Insurance nightmare... looking for advice on insurance companies who provide coverage

[Inspired by Reggio]

Oh hon take a deep breath .... your agent is confusing the rules ... you are not opening up a licensed daycare which is the type of daycare that you need your ECE and so forth and comes with all sorts of 'regulations' out the wazoo ~ you are just operating a private home based childcare under a registered business name which gives you a 'license' .... the two licenses are completely different entities and one has nothing to do with the other and will not impact your ability to get insurance

Go back to your agent and tell her you do not want nor need insurance in your business name ~ you just want a private home childcare ryder on your current home owners insurance policy .... and I would not pay any more than an additional $30/year/child for it on top of whatever your regular home owners insurance is because that is the average cost in Ontario for a ryder ... it should cover for care up to 5 children and ideally cover up to $10,000 - $15,000 in equipment and supply replacement that is all you need

If you want to keep the business account and have parents pay you using that name you are perfectly fine to do so ~ I would be trying to get a GOOD DEAL on service charges though cause banks assume business = profit and charge obscene service charges on bank accounts with that label

My business name is registered as well ~ however I only use it for advertizing purposes .... I do not have a 'business account' at the bank cause I am CHEAP I just have a personal account in my name that I use for self employment purposes with a no fee bank ~ my clients make any payment out to my 'legal name' for banking purposes and the receipts I give them have both my business name / logo and BIN as well as underneath is my 'legal name' and contact info and so forth so that their returned cheques match the 'legal name' on the receipt .... my insurance for both my home childcare ryder and my vehicle are under my own legal name not the businesses .... and at one point I WAS with a licensed agency and all these practices were deemed 'legal' according to the agency I was with ... they knew I had a registered 'business name' I advertized by however any payment made to me was also in my regular ole legal name not the business name as well as my proof of insurance for them and so forth

Like you the only reason I have my business name is for the reasons you stated ~ to protect my SIN and because for advertizing purposes it looks more professional on a website to have a 'daycare name' than to have a site that says JANE DOE as the URL and tagline because the minute you say 'Jane's Jazzy Home Childcare' it is no longer your full legal name so you need to register anyway and well who wants to put their first and last name out there in their business name

Hope that helps