Alabama’s licensing standards never mention insurance. Its exempt church centers are the ones held to a million.

Not for a licensed center or home. The 2021 performance standards for centers and for family and group homes do not mention insurance, so nothing in them asks for a policy at licensing or renewal. The requirement in Alabama sits on the other side of the line: a church or faith-based center that is exempt from licensing must file annual proof of property, casualty and liability insurance under Section 38-7-3, at one million per occurrence and two million aggregate as the Department prescribes.

General liability, explained

Yes, and Alabama’s licensing rule does not ask for it, so nobody else will until the claim arrives. A general liability policy without the endorsement excludes it. It is written as a sublimit, often below the general liability figure, and sometimes on a claims-made form, which stops responding the day the policy lapses, unlike occurrence. Every carrier conditions it on screening, and the background check Alabama already requires of you is most of that condition met.

Abuse and molestation coverage, explained

Five or more employees, counting part-time staff and corporate officers. Under five, coverage is not required. (Ala. Code § 25-5-50). A daycare is staffed by ratio, so an assistant hired for the afternoon toddler room counts the same as a full-time lead teacher, and paying someone as a contractor does not change what the state calls them when you set the hours. Injury claims in this class are lifting and bites, and both are small, which keeps the cost manageable.

Workers compensation in Alabama, in full

Because it is the claim that ends businesses, and because an allegation is expensive whether or not it is founded. Coverage is usually written with its own limit, and the important questions are whether defense costs sit inside or outside that limit, and whether the form covers allegations against volunteers and parent helpers as well as employees. Expect underwriters to ask hard questions about background checks, two-adult rules, sightlines, camera coverage and bathroom procedures — those answers determine whether you can be written at all.

How this coverage is structured

Yes, and hired and non-owned auto if staff ever use their own cars. Field trips, an emergency run and a school pickup all count, and a personal auto policy excludes carrying children for business. No exposure is more likely to produce a catastrophic claim from an otherwise low-severity business, so the limits should be set with that in mind rather than at the minimum.

Coverage for staff cars used on business

No, and this is the most common uninsured position in the sector. Homeowners policies exclude business pursuits, so a child injured in your home daycare is not covered, and in some cases the business use itself can jeopardize the whole policy. Home childcare needs a commercial policy — it exists and is affordable — alongside a disclosure to your home insurer that the business is being run there.

Almost everything, because the state ratios and standards are what an underwriter uses as a baseline. Being licensed and in good standing widens the market substantially; operating over ratio, with lapsed staff clearances or with an open licensing complaint narrows it fast. Insurers commonly ask for the current license, recent inspection reports and your staff-to-child ratios by age group, so have those to hand at quote.