Author Topic: Attorneys:what insurance do we need for kids playing basketball in our driveway?  (Read 3194 times)

Miss Piggy

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We need some advice. The kids next door ALWAYS want to play basketball in our driveway. Nearly every day. They have their own hoop, but honestly, ours is better. Theirs is a portable one. Ours is in concrete, and because we have a rear-entry garage, our driveway back there is pretty darn big. We have asked them over and over again to ask us first, but they simply don't. And we're not always home to stop them. And they bring their friends.

Part of me wants to simply remove the damn basketball goal altogether.

The other part of me (the more human part) understands that these kids have no father figure, mom is trying her best, and if the kids are playing basketball, then they're not doing drugs or engaging in other bad behaviors. Plus, my husband and I like to play on occasion, and this thing was pretty expensive to purchase and install, so why not leave it there for ourselves?

So...let's assume for now that the neighbor kids (and their friends) are going to continue to play basketball in our driveway, and we need to protect our ass(ets). What kind of insurance policy do we need?

Thanks!

KBecks

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I am not an attorney.  Talk to your insurance agent and get a $1 million umbrella.  This should cost about $200/year and protects you from all kinds of things.

Mr. Green

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Your standard homeowners policy will provide liability coverage. If you don't feel like that's enough coverage, then you get an umbrella. Though if you're carrying 300-500k of liability coverage with homeowners insurance I can't imagine how a basketball related liability issue would test those limits, provided your pole isn't an old rickety thing ready to fall down.

Miss Piggy

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Okay, thanks. I was thinking umbrella policy, but wanted to make sure I was heading in the right direction.

Edit: I just checked our homeowner's policy, and it does not appear to be enough:

Personal Liability  $100,000 /occurrence

Medical Payments to Others  $1,000 /person

That sure doesn't seem like a lot of coverage. I will call tomorrow and get a quote for excess liability/umbrella coverage.
« Last Edit: September 03, 2018, 07:11:14 PM by Miss Piggy »

Dragonswan

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I'm not an attorney but... You should post a no trespassing sign on your property where the kids can't miss it.  This way when the kids come on your property when you're not home, they have been warned.  Although your basketball hoop is clearly an "attractive nuisance" on the order of a swimming pool, I suppose.

SimpleCycle

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Okay, thanks. I was thinking umbrella policy, but wanted to make sure I was heading in the right direction.

Edit: I just checked our homeowner's policy, and it does not appear to be enough:

Personal Liability  $100,000 /occurrence

Medical Payments to Others  $1,000 /person

That sure doesn't seem like a lot of coverage. I will call tomorrow and get a quote for excess liability/umbrella coverage.

Getting an umbrella policy will likely require you to up your homeowners liability.  Umbrella covers any liability above the maximums available through your other insurance products.

jc4

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I'd recommend some bad-aids and neosporon for scraped elbows / knees.

Nick_Miller

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Well, I am an attorney, but honestly the bigger issue to me is that you have neighbors who won't respect your boundaries. It's a neighbor issue as much as a legal issue, IMO.

Have you spoken with the parent about this? It's just not acceptable for neighborhood kids to come onto your property when you're not home, and without your permission.

Only you can really gauge the potential of a kid being seriously hurt. I mean, if your goal is in good shape, you'd think the worst that would happen would be maybe a sprained ankle, but kids do get more seriously hurt. One of my daughter's teammates broke her wrist just playing in a Y league. It happens.

I agree with the recommendation for higher homeowner's liability limits ($100K is VERY low to me). As someone else said, your insurer probably writes umbrellas that start after a certain level of homeowner's coverage (say $250K for example), and you don't want a gap between your homeowner's and your umbrella, so yes I'd sit down with your agent and hammer it out.

And again, I'd talk with that neighbor.

Miss Piggy

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Well, I am an attorney, but honestly the bigger issue to me is that you have neighbors who won't respect your boundaries. It's a neighbor issue as much as a legal issue, IMO.

Have you spoken with the parent about this? It's just not acceptable for neighborhood kids to come onto your property when you're not home, and without your permission.

Only you can really gauge the potential of a kid being seriously hurt. I mean, if your goal is in good shape, you'd think the worst that would happen would be maybe a sprained ankle, but kids do get more seriously hurt. One of my daughter's teammates broke her wrist just playing in a Y league. It happens.

I agree with the recommendation for higher homeowner's liability limits ($100K is VERY low to me). As someone else said, your insurer probably writes umbrellas that start after a certain level of homeowner's coverage (say $250K for example), and you don't want a gap between your homeowner's and your umbrella, so yes I'd sit down with your agent and hammer it out.

And again, I'd talk with that neighbor.

I agree with you 100%, and shame on us for not enforcing boundaries. These kids have none, and the mom knows they're over here, but she thinks nothing of it, either. I mean, it would be different if my husband and I had kids, and the neighbor kids came over to play with our kids. But we don't have kids. (This is a daily reminder why.) We hear nothing but constant yelling from inside that house, so I'm sure it's a relief for all of them when they're not together (mom and kids).

We are in the process of putting some rules on paper and holding a "neighbor-family meeting" with the kids and the mom to explain the rules and gain their agreement. But I want to have the insurance in place before we so formally give permission for them to play on our property. One of the rules is that it's ONLY the neighbor kids who can come over and play; not them and their friends. If they want to play with their friends, they can all go to the real basketball court in the nearby park (about 300 yards away). So far, we've written at least 15 other rules in addition to that one.

As far as the potential to get hurt: the post, backboard, and hoop are in great shape, and are mounted solidly in concrete. The real risk is our uneven driveway seams.

I've done a bit of googling on this topic, and wow, kids playing basketball is a very polarizing topic.

Cassie

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Since you have no kids I find the kids behavior odd. Plus you have to listen to the noise inside your house.  Now that my kids are grown I wouldn’t put up with that. I do understand the empathy for the families plight though. Tough call.

Miss Piggy

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Since you have no kids I find the kids behavior odd. Plus you have to listen to the noise inside your house.  Now that my kids are grown I wouldn’t put up with that. I do understand the empathy for the families plight though. Tough call.

Nice summary. Yep - it's a tough call. We're going to try the rules/limits approach and see how it works.

Mr. Green

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Even with boundaries, if you have substatial assets to protect you should raise your liability coverage on your homeowners policy. It ought to be very inexpensive to raise to 300k or even 500k. Most insurance companies will require that much liability coverage before writing an umbrella.