i’m writing this on behalf of Calstock unicycle club coz we had a meeting the other evening aoubt uni club and insurance and stuff and what happens if someone falls off and gets rela hurt or something and their parents or whoever decide to sue someone and also do u have sets of rules u follow in your club
could anyone let me no if there’s any insurance rules/stuff for uni clubs that anyones experienced and stuff we could do with some help and suggestions please!
Talk to Roger at UDC, he has a load of information about running clubs and unicycle events including insurance and liability, and is always extremley helpful.
what you do is get your school to “sponsor” you so they are responsible for you. we finally got permission to ride at our school on club day by doing that.
The following is not to be construed as legal advice…
Long before I joined up with the Uniques the club found that in order to rent School District facilities (and probably others) an organization has to show they have liability insurance so the club organized into a 401c3 non-profit corporation and purchased a General Liability policy. The policy will cover accidental damage done by the club to a facility or say in a parade if we were to hit a bystander. I do not think the policy would cover injuries to a member.
Policies are facilities are costly so we have to charge dues, solicit donations, and find an occasional paid performance to cover our overhead.
We have a comprehensive release that must be signed by members for all Physical Damages and Bodily/Personal Injury. We also ask for a brief medical history, insurance information, and an authorization to treat a minor should they be injured in club events. This brought to every practice and parade, etc.
In my opinion, if you have a formal club you should look into getting club insurance and also whether your personal insurance would cover you individually for your actions.
If you are just a loose affiliation of Unicyclists that just ride together, and not a club, you would be responsible as an individual if you hurt someone or damaged something. The Liablility portion of your Homeowner or Renter’s Insurance Policy should cover that.
…If you need actual legal advise please consult an attorney.
TreeP- I’m soon to start looking for a new insurance policey for SWUM, I’ll let you know by e-mail how i get on when I do. BUT it won’t be for a week or two, I’m V busy at the mo with sorting childcare and starting some work.
ps- can you PM me , I want to contact Sam Taylor but don;t know if hes on e-mail or this forum.
I’ve often joked that the NYUC should really call itself the NYLAURT or something similar (“New York Loose Affiliation of Unicyclists that Just Ride Together”). Very catchy. We get together outdoors, have no fees or officers, and basically just hang out together twice a month with our unis. It’s like a flash mob of unicylists, only not quite as flashy. Saves on insurance, anyway. We’ve been together for 6 years. One of the reasons I didn’t push for an indoor venue was the insurance issue, tho I hear it can be quite inexpensive.
If I remember my New York State law correctly, only one year to go before you’re all legally common-law married. It’s nice when the State just takes that next step of commitment for you. Saves on having to give it much thought.
