Who Doesn’t Love A Treehouse? Kids, Parents, and Neighbors All Recognize the Great Fun a Treehouse Provides, But Your Insurance Agent Is Unconvinced

Treehouses are the epitome of childhood fun. They are clubhouses, hideaways, castles, war rooms, forts, spaceships, control centers, submarines, and more. The use of a treehouse is limited only by imagination.

We know children love to play in a treehouse, and we know parents love to watch their children play in a treehouse. However, let’s look at a treehouse through an insurance company's eyes. Oh boy! We have an individual structure with a separate value that, just like a home, garage, shed, or pool, needs specific coverage. Worse, that coverage has to be for damage to the treehouse, as well as for protection against injury or losses caused by a treehouse.

Insurance-wise, the fact that treehouses are so fun is exactly what makes them such a big problem! They are attractive nuisances, which is to say, Child Magnets! Treehouses are guaranteed to make a home very popular among neighborhood children. Kids will come from far and wide to play in this coveted spot.

Some factors that make a treehouse dangerous are:

• they exist off the ground and must be accessed by climbing to them, often via ropes or ladders
• they are used by children who are playing, not thinking about how careful they should be
• they are sometimes used by too many children, without consideration of how much weight the treehouse safely handle
• children are usually unsupervised during such play
• access to the treehouse may occur 24/7/365....including nights, weekends, and other times when the homeowner is distracted or away
• Not to mention, treehouses that are poorly maintained become even more dangerous!

Aside from the above, consider when the household's children have outgrown the treehouse, and the owners pay even less attention to it. Depending on the location, it could even attract illegal activity!

If you have a treehouse, make sure that it is well maintained and that activities are supervised. Make sure you have coverage for it too! If you have a treehouse or are thinking of building one, call Williams Insurance today!