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From: Michael Daly <mikedaly_at_magma.ca>
subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Club Insurance, Liability, and Overcoming Inertia
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 12:22:10 -0400
On 30 Jun 2005 at 10:45, Jim Farrelly wrote:

> I asked our club to use this incident as a wake up call.  They
> did the usual and looked bored  with a few snickers thrown in.  The
> few people that engaged in the discussion  love the status quo.  It
> was draining.

Welcome to the typical club.  

> There seems to be a lot of exposure when trying to do
> the right thing and help train your club.  It doesnt seem worth it. 

This happens in every club, kayaking or otherwise.  A small minority 
of folks do all the work, have all the talent and struggle to make it 
seem worthwhile.  The majority find things to complain about, put in 
a minimal effort and then quit.  

Our club went through this a couple of times and lost a few key 
members when insurance issues blew up - we lost insurance for a while 
and no one was willing to risk their own personal assets if someone 
in the club sued us.  

> Does your club have insurance? We are looking into ACA, PAC and
> private insurance. The paperwork requirements for the ACA insurance
> are steep. 

I don't know of the ACA, but our club went with a similar policy here 
in Canada - we are under a large paddling organization's insurance 
contract with a large insurer (in this case, ORCA - the Ontario 
Recreational Canoe Association).  The paperwork is annoying (I just 
filled out even more forms yesterday), but it's easy to get and is 
specific to the sort of things kayakers do.  It is also a lot cheaper 
than trying to forge a unique insurance policy with an insurer.  
Something tells me the ACA insurance would be similar.

Mike
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