Does Your Church Need Insurance for a Bounce House at a Fall Festival?

The rental company has to carry insurance, and Texas law sets the amount. An operator cannot run an inflatable bounce house or slide in Texas without a liability policy of at least $1 million per occurrence and a current annual inspection, and the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) issues a compliance sticker when both are in place. Your church's own general liability policy still matters, because the church that hosts the event can be named in a lawsuit right alongside the operator.

Fall festivals, trunk-or-treats and harvest carnivals fill church calendars in late October, and a lot of them include a bounce house, an inflatable slide or a trackless train. Here is what Texas law requires of the people who rent those rides, what your church should ask for before the truck shows up, and where the church's own policy fits in.

What does Texas law require of a bounce house operator?

Texas regulates amusement rides under the Amusement Ride Safety Inspection and Insurance Act, Chapter 2151 of the Occupations Code. TDI administers it, and TDI's amusement ride FAQ lists continuous air-flow inflatables such as bounce houses and inflatable slides as amusement rides, along with rock climbing walls, mechanical bulls, zip lines and trackless trains.

For an inflatable that provides a surface for bouncing and jumping, or an enclosed space for amusement, the operator must have a combined single limit liability policy of at least $1 million per occurrence (Occupations Code 2151.1012). Before any amusement ride operates, the operator also has to (2151.101):

• Get an annual inspection by its insurer or a person the insurer contracts with.
• Get a written certificate stating the ride was inspected, meets the standards for insurance coverage and is covered by the required policy.
• File the certificate and the policy with TDI.
• Give a copy of both to each sponsor, lessor, landowner or other person responsible for offering the ride to the public. If your church is hosting, that is you.

Most other rides that are not designed mainly for young children at a fixed location carry higher minimums: $1,000,000 bodily injury and $500,000 property damage per occurrence, or $1,500,000 combined single limit. TDI's FAQ notes that motorized trains and continuous air-flow inflatables carry the $1,000,000 per occurrence requirement instead.

Once an owner meets the requirements and pays a $40 filing fee per ride, TDI issues a compliance sticker. The sticker is valid for one year from the date of inspection and should be placed on a major part of the ride where riders can see it. Failing to comply is a Class B misdemeanor, and each day of a violation is a separate offense (2151.153).

What should your church ask the rental company for?

TDI's own tips for renting amusement rides make a good starting checklist. We would build on them like this:

• The sticker number for the exact unit you are renting. Then look it up on TDI's list of current amusement ride stickers, which shows each operator, ride name, serial number and expiration date. A sticker on one bounce house says nothing about the one next to it.
• A copy of the inspection certificate and the policy. The statute already requires the operator to give these to the sponsor or landowner. Ask for them when you book, not on the morning of the event.
• A certificate of insurance naming your church as an additional insured. A certificate shows that coverage exists. It does not add your church to the policy by itself. That takes an additional insured endorsement, which we explained in The Certificate Proves Nothing. The Endorsements Behind It Decide Who Pays.
• Staff to set up and supervise. TDI suggests asking whether the owner will provide staff to set the ride up according to the manufacturer's guidelines and to watch riders while it operates.
• Injury history. Owners must report injuries that require medical treatment, and TDI publishes those quarterly injury reports.
• The space you have. Some rides need a large, open, level area. Walk the site with the vendor before you sign.

Why does the church still need its own coverage?

When someone is hurt at a church event, the lawsuit rarely stops at the vendor. The church owns or controls the property, invited the public and organized the day. The operator's policy is written to protect the operator. It protects your church only if the church has been added as an additional insured, and only within that policy's terms and limits.

The church's own general liability policy is what responds to the rest of the day: a fall in the parking lot, a burn at the chili cook-off, a volunteer's mistake at the hayride. Before the festival, it is worth confirming three things with your agent:

• Whether the policy limits or excludes amusement devices or special events. Some church and nonprofit policies do. That language is usually in an endorsement, not the main form.
• Whether the policy includes medical payments coverage, which can pay limited medical bills for a guest who is hurt on church property, regardless of fault.
• Whether your limits still fit the event. A festival that draws the whole town is a different exposure than Sunday morning.

Texas also gives churches a liability cap under its charitable immunity law, but that protection depends on the church carrying qualifying insurance. We walked through that in What Insurance Does a Church Need in Texas?

What about hayrides, pony rides and trackless trains?

They are treated differently, which is why it helps to sort them before the event:

• Trackless trains, rock walls and mechanical bulls are amusement rides under TDI's rules, so the same sticker, inspection and insurance requirements apply.
• Live animal rides are on TDI's list of things that are not amusement rides. The state does not set an insurance minimum for them, so ask the vendor for its own liability coverage and an additional insured endorsement.
• Trampolines and nonmechanized playground equipment are excluded from the definition of an amusement ride (2151.002).
• A hayride pulled by a member's pickup or tractor raises a separate question: whose auto or farm policy responds if a rider falls. Ask before anyone hitches a trailer, not after.

Frequently asked questions

How much insurance does a bounce house company need in Texas?

A combined single limit policy of at least $1 million per occurrence for inflatables used for bouncing, jumping or enclosed play, plus an annual inspection and a TDI compliance sticker.

How can we check whether a rented bounce house is legal?

Ask for the sticker number and serial number of the unit, then look it up on TDI's current sticker list. The sticker is valid for one year from the date of inspection.

Does the vendor's insurance protect our church?

Only if your church is added as an additional insured on the vendor's policy, and only within that policy's terms. A certificate alone does not do that.

What if our church buys its own inflatable?

Then the church is the owner and operator, and the same requirements apply to it: annual inspection, the required insurance, filing with TDI and the $40 per ride fee.

Is a trampoline an amusement ride in Texas?

No. The statute excludes trampolines and other nonmechanized playground equipment from the definition.

Can TDI ask our church about a vendor's insurance?

Yes. TDI can ask a sponsor, lessor or landowner whether required insurance is in effect on a ride, and the response is due within 15 days (2151.053).

Planning a fall festival?

Send us your vendor contracts and certificates before the event, and we will check them against your church's policy so you know who pays for what. Call 830-303-8300 or visit our church and religious school insurance page.