Trampoline question

[Sunshine1010]

We (well....Santa Claus) got my son a Trampoline for Christmas. My husband is putting it up tomorrow while I take my son to a movie. How long will it take my husband?...he'll be doing it alone.

[Pipalotta]

This is completely unrelated to your actual question but I just wanted to warn you incause you didnt know but trampolines are a huge "no-no" with most home owners insurance. It could possibly be cause to drop you from their company. Sorry to be Debbie Downer!!!

[Sunshine1010]

I've never heard of that.

I'll have to have my husband look at the policy in the morning. Surely it would mention it.

[Mickey'sGirl]

With all the safety netting and stuff it took my Engineer husband a couple of hours. It is one of the best things we have ever bought for our guys. They use it EVERY day that it is up (we have had to pack it away for winter). What a terrific gift! :thumbsup:

[pink]

We have a trampoline and it's the best so I hope your son really enjoys it. About how long- it usually takes us about an hour or two to set it up but we've done it so many times now were pros:cool:


Have fun! :mickey:

[chrisb26]

We have a trampoline and love it. Did you get the safety netting to go around it? That is for us what took the longest. Is there possibly somebody that could help your husband? I know with ours I set most of it up alone but when it came to putting the actuall trampoline part with the springs it was a bit difficult since it had never been stretched before alone. Also with the posts for the netting it was also a bit difficult since you had to hold them up and attach them. However I'm sure he could do it I know it took us a couple hours when we set ours up and that was having never done it before.

Hope your son enjoys it! :thumbsup:

[DizneyRox]

I wanted to echo the insurance concerns. I'm not so sure it's worded in the actual contract, but I know when I was looking, they specifically asked about a trampoline. And with dogs, what breed is the next question.

You can call and ask, but that's as good as telling them you have one. Not that it matters really, if someone were to get hurt and it's not a covered on your policy, it just isn't and any medical costs, legal judgements, etc would be out of your pocket anyway.

[PirateLover]

I would suggest he try to find a buddy to help him out just in case. It will probably take him a while to do it on his own just due to the sheer size of the things.
As far as insurance goes, I wouldn't sweat it too much. I mean, my best friend had a trampoline when we were growing up. This was before the safety netting became popular. There were also holes between the springs that I'm sure a foot could easily get caught in. However we were often supervised and even when we weren't, we understood how to play properly, stay away from edges etc. We had so much fun on that thing, played on it all the time. So have fun!!! Let us know how it goes with your husband setting it up and the boys reaction!

[SteveL]

Our HO policy specifically states" no wood burning stoves; no trampolines".

[MsMin]

You should also be aware that you have to keep a trampoline secure b/c it's like a pool and you should have a fenced yard to prevent unwelcome visitors from using it.
Hope it comes with a spring puller b/c it makes it easier. I taught gymnastics from 1977-89 and had a trampoline when I was young and we did have accidents (at home) Collegiate tramps are far more dangerous than the home variety b/c the mat is harder and you get more bounce but accidents can happen especially the minor ones. Encourage your kids to avoid flipping until they have mastered the basics like seat drops, back drops and front drops b/c these elementary skills teach them to know how to land in any position. Falling in the springs can be risky and spring pads help a lot but falling on your head on the mat can compress a spine so they need to be supervised and lessons are helpful. Double bouncing (too ppl at once) is the most dangerous. What happens is you don't expect the reaction from the mat and you get thrown around. Kids think this is great fun but it leads to serious accidents too. Especially older kids when there is alcohol in the mix. :blush:
Hope he got it together quickly and easily. :minnie:

[Melanie]

It's probably up by now, but thought I'd throw my :cents: in.

Santa brought one to our sons last year. It took a couple of hours to set up, but my hubby definitely needed help with the netting.

Ours is the type with stretchy bands instead of springs. Much safer! And I'm very strict about how many are on at a time. Depending on who is around, the max is 3, but usually only 2 at a time.

For many years we resisted buying one, but I'm so glad we finally did. They use it almost everyday and still love it!

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Another insurance downer.....Our insurance company did a spot check last summer and required us to take down our trampoline immediately. It had the safety enclosure around it.

We were told they would drop us if we did not remove it and would be spot checking again.

It bummed the kids out since they loved it but, it has been down ever since.

My inlaws bought it for our kids. We actually never wanted one. Our DS broke his ankle on one when he was 2. It was a complete accident but, he was on it with my nephew. My son was jumping while my nephew was sitting. DS went to sit while nephew stood up. The movement caused my son to loose his balance and land on his ankle the wrong way. Of course he could have gotten hurt in 100 different ways but, we decided it wasn't worth it for us to have one.

Inlaws had other ideas and we decided that since the boys were much older we would allow it.

Insurance company had other plans though.

Sorry to be grump on the matter. I just wanted to let you know the ordeal we had to go through.

[Sunshine1010]

UPDATE:

Well, Santa came and put up the trampoline.

BEFORE Christmas, I DID try to call the insurance company and they were closed for the holiday season (TN FARM BUREAU).

We looked over the policy (the one that looks like a booklet), and we did NOT see anything excluding trampolines. We went to the official website ---- and we couldn't find anything either.

Our company DOES do a spot check. They did it this summer, then asked us to come in. During that meeting, they said it was routine to look at houses, update files, and to see if we wanted to raise or lower our coverage, or see if they could add anything else to our policy.

I've asked several friends about this matter, and none of them had ever heard of it before.

Soooo, I'm on the fence about this. Perhaps I just won't let anyone else besides family members jump on it...and hope for the best.

Like another poster said ---- if I call and ask, I'm scared they will say "take it down". It's nothing that won't crush this family....but still, it sure would be a bummer.

[crazypoohbear]

Regarding the Insurance, I know it is policy here that you can not have a trampoline
You will lose your coverage and if someone gets hurt you are out of luck. And it will be very difficult to get another carrier to take you on.
This is NOT listed on my policy either.
I would suggest you call a different agency than your own and just ask general questions about homeowners and trampolines.

Also, on a side note. I use to be in gymnastics on the trampoline and I can tell you that MOST accidents occur when there are two or more people on the trampoline. The whole idea of the trampoline is for one person to be bouncing and doing moves.
with 2 people on you are displacing them with the bounce and this is what causes kids to fly off or land wrong and break an ankle/foot/leg arm hand etc.

I don't want you to lose your home or your trampoline but be very cautious, and no matter how much the kids beg don't let more than one on at a time.

With our insurance unless there was an accident or they could see it from the street they did not do spot checks. However, my father in law owns our home and he went crazy one year at the kids birthday party and made my husband take it down immediately! What a downer party THAT was

[Sunshine1010]

If it's not in the policy, how can we adhere to a rule that isn't listed?

Know what I mean?.....

[BrerGnat]

If it's not in the policy, how can we adhere to a rule that isn't listed?

Know what I mean?.....

Is there anything in your policy to the tune of "certain other policy limits apply" or "this policy does not cover all possible exclusions, etc." I know that they cannot possibly account for EVERY possible thing that they do not allow you to have in your house, so there may be wordy phrases to this effect located throughout the policy to cover them in any event.

The right thing to do is call your company again and flat out ask. Sure, you could never mention it and hope for the best, but the honest truth is that people DIE in trampoline accidents (same as with pools) and you don't want to find yourself in a situation that will ruin your life forever. It's like not having insurance for your car. You *could* get away with it, but would you really do that?

[Sunshine1010]

Why would my home insurance be affected if he gets hurt on the trampoline (my son)? Wouldn't I claim it on his health insurance?

For example: Last year, he was running on the sidewalk, fell and had a rock embedded in his forehead. We went through his health insurance....why and how would we go through our home insurance (since it happened on the sidewalk) ?

Or.....does this coverage just cover other people on my property if they got hurt?

We also have a shop on our property. When we got insurance for that, we got insurance that covers people if they come in the shop. Why wouldn't the same company offer that for home insurance?

Just wondering.....I'm confused.

Oh yeah - I'll have to look at the policy again for 'the small print' in regards to the statement "this is not an entire listing of exclusions". You're right though ---seems as though EVERY kind of company does something like that so everything will be covered.

[BrerGnat]

I was suggesting that the insurance would need to be in place to cover anyone ELSE who happens to get on the trampoline, not specifically your sons. Homeowner's insurance (a lot of it) is to protect you in the event that an outsider gets injured in your home/property.

I'm thinking at some point, one of your sons might invite a friend over who could get on the trampoline (maybe without your consent/knowledge...kids DO stuff like that, after all), and if something were to happen to the friend, his/her parents might try to sue you. You don't want to find yourself in that situation, and I'm sure that is a situation the homeowners insurance company doesn't want to find THEMselves in either, hence most policies banning trampolines.

[DizneyRox]

Correct, homeowners is to cover you and your house in the event sometihng happens that isn't covered by something else.

For example, if someone were to get hurt on your trampoline, yes, their medical coverage may cover it, but, it could turn out that their medical insurance goes after you to reimburse their costs for the claim. They could claim that you are liable since it wasn't setup right, etc. Now it becomes your fault.

Personally I hate all the finger pointing, etc going on in life today, however it happens, and you need to protect yourself. If that means no trampoline, I'd go with that. Not knowing the laws, or the exemptions to your policy, etc doesn't do you any good in court. It used to be that ignorance was bliss, not so in today's world.

[Pipalotta]

Ha man I really opened up something here. But yes your homeowners insurance is to protect you from other people and things that you can not control. The fact is while you are gone or even in the middle of the night someone could sneak on to your property and use your trampoline. If they were to get hurt, they could actually sue you!! It is the same with a pool. My mom sells insurance so I know all these things about trampolines, pools and "dangerous" dogs. Most homeowners insurance policys will not state right on them that they do not allow trampolines. If your policy does allow them lots of times they will state that they must be tied down, on a flat surface such as concrete, and will not allow anyone but family members to jump on it.

[Sunshine1010]

I'm glad I found all this out. It sure has opened my eyes. I had no idea that a company could control what I have on my property, what kind of dog I have, etc. That's totally mind-boggling to me.

I just need to 'step up' and call.

I have to admit....I am disappointed in this news. I never knew. I suppose I didn't think it was a big deal because every other house in my town seems to have one.

Thanks everyone.

[DizneyRox]

Often there are companies that allow them, you really need to look. For example, most don't like Rottweillers, but there are a few that do. So, it's not necessarily them controlling you, you can speak with your wallet.

Yes, a policy that allows trampolines may be more expensive, but there are some options. You can certainly call around, I'm sure you will find someone who does. Check with an insurance broker, not the individual companies. A broker often deals with several and knows which do and which don't allow certain things.