Legal Question in Personal Injury in Tennessee

Re: Trampoline

In short, your liability or culpability for a trampoline injury would depend on many variables. In other words, it is fact dependent.

You should consider raising the limits on your homeowner policy as well as obtain what's called an "umbrella" or "excess liabilty" insurance policy. ask your agent if a trampoline requires a special "rider" to your policy.

Also, supervision of the users is important, albeit not always practical. If you can't be there every second while the trampoline is being utilized, at a minimum, you should establish rules of safety about its use not only with your children but any others who may want to jump and tumble. Of course, these rules must be communicated frequently to new users and to those who have used the trampoline previously. It wouldn't hurt to alert other parents to your rules and seek their input about any limits they wish you to place on their kid(s).

Finally, I'd suggest you read carefully the "Owner's Manual" for the trampoline and establish more stringent guidelines than it advocates---thus meeting or exceeding any standard of care required of you as a trampoline owner. Also, check any web sites for trampoline safety. A good place to start is a recent 20-20 type newsmagazine report about trampolines in the back yard and issues related to them. I recall an "Association" of some sort being mentioned in that report which you would find helpful.