Illinois puts a number on it: $300,000 for a center, $100,000 for a group home.

Yes, for a center and for a group home, with figures. 23 Ill. Adm. Code 2008.70(l) requires a day care center to carry public liability insurance of at least $300,000 per occurrence, and 2009.35(j) requires a group day care home to carry at least $100,000. The smaller day care home license under Part 2007 asks for vehicle insurance evidence and, in the sections read, nothing on the home itself. The Department of Early Childhood has run licensing since July 2026, and the old DCFS rule numbers no longer resolve.

General liability, explained

Yes, and Illinois’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 Illinois already requires of you is most of that condition met.

Abuse and molestation coverage, explained

It depends on the vehicle. A center vehicle used for a purpose that needs a school bus driver permit must carry $1,000,000 combined single limit under 2008.70(l), and any center that transports children must meet the Vehicle Code’s financial responsibility rules under 2008.280(b). A day care home or group home keeps evidence of vehicle liability and medical insurance on file under 2007.18(f)(2), with no minimum named. Either way the policy has to be commercial auto, since a personal policy excludes business use.

Commercial auto for a daycare vehicle

One employee, including a part-time employee. There is no minimum count. (820 ILCS 305/1; 820 ILCS 305/3). 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 Illinois, 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.