensed capacity, ages served and staff-to-child ratios
Background-check and two-adult policies, and whether you transport children
Square footage, whether you own or lease, the building's age and sprinklers
Replacement cost of the equipment, fixtures and stock on site
Payroll by class of work, headcount and turnover

Have the answers in the wallet before the renewal and the quote request fills itself in; CoverMatch sends one application to every eligible carrier and lines the quotes up against what you have.

Renewal timing

Workers' compensation is audited on actual payroll and liability on sales, so a busy year ends with a bill unless the estimates were kept honest; pay-as-you-go billing through your payroll company removes most of that. Renewal autopilot starts the comparison sixty days out, prefilled from the wallet.

Questions people actually ask

What limits does state licensing expect from a daycare?

Each of the licensed states sets its own: general liability, usually abuse coverage, and auto if children are transported, with proof at licensing visits. The state pages carry each rule with its source; the live certificate from the wallet answers the licensor.

Is a child injured on the playground covered?

Yes, under general liability, as the frequency claim of the class. Supervision ratios, equipment inspection and incident reports are what settle it; the carrier asks about all three on the application.

Is abuse and molestation coverage included in general liability?

Rarely in a useful amount. Most general liability policies exclude it or allow a small sublimit; a daycare center needs a separate limit written for care, and licensing bodies and parents increasingly ask to see it on the certificate.

Doesn't my landlord's insurance cover my daycare center?

It covers the building. The lease almost always makes you responsible for your own improvements, equipment and stock, for injuries inside your space, and for naming the landlord as additional insured on your liability policy. Read the insurance clause; the contract checker in the wallet will pull it out for you.

Can workers' compensation be billed from each payroll run?

Usually, yes. With carriers that offer pay-as-you-go, CoverMatch sets the billing to run through your payroll company, so premium follows actual payroll instead of an annual estimate and there is less to settle at audit. Ask for it on the quote request.