Hi all,
The Unicycling Society of America is searching for a new liability insurance
policy. To make a long story short, our current carrier didn’t realize what
we meant by “convention” when we referred to our annual conventions. When
they found out we were informed our current policy didn’t really cover us
for such events.
For this summer’s Nationals/North American Championships, the folks up in
Washington have decided to get a rider on the local school district’s
insurance policy, so the immediate emergency is over.
Because of the legal climate of our country (too easy for people to sue each
other), liability insurance is a necessary evil. But like a practice gym,
it’s always hard to get for unicycling because there are no established
precedents for risk levels in unicycling. So I assume insurance companies
always quote high.
Many unicycle clubs and organizations have liability insurance, which is
required of them for shows or to ride in their facilities. These are usually
$1 million policies, but beyond that few unicyclists know to what degree
they are actually protected.
If we work together, the unicyclists of the country (and elsewhere are
welcome) should be able to establish a “track record” for the risk level of
unicycling. With clubs and school groups that have been doing it for 20
years or more, there should be a way to establish relative levels of safety,
and present this to insurance companies for their consideration.
The results of the above work could be used to the advantage of all
unicyclists, whether in schools, clubs, or just groups that need a place to
practice that requires insurance.
To make this project work, the USA needs an Insurance Committee. The purpose
of the committee would be to not only acquire a good, solid replacement for
the USA’s policy, but hopefully a source of insurance coverage for
unicyclists everywhere. This committee needs one or more persons to be in
charge of it, and help from the unicyclists out there that either have or
need liability policies.
My intent is for this to be a standing committee, meaning that it would
always be active, though not necessarily busy after the main effort. They
could continue to collect and compile evidence and affidavits of safe
unicycling experiences wherever and whenever possible. Not only will this
aid unicyclists in getting coverage, it should help them to get better
practice places as well. Many schools, churches, or other facilities are
reluctant to formally permit unicycles to be ridden, as they are worried
about lawsuits. They usually end up by indicating a worry about the floor,
but this can be proven to be a non-worry as well.
If you are interested in participating in this committee, please reply to
this message, or to the USA Officers Mailing List:
usa-officers@unicycling.org
Stay on top,
John Foss
President, Unicycling Society of America
President, International Unicycling Federation
jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com
“You’re not supposed to wash your Roach armor” - Nathan Hoover, on safety
equipment cleaning methods