Liability protection for instructors

[FlyingSquid]

Of course a instructor will, as a general rule, do her best effort to keep all her students safe. If, however (knock on wood), a fatality or serious accident happens, to what extent is the instructor liable?

As a more general question: how much insurance coverage is available to divemasters and instructors to make sure that if that very unlikely accident happens, they are not held liable, or their liabilities are covered?

Are there situations who simply are not covered, and to which they are inevitably exposed to potential lawsuits?

Apart from insurance and scuba-specific safety procedures, what precautions can such professionals take to minimize such risks? (Have students sign no-liability agreements?)

And are there places where those laws and insurances simply don't apply?

 

[Wookie]

Of course a instructor will, as a general rule, do her best effort to keep all her students safe. If, however (knock on wood), a fatality or serious accident happens, to what extent is the instructor liable?

As a more general question: how much insurance coverage is available to divemasters and instructors to make sure that if that very unlikely accident happens, they are not held liable, or their liabilities are covered?

Are there situations who simply are not covered, and to which they are inevitably exposed to potential lawsuits?

Apart from insurance and scuba-specific safety procedures, what precautions can such professionals take to minimize such risks? (Have students sign no-liability agreements?)

And are there places where those laws and insurances simply don't apply?

First off, those instances aren't few and far between that you need your insurance, they are relatively common in the US. Your insurance covers more than serious injury or death, it covers smaller instances of liability like slips trips and falls, etc. It's amazing what the court system can find an instructor liable for.

Typically, a US based instructor will have personally a million dollar policy. A group of instructors may share the same million dollar policy at their shop. Unfortunately, when sued and negligence is proven, a million seems to buy off the grieving widow and her children quite nicely. You may have as much insurance as you can afford.

The situations not covered are when you, the instructor violate your agencies standards either by omitted or added steps in the certification process, or by omitting required paperwork. If you do either one of those things, you will find yourself hanging in the breeze.

A liability release is a tool used by the lawyers in a lawsuit to show that the intent of the deceased would be to not sue in the event of their death. Often, however, participants have not given forethought to the fact that diving is a dangerous sport and you can die doing it, so if you're going to dive, you need to have your family well taken care of before going in the water.

I personally would not work anywhere in the world without liability insurance. I do not know of anywhere a certified current instructor would not need liability insurance.

 

[theduckguru]

Even if you are the best instructor in the world and not at all liable for anaccident/death, you are going to accrue some very expensive legal expenses in the event of an action without insurance. Even if you win, you loss. So unless you have at least $20k lying around for a retainer, you better have insurance. The attorneys reprensenting you via the insurance company are very experianced with scuba lawsuits.

 

[FlyingSquid]

Thank you.

DAN provides health insurance and is the most popular, from what I learned.

What about legal insurance? What is the most popular providers instructors hire to be protected against lawsuits?

 

[antattack]

+1 in the Insurance discussion.

It's also worth mentioning that when brought to court, it is a judge and jury who assign liability. The way they assess who is liable is, in part, a judgement about the intent, competence and standard of care given by the dive pro.

So part of limiting liability may depend on affiliating with an agency who
1. Certifies your training through certification.
2. Defines a proven, effective standard training curriculum.
3. Defines a proven standard of care and professional behavior.

By providing standards against which the dive pro can be measured, the dive pro can limit liability when sued. All the dive pro has to do is demonstrate that he/she has adhered to the defined, effective standards as any "reasonable" person would for a given situation. If the dive pro can prove reasonable care against a standard, the court is likely to find them not liable.

But you still need insurance.

 

[DCBC]

Given that you don't require a 'certification' to dive or teach diving, this is an interesting question... In the case where you are teaching and a student is injured or dies, obviously you are much better off to have insurance. Secondly, being a 'certified instructor' will go a long way in establishing your personal credentials (carrying instructor liability insurance is a requirement for certification renewal).

Liability must be proven. An Instructor must be seen to either do an action, or fail to do and action (act or omission) that was deemed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Liability insurance just pays the bill (partial?) if the Instructor is found negligent. Another condition of payment may be if the Instructor in-question failed to comply with his certification agencies standards of practice. If this is the case, the insurance company will not likely pay.

Interestingly enough whether or not the Instructor follows the standards of practice is not what defines negligence. There have been cases where the Courts have found the certification agencies standards of practice insufficient under the circumstances. In other words, if you are a certified instructor (or not), you may be found to be liable (or not) and if you have insurance, the insurance company may pay (or not). Some insurance policies restrict the geographic area of coverage while others do not. Are you confused yet?

 

[vincent54]

As just an Open 1 diver, my suggestion to anyone teaching people to dive is they should have plenty of insurance coverage. It is easy for a grieving family to win a law suit. My friends dad died about 10 years ago on his first open water dive in Bahamas. Witnesses said he fumbled with his regulator and shot to the surface from 30 feet. The cause of death was an embolism. The family had no problem winning a multimillion dollar lawsuit. Equipment was found to function properly, instructor had done pool work with him and felt he was ready for the open water and that's that. The family realized dad was worth more dead than alive, and so did the jury. Cheers

 

[nolatom]

Agree with the "you need insurance" comments above.

Either have adequate insurance, so no (successful) plaintiff & counsel will be tempted to attach your personal assets or force you into bankruptcy to protect some of them, and also so you won't have to pay for your attorney yourself (policy pays for defense) or God forbid, either represent yourself or hire an attorney but be unable to pay enough for a full-tilt defense and expert witness fees, etc.

Or, have absolutely no possessions or gross or net worth, and never have any plans to acquire any. Then, you're "judgement-proof" by default/poverty, even though liable legally. Most people don't choose this alternative, at least not on purpose. And don't live in a country where they still have debtor's prison (smile button).

 

[Kay Wilson]

US and EU instructors are required by law to have PLI, and the certification agencies will not issue Teaching Status to an instructor unless they have insurance (preferably via their designated insurers).

However in other parts of the world their is no legal requirement.

I believe that Dive Associations, in the Caribbean or Mexico for example should look to ensure that members have insurance as part of the associations membership agreement.

Insurers should produce decals each year for dive shops to place in their windows to show potential customers that the shop takes their public liability seriously.

Public Liability Insurance in not cheap, and if its not a legal requirement there are shops and individual instructors that will go uninsured to save money. This then makes it difficult for the shops that do pay insurance to compete.

 

[Wookie]

As I said in a PM to someone today, Americans have to be insured wherever we teach. Americans can be sued in America regardless of where the alleged liability took place, and it costs far more than most DM's/instructors make to mount a proper defense. If a judgement is against you, your property can be attached and future earnings seized. I took this post to men "Do Americans need liability insurance?", since I assumed the OP to be an American. If you are Mexican or Asian or Maldivian (which seems to be a word) maybe you don't need professional liability insurance, but if you are American and plan to remain an American citizen, you need it, and it would be foolish to think that you are protected because you have no assets or are teaching overseas.