{"id":3264,"date":"2019-07-23T12:52:02","date_gmt":"2019-07-23T16:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.greatflorida.com\/blog\/?p=3264"},"modified":"2026-05-12T20:43:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T00:43:14","slug":"the-reality-of-pool-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/2019\/the-reality-of-pool-ownership\/","title":{"rendered":"The Reality of Pool Ownership"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cPools offer hours of endless fun, but they also come with a big responsibility to ensure everyone\u2019s safety,\u201d says Dustyn Shroff<\/a>, Vice President of GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the USA Swimming Foundation<\/a>, 148 children under 15 years old drowned last year in the US between Memorial Day and Labor Day.<\/p>\n

The Insurance Information Institute<\/a>(III), reports the insurance industry considers a pool an \u201cattractive nuisance,\u201d due to liability. \u00a0If you own a pool or plan to install one, talk to your insurance agent<\/a> about changes needed to your homeowners insurance<\/a> policy. The Insurance Information Institute recommends that pool owners should consider increasing the liability portion of their homeowners insurance<\/a> to at least $300,000 or more, depending on their assets. Homeowners might also consider an umbrella policy<\/a>to provide additional liability protection<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso, be sure your homeowners insurance<\/a> can cover the cost to replace your pool in the event it is destroyed by a storm or other disaster,\u201d says Buck with GreatFlorida Insurance.<\/a><\/p>\n

Required Safety Measures for Residential Pools\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The best way to prevent drowning is constant adult supervision of children and medically frail elderly people. However, as a backup, Florida state law requires residents who have swimming pools, spas\u00a0or hot tubs to also have at least one of the following safety features in place.<\/p>\n

Under the law,\u00a0swimming pools\u00a0are defined as structures that contain water that\u2019s more than 24 inches, or 2 feet, deep. The law for residential\u00a0swimming pools\u00a0is outlined in the Preston de Ibern\/McKenzie Merriam Residential Pool Safety Act. It requires\u00a0Floridians\u00a0to choose at least one of four safety measures when they install a pool, spa or\u00a0hot tub. Options are listed below:<\/p>\n

One safety measure is a barrier that isolates the pool from the home, which could be a fence or a wall, or a combination of both, that surrounds the pool. The barrier should prevent access to the swimming pool from the residence or from the yard. It must be at least 4 feet high.<\/p>\n

Another approved safety measure is a pool cover that\u2019s either manual- or power-operated and meets standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials.<\/p>\n

Floridians with pools can opt for an exit alarm equipped on all doors and windows that have direct access to the pool. Under the law, the alarm must make an audible, continuous alarm sound any time a door or window that allows direct access from the residence to the pool area is opened or left ajar.<\/p>\n

Another safety precaution under Florida law is a self-closing, self-latching device on all doors and gates that provide direct access to the residential pool.<\/p>\n

The \u00a0American Red Cross<\/a> recommends the establishment and enforcing of pool rules and safe behaviors around your pool at home, for more information, click on the link provided.<\/p>\n

GreatFlorida Insurance<\/a> provides quality home insurance<\/a> and umbrella policies<\/a> to fit your budget. For more information call us at 888-478-7801 or visit us online at www.greatflorida.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cPools offer hours of endless fun, but they also come with a big responsibility to ensure everyone\u2019s safety,\u201d says Dustyn Shroff, Vice President of GreatFlorida Insurance. According to the USA Swimming Foundation, 148 children under 15 years old drowned last year in the US between Memorial Day and Labor Day. The Insurance Information Institute(III), reports […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1219,"featured_media":3270,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1,10,13,8,82,89,9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3264","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-homeowners-insurance","8":"category-floridainsurance","9":"category-florida-insurance-industry","10":"category-healthcare-insurance","11":"category-renters-insurance","12":"category-rv-insurance","13":"category-travel-insurance","14":"category-umbrella-insurance"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3264"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13751,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3264\/revisions\/13751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greatflorida.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}