RE: [Paddlewise] Club Insurance, Liability, and Overcoming Inertia

I understand what you're feeling.  I retired from a large aerospace company
that had a paddling club for employees/retirees.   Some of the members were
great to me when I first got into the sport.  Eventually I gained enough
skill to become a certified instructor, and wanting to give back to the
sport helped train beginners and led many trips for the club.  We used a
company approved waiver form for club activities, and were told "we had
insurance".  At some point a friend advised me that my largest exposure was
not in losing a liability lawsuit, but in the cost of having to personally
retain a lawyer to defend myself regardless of a suits outcome.  I asked the
company if they would provide an attorney to defend me should a suit occur
but they refused to answer this question.  I stopped participating in
activities with this club.

Next I joined Washington Kayak Club, a large private club that provides many
hosted trips, pool sessions during the winter, and classes and clinics
during the paddling season.  I became a member of this clubs board.  I
discovered we had commercial insurance for our pool sessions as it was
required by the various municipal authorities, but we didn't have any
liability coverage for classes, trips, or clinics.  I volunteered to survey
available insurance and after the board voted to become an ACA PAC member
volunteered to become the Insurance Chair and act as the go-between to
satisfy ACA's reporting requirements and the clubs coverage needs.  We
rocked along like this for several years, but last year as part of a general
liability insurance shake-up ACA lost their insurance carrier.  The ACA
paperwork reporting requirement that existed before has become even more
restrictive.  My club decided to remain a PAC member for now but, the
decision is not unanimously popular:)

I applaud your attempt to get your club members involved in paddling safety,
from May through September myself and another instructor host a weekly
2-hour lake safety session for our club.  We've been doing this for quite a
few years now.  Even though WKC is very involved in paddler training not all
members are highly skilled or motivated to become so.  Our safety sessions
are not heavily attended but some of the beginners of a few years ago are
now accomplished paddlers, even instructors, and that's very gratifying.  It
IS a way to give back to the sport we love.

I worked as a pro for a short while and know how expensive private lessons
are.  It's even more expensive for one-on-one instruction.  I don't have any
idea how beginners could afford to get the level of training that clubs like
mine can provide.  All that said, the day my club stops providing liability
coverage is the day I stop participaing in club events.


Jim said:
 The almost heart attack at the safety clinic I hosted has been churning
in my mind.  <snip>
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