 By Jonathan Howell Memories of summer camp generally do not include signing a contract. Children remember making new friendships and the fun activities. Parents remember the free time and their happy child. The contract to enroll campers is often forgotten as soon as it is signed. Nevertheless, the summer camp contract can have unanticipated consequences. For this reason, parents should have a basic understanding of the common contract provisions used by summer camps. One of the more common summer camp contract provisions is a release of liability. The exact terms of release agreements vary, but they essentially mean that the camp will not owe any money to the parents if their child is accidentally injured. Often the scope of the release will purport to cover accidents caused by the injured child, by other children, or by the camp. For example, the camp might argue that if a child slipped on a pool deck and was injured, the release of liability would shield it from legal responsibility. The camp would even take this position despite allegations that the camp failed to properly maintain or monitor the pool deck. Another common provision in a summer camp contract requires the parents to “indemnify” the camp for injuries or damages related to their child’s participation in camp activities. All indemnity provisions are not the same, but they generally mean that you agree to pay any of the camp’s expenses and legal fees caused by your child while they are at the camp, even if the camp is partially at fault. In a sense, you are insuring the camp. Consider this situation. If your child accidentally injured another child at camp, you could be responsible for all medical expenses (and possibly other expenses) related to that injured child. The camp may be partially at fault for failing to properly supervise the children. However, because you indemnified the camp, the camp would look to you to pay for expenses related to its share of fault and seek to avoid paying anything to the injured child. Although we believe in many instances that camps go too far and make the indemnity and release provisions overly broad and thus unenforceable, parents still need to take extra precautions to ensure they are not surprised with large medical bills for an injured child. To start, parents should make sure their child has adequate health insurance during their stay at camp. This ensures that your child will receive proper medical treatment in the event of an injury. It also protects you from an onslaught of large medical bills should your child need medical attention. Parents also should speak with their insurance agent regarding liability insurance protection in the event that their child accidentally injures another child. Even if the contract provisions are found to be unenforceable, liability insurance can help control legal expenses. Given the rising costs of healthcare and legal expenses, unanticipated camp accidents can cause a serious financial toll. Planning ahead and securing some form of protection, such as the appropriate insurance, will keep those unexpected expenses from causing serious damage to a family's current and future financial stability. If you cannot understand the terms of a summer camp contract or whether the contract has one of these standard provisions, consult an attorney. Understanding these common summer camp contract provisions will allow you to protect yourself and your family’s future. And with these few details in place, you once again can forget about the summer camp contract as soon as you sign it. About the author: Jonathan Howell is an attorney with Pocrass, Heimanson & Wolf in Los Angeles. He is a member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles and represents people who have suffered serious injuries from airplane and helicopter accidents; truck, car and motorcycle accidents; bicycle accidents; product liability; medical malpractice; and birth injuries. Page: 1 of 1 pages for this article
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