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Georgia doesn’t require daycare liability insurance — it requires telling every parent when you don’t have it. DECAL’s rules for child care learning centers (591-1-1) run the insurance-or-notice model: an uninsured center must provide and retain written notice to the parents of every enrolled child. The workers’-comp side has Georgia’s signature counting rule: three employees, with officers counted even after exempting themselves.
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What Georgia Actually Requires
| Coverage | Georgia requirement |
|---|---|
| Liability insurance | Insurance or written parent notice — an uninsured center notifies the parents of every enrolled child, in writing, and retains the notices (DECAL 591-1-1) |
| Workers’ compensation | Required at 3+ regularly employed — officers count toward the three even when self-exempted via Form WC-10 |
| State daycare licence | DECAL (Bright from the Start) licenses centers and family child care learning homes |
The Notice That Sells the Policy
Georgia’s model trusts the market to enforce what the rule declines to: an uninsured center hands every family a written statement of that fact and keeps copies for the licensing consultant. In metro Atlanta’s competitive child care market, that document is a comparison-shopping gift to every rival program with a certificate to show — which is why the notice mostly exists in theory and the policies exist in practice.
The three-employee workers’-comp line does Georgia’s usual arithmetic: officers count even when they’ve exempted themselves from coverage, so a two-officer corporation with one teacher is already a mandatory employer. Between the notice rule and the counting rule, a Georgia daycare’s honest insurance budget starts at day one.
The Coverages Every Daycare Carries Regardless
- General liability with abuse & molestation coverage. The playground injury and the allegation are different claims; a daycare policy without A&M cover is missing the exposure the business is actually judged on.
- Commercial auto if you transport children — a personal policy excludes business use.
- Workers’ compensation once you employ staff (required in Georgia at 3+ regularly employed, officers counted).
- Property and contents for the build-out, equipment and food stock.
Parents ask if you’re insured. So do licensors.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is liability insurance required for a Georgia daycare?
No — but an uninsured center must provide written notice to the parents of every enrolled child and retain those notices, per DECAL’s child care learning center rules (591-1-1). Most centers carry coverage rather than distribute the notice.
When does a Georgia daycare need workers’ comp?
At three or more regularly employed people, part-time included — and corporate officers count toward the three even if they exempt themselves from coverage via Form WC-10, per the State Board of Workers’ Compensation.
Comparing states? See daycare insurance requirements in every state, or the full guide to starting a daycare in Georgia.
Sources
| Source | What it confirms |
|---|---|
| GA DECAL — CCLC rules (591-1-1) | The uninsured-notice requirement |
| Georgia SBWC | The 3+ rule with officer counting |
