Insurance nightmare... looking for advice on insurance companies who provide coverage

[treeholm]

Hi,
I start my daycare September 4th. I registered my business name, have my number for receipts, and my business bank account. I have deposited the families' cheques in that account.
In the meantime, my insurance agent has been trying to get me coverage. She told me today that I can't open a daycare in a business name unless I have an ECE certificate, and can only use my own name. My home policy will cover me for up to 5 children at $30 per day. I'm charging $35 a day and have signed contracts for that amount.

I'm sort of freaking out here, because I was careful to do everything in a very business-like manner. Do I have to go back to the parents now and tell them cheques have to be made out to me personally instead of my business, which will now have to close a month after it began? Do any of you use a business name for your daycare and have your insurance company cover you? Or do you all have ECE certificates? I'm so frustrated. No one has mentioned that you can't get coverage for running a home daycare unless you just use your own name... I set up a business account in order to issue receipts using my business number instead of my social insurance number, and because my daughter and I will be sharing the income. If the income all goes into my name, I'm just not sure how to avoid declaring the portion of the income that goes to her...

I would love to be able to give my insurance agent the name of an insurance company that will insure a home daycare that actually uses a business name rather that one's personal name. Or, if you do use your own name, how to avoid having to put your social insurance number on the receipt? I won't give out my social insurance number to anyone in order to avoid identity theft.

Thanks,
Diane

[treeholm]

HI there,
You could be right about the $30 a year per child. I read it as they would ALLOW me to charge $30 per day per child, but it could be that they are charging ME $30 per child... not sure if it is annual or monthly, I'll double check. It still doesn't get me around the issue of not giving out my SIN. The reason I started a business was to A) provide a business-like professionalism, and B) not release my SIN.
Thanks for the post, I will clarify the $30 per child thing with my agent.
Diane

[michellesmunchkins]

I have state farm insurance. Covers me for 5 kids and they don't care what I charge. I pay $15 extra a month to add the daycare kiddos. Try them, they are fantastic to work with. Had no issues whatsoever!

[michellesmunchkins]

sorry should also add that i didn't register under a business name though just my own name

[treeholm]

Thanks Michelle! I guess the other issue is how to handle employees if one is not permitted to operate under a business name... I can't believe this is so confusing, and I have an MBA for goodness' sake!

[Inspired by Reggio]

Oh hon take a deep breath .... your agent is confusing the rules ... you are not opening up a licensed daycare which is the type of daycare that you need your ECE and so forth and comes with all sorts of 'regulations' out the wazoo ~ you are just operating a private home based childcare under a registered business name which gives you a 'license' .... the two licenses are completely different entities and one has nothing to do with the other and will not impact your ability to get insurance

Go back to your agent and tell her you do not want nor need insurance in your business name ~ you just want a private home childcare ryder on your current home owners insurance policy .... and I would not pay any more than an additional $30/year/child for it on top of whatever your regular home owners insurance is because that is the average cost in Ontario for a ryder ... it should cover for care up to 5 children and ideally cover up to $10,000 - $15,000 in equipment and supply replacement that is all you need

If you want to keep the business account and have parents pay you using that name you are perfectly fine to do so ~ I would be trying to get a GOOD DEAL on service charges though cause banks assume business = profit and charge obscene service charges on bank accounts with that label

My business name is registered as well ~ however I only use it for advertizing purposes .... I do not have a 'business account' at the bank cause I am CHEAP I just have a personal account in my name that I use for self employment purposes with a no fee bank ~ my clients make any payment out to my 'legal name' for banking purposes and the receipts I give them have both my business name / logo and BIN as well as underneath is my 'legal name' and contact info and so forth so that their returned cheques match the 'legal name' on the receipt .... my insurance for both my home childcare ryder and my vehicle are under my own legal name not the businesses .... and at one point I WAS with a licensed agency and all these practices were deemed 'legal' according to the agency I was with ... they knew I had a registered 'business name' I advertized by however any payment made to me was also in my regular ole legal name not the business name as well as my proof of insurance for them and so forth

Like you the only reason I have my business name is for the reasons you stated ~ to protect my SIN and because for advertizing purposes it looks more professional on a website to have a 'daycare name' than to have a site that says JANE DOE as the URL and tagline because the minute you say 'Jane's Jazzy Home Childcare' it is no longer your full legal name so you need to register anyway and well who wants to put their first and last name out there in their business name

Hope that helps

[Inspired by Reggio]

Thanks Michelle! I guess the other issue is how to handle employees if one is not permitted to operate under a business name... I can't believe this is so confusing, and I have an MBA for goodness' sake!

Are you planning on having employees? This concept in home childcare has always eluded me cause unless you are taking a 'mat leave' and just wanting to hire someone to cover so you do not loose clients it baffles me how people can budget to pay and employee and stay within the 5 child limit ~ cause at the end of the year after 'normal' expenses I barely make minimum wage for myself if I had to PAY someone at least minimum wage out of what was left I would be volunteering to do this?

Employees could make your insurance premium a whole other ball of wax though because than you are needing 'additional' coverage for employee wage replacement and so forth if injured on the job verses just client liability.

[kidlove]

couldnt you go with both? : <your name-daycare name> that way you can still name your daycare and be insured personally?

[Inspired by Reggio]

couldnt you go with both? : <your name-daycare name> that way you can still name your daycare and be insured personally?

Exactly ~ I have friends who have other self employed home based businesses .... my friend has a haird salon and organic spa in their home and they have a 'business ryder' on their home insurance just like we do only for that category and when you use her services or buy something from the spa you make cheques payable to her 'own name' not the business because she too did not open a 'business category account' at the bank because she did not want the fees associated with that ... she too just uses the registered business name for advertizing purposes and well they have to register as well to remit GST and so forth but my point is they do a combination of 'both' because they are self employed.

[treeholm]

You are all wonderful, thanks for the input. My daughter and I are planning to run this venture together once she is finished her mat leave in the fall of 2013 (she is expecting her second child in early December this year). We'll both be drawing income. It's a way for her to stay home with her children until her youngest is in school. We realize we can still only have a maximum of 5 children plus her own, so the income will not be very high for either of us, but it's a way to do this together as a win/win. I get to be with my own grandchildren this way, and we both have some income from the other children. We love children, and felt that doing it this way would eliminate the potential downside of not having any adult contact during the day. It's also a win/win for parents, because if either of us is sick, the other person can cover for the day by themselves.

I guess Christine will just have to bill me as a sub-contractor rather than be an employee. It's certainly not going to be enough income for two people if this were our only income, that is so true. I have a scrapbooking studio that runs weekend retreats, and I still teach one course per semester at the local university, where I am a semi-retired professor. My daughter is an environmental engineer, who may do some one-off projects after her maternity leave, and is doing a certificate in small business bookkeeping/accounting. Between our variety of businesses/professions, we hope to make a decent living LOL. Yes, it would be easier just to have one full-time job, but they do not exist in my community. I would have to commute 4 hours a day to the GTA. My daughter could return to full-time work here, but doesn't want to do that while she has small children.

And, the thought of not being there for my grandchildren would make me very sad. To be honest, I do not like being an empty nester at all, and the idea of filling my nest during the day with lively children is very appealing. Knowing that my evenings are very quiet will get me through the chaos during the day LOL I have such admiration for those of you who do this during the day and then still have your own children at night. I loved raising my own children, and I feel that helping other families raise their children is the most important work there is. I don't even want to go back into corporate work where making a profit is the only thing that matters. I have a personal philosophical problem with it. Not criticizing anyone else for doing that work, it's just a very personal thing. Children are our future, and most families cannot afford to have only one income, so providing quality care for the children of working parents/single parents is the kind of work that has life meaning for me. I should post that on my kitchen wall for those days when I'm pulling my hair out, as I'm sure there will be those days.

Thank you again for the feedback. I'll go ahead and get the rider on my home insurance.
Diane