Home day care liability insurance in Maine

DHHS does not require it. Your insurer might.

Maine does not require liability insurance to license a family child care provider. The Bureau of Insurance states it plainly in its child care liability guide. A center or nursery school must have it to be licensed; a home provider does not.

But the bureau's guide adds the second sentence that matters more. A family child care provider may be required by their homeowners insurance company to have business liability insurance, to avoid cancellation or nonrenewal of the homeowners policy.

So the question is never whether the state wants the policy. It is whether your homeowners insurer will keep writing the house once a paid day care runs in it.

The Maine Bureau of Insurance states that anyone who provides child care in their own home is not required by DHHS to have liability insurance to become licensed. — Maine Bureau of Insurance, retrieved 2026-09-29

The Maine Bureau of Insurance states a homeowners insurer may require business liability insurance to avoid cancellation or nonrenewal of a family child care provider's homeowners policy. — Maine Bureau of Insurance, retrieved 2026-09-29

The homeowners exclusion, in the bureau's words

The bureau's business-use page is blunt about the standard policy: most homeowner insurance policies exclude business use of the home. If you receive money for any activity in your home and file a claim related to it, the insurer might refuse the claim.

For child care specifically, the guide says a homeowners policy probably excludes any loss arising out of any business conducted in the home, including child care. An injured child's parent, a claim for that injury, and no liability cover under the homeowners policy is the exact exposure that combination produces.

The exclusion reaches the building too. The bureau warns that commercial activities can leave personal property and buildings uncovered. The same page notes a detached building used for business stops being a covered structure.

The Maine Bureau of Insurance states that most homeowner insurance policies exclude business use of the home, and that an insurer might refuse a claim related to an activity the homeowner is paid for. — Maine Bureau of Insurance, retrieved 2026-09-29

The Maine Bureau of Insurance's child care liability guide states a homeowners policy probably excludes any loss arising out of any business conducted in the home, including child care. — Maine Bureau of Insurance, retrieved 2026-09-29

The 2009 law: it protects the policy, not the business

Since September 12, 2009, Maine law prohibits an insurer from denying a new homeowners policy, or cancelling or refusing to renew an existing one, on the basis of the daycare exposure.

The protection is conditional, and the conditions are specific. It applies only to a DHHS-certified family child care in the insured's primary residence, on a property of four or fewer units, where the provider carries liability insurance for the child care business.

Read what the law does not do. It does not make the homeowners policy cover the business — it only stops the insurer from dropping the house because of the business. The liability cover for the day care itself is still yours to buy, under every version of the law's conditions.

September 12, 2009Since September 12, 2009, Maine law bars an insurer from denying, cancelling or refusing to renew a homeowners policy because of the daycare exposure, for certified family child care homes. — Maine Bureau of Insurance, retrieved 2026-09-29

Endorsement, separate policy, or commercial package

Three forms of cover exist, and the bureau's guide prices them in sequence. An endorsement added to the homeowners policy is usually limited to three children in paid care — not counting your own — though some insurers cover more, and it is the least expensive option while the child count fits.

Beyond the endorsement's count, the options are a separate day care liability policy, or a commercial package combining day care liability with property cover for damage and theft.

In every form, the premium is driven by two numbers you control: the limit you buy, and the licensed capacity you hold. The bureau notes the premium is based on the number of children the facility is licensed for. That makes the capacity decision an insurance-cost decision too.

three childrenThe Maine Bureau of Insurance states a homeowners endorsement for child care liability is usually limited to three children, not including the provider's own, though some insurers will cover more. — Maine Bureau of Insurance, retrieved 2026-09-29

The Maine Bureau of Insurance describes the options beyond an endorsement as a separate day care liability policy or a commercial package combining day care liability with property coverage. — Maine Bureau of Insurance, retrieved 2026-09-29

If you transport children

Transportation changes the cover question. If you provide transportation, Maine's motor vehicle financial responsibility law requires vehicle liability insurance, at minimum $50,000 per person and $100,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage.

Those are minimums for operating a vehicle at all — not child-care-specific limits. The bureau also advises talking with several insurance producers before deciding how much cover to buy, noting that raising limits above the minimums adds less to the premium than most people expect.

If transporting children is part of your program, the licensing side has its own requirement. Department-approved transportation training for staff who transport, and a motor vehicle background check before anyone transports. The licensing guide covers that half.

$50,000 / $100,000 / $25,000If a provider transports children, Maine law requires vehicle liability insurance of at least $50,000 per person and $100,000 per occurrence for bodily injury, plus $25,000 for property damage. — Maine Bureau of Insurance, retrieved 2026-09-29

Lead paint, older homes and the surplus market

Lead paint is an insurance question in a home provider's house, not only a health one. The bureau's guide notes most buildings built before 1978 have some lead-based paint, and many insurers will not cover older properties without a lead-safe certification from a licensed inspector.

Your licensing specialist performs a lead hazards survey as part of the home inspection, so the state side of lead is handled in the licensing process itself. The insurer's side may ask for more.

If the standard market declines, the surplus lines market exists, but the bureau warns it is likely expensive, with non-standard exclusions for lead and other liability exposures. Before you accept that, fix what is fixable — fencing the pool and the dog, extinguishers, alarms. Then get quotes with your home prepared for the inspection, not before it.

pre-1978The Maine Bureau of Insurance states most buildings built before 1978 have some lead-based paint, and many insurers will not cover older properties without a lead-safe certification. — Maine Bureau of Insurance, retrieved 2026-09-29

Questions