Two children bouncing on a backyard trampoline with a house behind them.
Backyard Trampolines

A Neighbor's Kid Gets Hurt on Your Trampoline: Who Pays, and Does Insurance Cover It?

A neighbor's child hurt on your trampoline? Learn when you can be liable and what homeowners insurance covers.

By Up Is Jump Team9 min read

It's a warm fall afternoon. You look out the kitchen window and see three kids from down the street bouncing on your trampoline with yours. Nobody asked first, and that's normal in a lot of neighborhoods. If one of them lands wrong, you, the trampoline owner, can be held legally responsible. That isn't automatic. It depends on whether you were careless, what your state's law says, and what happened. The child's parents, and sometimes the child, can share the blame. Here's how that works, what homeowners insurance does and doesn't cover, and what to do before the next bounce.

The short answer: you might be

A trampoline owner can be held liable for a guest's injury. The usual test is negligence. According to Nolo's guide to trampoline accidents, an owner is liable when their negligence played a significant role in causing the injury. Missing springs, torn padding, or no rules about how many kids jump at once can all count.

Trampolines have a twist that most backyard features don't. Nolo notes that in some states an owner may be liable even after taking reasonable precautions, because a trampoline can create a heightened duty to protect children, even children who are technically trespassing. A neighbor's child who wanders over isn't necessarily "trespassing" in a way that gets you off the hook. If your own child invited them, the line gets even blurrier.

Other factors count too:

  • Supervision by the child's own parents. Were they there, and did they let the child jump?
  • The child's age. Courts expect a teenager to understand risks a 6-year-old doesn't.
  • Comparative fault. If the injured person did something reckless, their share of the blame can reduce what they recover.

The outcome depends on the facts, and the rules change from state to state. Nolo also points out that commercial jump parks follow different rules than backyards. This article explains how the law generally works. It isn't legal advice. If a real injury happens, talk to a lawyer licensed in your state.

How courts decide: negligence and "attractive nuisance"

Most trampoline cases start as ordinary premises liability: did the property owner keep the property reasonably safe? Courts look at the condition of the trampoline (springs, pads, frame), whether there were any rules, and whether anything made it easier to get hurt, such as a ladder left in place.

Causation still matters. Nolo describes a case involving a 14-year-old neighbor and a ladder. Leaving the ladder out might have been negligent, but it may not have caused the injury if the teen could easily have climbed on without it.

When young children wander onto a property, many states apply the attractive nuisance doctrine. The idea is that some things draw kids in who can't judge the danger, so owners owe those kids extra care even if they weren't invited.

The best-known trampoline example is Kopczynski v. Barger, decided by the Indiana Supreme Court on June 4, 2008. A 12-year-old girl was hurt on the neighbors' trampoline after the neighbors' unsupervised 6-year-old son invited her over. The trial court and the Court of Appeals both sided with the neighbors and treated the girl as a trespasser. The Supreme Court reversed. It held that a trampoline may be an attractive nuisance and that factual disputes had to go back to the trial court. One open question was whether the girl had reason to know a 6-year-old couldn't invite her. The court also said the owners hadn't shown it was unreasonable to assume children would be attracted to a large trampoline.

The court listed five elements for an attractive nuisance:

  1. The owner maintained or allowed the condition.
  2. The condition is particularly dangerous to children and unlikely to be understood by them.
  3. It is especially attractive to children.
  4. The owner knew or should have known children would likely trespass and be hurt.
  5. The injury was a natural, probable and foreseeable result.

The court singled out the danger of several kids jumping at once as a risk children might not recognize. That is where a homeowner's biggest exposure can come from.

Many states use a similar child-trespasser rule based on the Restatement (Second) of Torts § 339, including Pennsylvania, Utah, South Carolina and Montana. Courts don't all agree that trampolines qualify, though. The older the child and the better they understand the risk, the less likely the doctrine applies.

When the owner wins, or the family shares blame

Not every case goes against the homeowner. A few real outcomes:

  • Minnesota: a 12-year-old hurt her arm on her aunt's trampoline. The appeals court affirmed judgment for the aunt because the child's mother was present and the child had assumed the risk of jumping. The court also noted that other jurisdictions have declined to treat trampolines as attractive nuisances. The decision is unpublished, so it isn't binding precedent, but it shows how parent presence can shift the analysis.
  • North Carolina (2000): a 10-year-old was hurt jumping from a shed roof onto the neighbors' trampoline. He knew it was dangerous and his parents had warned him. The court affirmed a directed verdict for the neighbors.
  • Iowa (2007): in Hullinger v. Hintz, an adult guest at a neighbor's barbecue broke an ankle on a trampoline that was reportedly missing six springs. The jury still found the guest 51% at fault, and the Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the result.

The Iowa case shows that owners don't always win and injured people don't always collect in full. Under comparative fault, a hurt person's own share of the blame can reduce what they recover. The Iowa owners were also found partly at fault, and the missing springs were part of the reason.

Does homeowners insurance cover it?

If someone does file a claim, your insurance policy matters as much as the law. Insurers generally take one of three approaches to trampolines:

  1. No restriction. The trampoline is covered like anything else in the yard.
  2. Coverage with conditions. You're covered only if you meet safety requirements, such as a safety net enclosure or a fence with a locking gate.
  3. A full exclusion. Trampoline-related claims aren't covered at all, including liability, personal property and dwelling coverage.

When a neighbor's child is hurt, the part of your policy that pays is personal liability coverage. If the trampoline is covered, it can pay the injured guest's medical bills and your legal costs up to the policy limit. Many policies also include medical payments coverage, typically $1,000 to $5,000 per injured guest regardless of fault, which can settle small injuries quickly. Homeowners insurance covers guests, not people in your own household.

Check the limit. Most homeowners liability limits start at $100,000. MoneyGeek says experts recommend at least $300,000, and Insurance.com suggests $500,000 or more for trampoline owners because of the attractive-nuisance risk. An umbrella policy typically adds $1 million to $5 million of liability. Insurance.com, citing GEICO, put the cost at roughly $150 to $300 a year (as of August 2025).

Two more things to know:

  • Disclose the trampoline. Not telling your insurer about it can lead to a denied claim or a canceled policy.
  • Expect questions at renewal. Some insurers refuse to renew while a trampoline is on the property.

Pull up your declarations page now. It shows your liability limit and medical payments amount. Then read your policy for any trampoline exclusion or safety conditions. Terms vary a lot from one carrier to the next.

The injury picture: why this matters

Insurers and courts are cautious about trampolines for a reason. Here are the latest available figures. In 2015 there were more than 295,000 medically treated trampoline injuries in the US, including 102,943 emergency room visits, according to Consumer Product Safety Commission data cited by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). More than 90% of those injured were children, usually ages 5 to 14. Nearly one-third of the injuries were fractures.

The pattern matters for owners. About three-fourths of injuries involved two or more people jumping at once, the same risk the Indiana court flagged. More than half happened on the mat itself, not from falling off. AAOS says no data show that nets or other safety equipment lower injury rates. It also doesn't recommend trampolines for children under 6.

A practical checklist for owners

These steps make injuries less likely, and they're the kinds of precautions Nolo says make an owner more likely to win in court:

  • One jumper at a time. This is the biggest single fix, based on the injury data.
  • Remove the ladder after every use so small kids can't climb on alone.
  • Keep pads, springs and the frame in good repair. Replace missing springs and torn padding right away. Inspect regularly, especially after fall storms.
  • Supervise. Have an adult present when anyone is jumping. Ban somersaults and stunts unless the jumper is trained.
  • Set house rules and tell the neighbors. Let nearby parents know the rules, including that kids jump only when an adult is home. Before Halloween and Thanksgiving, when there are extra kids and cousins around, decide ahead of time whether the trampoline is open.
  • Call your insurance agent. Confirm the trampoline is disclosed and covered, and find out whether you need a net or a locking fence to stay covered.
  • Consider raising your liability limit or adding an umbrella policy.
  • If a child is hurt: get them medical care first. Then notify your insurer promptly and talk to a lawyer licensed in your state before you make any statements about fault.

The rules are general guidance, not legal advice. In practice, a well-kept trampoline, one jumper at a time, an adult watching and an insurer who knows the trampoline is there protect both the neighborhood kids and you.

Sources (15)

Photo: Kids on Trampoline by myguys.nova, BY-SA 2.0.