Daycare Insurance Policy: What's Included?

A daycare insurance policy often includes general liability, abuse and molestation liability, professional liability, workers’ compensation, commercial property, commercial auto, umbrella or excess liability, crime coverage, and accident medical coverage. The right package depends on your operations, such as whether you run an in-home daycare, licensed center, preschool, faith-based program, infant care operation, or transport children.

Most licensed child care providers need general liability, abuse and molestation liability, and professional liability at a minimum. Centers with employees typically need workers’ compensation, while providers with buildings, equipment, or classroom contents need commercial property coverage. If your program uses vans, buses, or staff vehicles for child transport, commercial auto or hired and non-owned auto coverage is also important.

General liability helps cover third-party bodily injury, property damage, and personal injury claims. For a daycare, that can include a visitor slipping at your facility, a child’s belongings being damaged, or a parent alleging your business caused harm outside professional care decisions. It is a core coverage for licensing, lease, and contract requirements.

Abuse and molestation liability helps respond to allegations of sexual abuse, physical abuse, or inappropriate conduct involving children in your care. Because these claims can be financially and reputationally severe, many specialty daycare insurance programs include or offer this coverage separately. Limits, exclusions, staff screening requirements, and carrier guidelines should be reviewed carefully before binding a policy.

Workers’ compensation is usually required when a daycare has employees, though requirements vary by state. It helps cover employee medical costs and lost wages after work-related injuries, such as lifting injuries, playground supervision accidents, slips, or classroom incidents. Even small centers can face employee injury exposure because staff work in active, hands-on environments every day.

Commercial auto coverage is needed when the daycare owns or regularly uses vehicles for business, including vans, buses, or cars used to transport children. If employees use personal vehicles for errands or occasional child-related transportation, hired and non-owned auto may help address liability gaps. Standard personal auto policies often exclude business use.

Many daycare providers can get faster quotes when they submit one complete application with accurate details about enrollment, child-to-staff ratios, age groups served, claims history, licensing status, property needs, and transportation. Soma’s process is designed for fast coverage placement, especially for child care risks that standard markets may delay, surcharge, or decline.

Infant care can be harder to insure because babies require more direct supervision, have higher injury sensitivity, and create stricter underwriting concerns around staff ratios, safe sleep procedures, licensing, and incident prevention. Soma specifically works with specialty carriers that consider infant care programs, including in-home providers and licensed facilities that mainstream brokers may struggle to place.