Insurance Question

[Aint Doody]

I'm turning to y'all for some help. Our local club is sponsoring a 3-day ride on Memorial Day Week-end. This is the 4th year for the ride, but the 1st time our new club has taken it on. (Before it was sponsored by our Chamber of Commerce and the city of Pendleton, OR.)

Anyway--what do events like this do for insurance? I know everybody signs very thorough waivers, but do other rides get "event insurance"? The one quote we've gotten so far is for a smidge over $1,000. Are there any special companies who would offer event insurance that wouldn't be so expensive? Or do we just pray nothing happens and hope our waivers would hold up in court? Our club is not incorporated or anything like that. We're just a group of people who like to ride.

When we get all the details up on our web-site, I'll put it on the message board so that all y'all can come to participate. It's a terrific ride.........

[maillotpois]

I would talk to other clubs who sponsor rides and see what they do for insurance. There may be specific brokers you can go to. I am sure there are single event policies you can get for this sort of thing. Then you could estimate the number of riders you will have and pass the cost along in the entry.

It may up your costs, but I believe it would be worth it. Even if you have a well written waiver and you ultimately don't have any liability, if you have a claim or get sued you still need to defend the case, and the insurance would cover you for these costs. Sometimes the defense costs can be more than the claim is ultimately worth.

I am a defense attorney, and do a lot of work in this area - waivers, etc. (although the actual procurement of the insurance is a bit beyond me). If you want to email me off line I would be happy to take a look at your waiver form and maybe give you some suggestions.

Sarah

[Running Mommy]

try to find a broker in the area that specializes in commerical lines. it's a specific type of ins that you need, but they should be able to point you in the right direction. And I would absolutely get Ins. Waivers or no waivers.. You don't want to get held personally responsible. You can always call your agent if you have one for homeowners ins and such. They can point you in the right direction. It's always when you DONT have it that you need it!!
Personally I wouldn't take the risk. But of course I'm maybe a bit on the paranoid side! ha ha

[Aint Doody]

Thanks, Ladies! I agree--I don't want to be one of the "responsible" parties if we don't have insurance. It's just not worth the risk. Since I first posted, I've talked to a fellow in our town who has some sort of "event insurance" for performances to an audience of mostly older people. His costs for a year are only $250. I know there's more risk for cycling, but $1000 seems awfully high. I've called my ins. agent and told them about his coverage and they've promised to do some more research. I think they realize that we'll just go with another agency if they can't find something in our price range.

Sarah--thanks for the offer. Right now I have another friend who's an atty looking at the waiver. However, 2 opinions are always better! I will send you a pvt msg w/the waiver. Thank you for time!

Susan

[bcipam]

Are you required to get city approval and permits for your ride? If so, then you will also be required to have event insurance. If this is a non-public (ie limited to a bike club or something) ride that you are organizing then you should be OK. No waiver is fool proof. But laws in different states and counties apply. I'm in California. Generally, insurance in some form is required to hold an event of that nature. Your broker and attorney should be able to provide the right advice.

[Susan Otcenas]

Susan,

Is this the CROC ride? Jeff (your friendly neighborhood TE Forum Admin) and I did that ride last year. Had a blast! I hope we get out there to do it again. It was very reasonably priced, too.

Susan

[Aint Doody]

Y'all are the best. Thanks for all the input. Maillotpois has already sent me a reply concerning our waiver. We apparently don't have to have a permit to do the ride. I'm still waiting to hear from our insurance person. Also next week-end some of our club members (myself included) are going to Seattle to Bike Expo. I plan to quiz people there about just what they do. Our ride will have a booth there. If any of y'all will be there, come look us up. We will host the CROC (Century Ride of the Centuries). That refers to the Century Farms in our area. We'll also have a crazy woman running around in a crocodile suit! I'll be the other crazy woman! Anyway---we still have plenty of time to get this together, as the ride isn't until Memorial Day Week-end.

[Aint Doody]

Hey, Susan! We must have been writing our replies at the same time. Yep--it's that one. We really hope y'all can come again. I told Renata that I'd send y'all at Team Estrogen some brochures. You'll get one anyway, as you came last year. We did have to up the price just a bit, but we're adding a salmon dinner and some Native American dancers. And there'll be more porta potties! But we still think it's reasonably priced. Shoot--people told us last year we were too cheap! And the old guy on the guitar at the ranch will be back to entertain--he's still alive! In fact I visited with him today. What a character! Hope you get to join us.......

Susan

[aka_kim]

http://www.be-proconference.com/, although mostly about holding events in CA, might be another good resource, especially the event directors' resources link.

You might need to start preparing for the ride now, even though it is almost 4 months away. If you need permits for your rest stops, or any type of police/highway patrol resources, it will take time to get approval.

[Aint Doody]

Thanks, Kim! I'm going to send this link to our chairman. We're well-organized, we're just not yet to crunch!

[Susan Otcenas]

We did have to up the price just a bit, but we're adding a salmon dinner and some Native American dancers. .... Shoot--people told us last year we were too cheap! And the old guy on the guitar at the ranch will be back to entertain--he's still alive! In fact I visited with him today. What a character!

Susan,

I think you could easily raise the price and not have too many people decide it was too expensive. And I'd happily pay more for a salmon dinner, especially if it improved the meal at the Bar M. Their dinner last year was probably the only thing about the weekend that was disappointing for me. It just wasn't very good. But that was a very minor thing. The ride organization was excellent, volunteers were super friendly, and the scenery was so different than what we have this side of the mountains. Can't remember the name of the optional hill we climbed before heading out to the Bar M, but that was a beautifully scenic portion of the ride. I'm not much of a climber but I had good legs that day (and that is a rare thing, indeed!).

Hope I can make it out there again.

Susan