Liability protection for instructors

[HIGHwing]

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

You should really look at the exemptions of any policy you're considering holding. There may be many opportunities for the insurance company to sever coverage even after an accident.

 

[Lopez116]

Liability insurance carriers have two separate duties: 1) the duty to defend and 2) the duty to indemnify. I think in the scuba context, with assumption of risk defenses, recreational use immunity (at least in California), liability waivers, etc., the real value of the insurance is that the carrier will have to bear the cost of defending the action.

Two considerations then are 1) make sure the self insured retention (SIR) isn't too high, and 2) Make sure that it is not a "burning limits" policy.

The SIR is the amount you have to come out of pocket before the insurance company defends out of their own pocket. A burning limits policy means that every dollar the carrier spends defending the case decreases the amount of available indemnity money should a judgment be entered against you. A good policy will have separate "troughs" of money that do not affect each other.

Those provisions

 

[DivemasterDennis]

The best safeguard against individual liability is COMPETENCE. The next is COMPETENT PERFORMANCE. Third is compliance with all standards, and fourth is insurance. Most insurance policies are for at least one million dollars. The rest of the op's questions cannot be answered in a reasonable length post. Part of DM and instructor training with PAI covers those questions, and there are a few good books around on the subject of dive professionals' liability. It is n a good idea to "dabble" in legal matters or give generic or general answers in a discussion thread. If you get your legal advice on a free eon-line web site, you are getting what you pay for.
DivemasterDennis
attorney at law

 

[Storysunfolding]

You should really look at the exemptions of any policy you're considering holding. There may be many opportunities for the insurance company to sever coverage even after an accident.

Great discussion guys. I got pulled in because, while I'm not a dive instructor, I teach motorcycle classes from the basic learn to ride (MSF Basic Rider Course) to the advanced race licensing class. Most motorcyclists experience a variation of the "donorcycle*", "You's gonna die", "What are you? crazy?!?!?" on a regular occasion. Teaching people to ride is even more interesting since motorcycling has some confusion concepts such as countersteering (steer to the left to make the motorcycle go to the right). As you can imagine, motorcycling isn't without risk and once a student throws a leg over there's only so much an instructor can do to assist if things start to go wrong.

I have a story for every grey hair on my head to include wheelies, stoppies, crashes, heat exhausting and one student launching a motorcycle with both wheels more than 6 feet into the air. According to the site, the state, and my peers I have one of the best safety records, I just average 500 students a year.

I was certified by NAUI in college through a semester of 3 hour once a week sessions. I'm obviously not an expert in diving instruction, but in Motorcycle training the number of variables between students, equipment and sites means there's noticeable difference in every class. There are a lot of things that can go wrong that end up being a he said she said if it goes to court. Lawyers are great at making uncertainties seem like blame and you're not going to have each tank certified by an independent third party for air quality, rental equipment receive a certification of function for each use, etc. There is lots of place to assign liability even with the reasonable person standard.

When I first started teaching I was told that the site provided insurance coverage in the case something went wrong. I was a spry 19 years of age at the time so I took it for granted. However, after thinking about what could go wrong I got my hands on the policy (always insist on being a named insured) at 22. The provisions scared me into speaking to a contracts attorney. Per the policy, not only could the insurance company sever coverage for the company, they also had an easier option of leaving the instructor out in the wind.

I worked with an insurance broker for awhile until we found a professional instructor's liability policy that provided me with $2 million of coverage with reasonable terms for $400 a year. That also includes my work running Emergency Vehicle Operators Courses and kayaking clinics. I am the only named insured and I maintain copies of notes on every class, curriculum change dates and performance evaluations. It may seem extreme, but one instructor in Va was sued by a family for "not providing adequate training" for the head of household that took the class more than 4 years prior to his death.

It's definitely worth looking into an individual professional liability policy for any high risk instruction that you do. Unfortunately you have to balance the fun part (teaching) with work (protecting the wife's source of income).


*Based on Va statistics "donorcycle" is factually inaccurate. On Average approximately 55% of motorcycle fatalities involved drug and alcohol use over the last 5 years in Va preventing organ donation. The vast majority of the rest have too much internal injuries to donate an organ.... which further makes my point on motorcycles being dangerous.

 

[drfaustus72]

Do you mind sharing which broker and/or insurance company you used? I'm in a similar position where there is no certifying agency for a course I want to teach, hence it's difficult to find an underwriter.

Thanks.

Great discussion guys. I got pulled in because, while I'm not a dive instructor, I teach motorcycle classes from the basic learn to ride (MSF Basic Rider Course) to the advanced race licensing class. Most motorcyclists experience a variation of the "donorcycle*", "You's gonna die", "What are you? crazy?!?!?" on a regular occasion. Teaching people to ride is even more interesting since motorcycling has some confusion concepts such as countersteering (steer to the left to make the motorcycle go to the right). As you can imagine, motorcycling isn't without risk and once a student throws a leg over there's only so much an instructor can do to assist if things start to go wrong.

I have a story for every grey hair on my head to include wheelies, stoppies, crashes, heat exhausting and one student launching a motorcycle with both wheels more than 6 feet into the air. According to the site, the state, and my peers I have one of the best safety records, I just average 500 students a year.

I was certified by NAUI in college through a semester of 3 hour once a week sessions. I'm obviously not an expert in diving instruction, but in Motorcycle training the number of variables between students, equipment and sites means there's noticeable difference in every class. There are a lot of things that can go wrong that end up being a he said she said if it goes to court. Lawyers are great at making uncertainties seem like blame and you're not going to have each tank certified by an independent third party for air quality, rental equipment receive a certification of function for each use, etc. There is lots of place to assign liability even with the reasonable person standard.

When I first started teaching I was told that the site provided insurance coverage in the case something went wrong. I was a spry 19 years of age at the time so I took it for granted. However, after thinking about what could go wrong I got my hands on the policy (always insist on being a named insured) at 22. The provisions scared me into speaking to a contracts attorney. Per the policy, not only could the insurance company sever coverage for the company, they also had an easier option of leaving the instructor out in the wind.

I worked with an insurance broker for awhile until we found a professional instructor's liability policy that provided me with $2 million of coverage with reasonable terms for $400 a year. That also includes my work running Emergency Vehicle Operators Courses and kayaking clinics. I am the only named insured and I maintain copies of notes on every class, curriculum change dates and performance evaluations. It may seem extreme, but one instructor in Va was sued by a family for "not providing adequate training" for the head of household that took the class more than 4 years prior to his death.

It's definitely worth looking into an individual professional liability policy for any high risk instruction that you do. Unfortunately you have to balance the fun part (teaching) with work (protecting the wife's source of income).


*Based on Va statistics "donorcycle" is factually inaccurate. On Average approximately 55% of motorcycle fatalities involved drug and alcohol use over the last 5 years in Va preventing organ donation. The vast majority of the rest have too much internal injuries to donate an organ.... which further makes my point on motorcycles being dangerous.

 

[Storysunfolding]

Like a good neighbor

Professional Liability Insurance - State Farm

 

[Wookie]

A burning limits policy means that every dollar the carrier spends defending the case decreases the amount of available indemnity money should a judgment be entered against you. A good policy will have separate "troughs" of money that do not affect each other.

Interesting, and as an insurance layman, I would think the opposite is true. While we're burning the pot of money to defend ourselves, the other side has to see this and understand that they aren't getting the house or boat or attaching your wages for the rest of your life. The plaintiff wants one of 2 things; either to get a quick cash reward, or to put you out of business, depending on whether or not you hurt them or insulted them. If you hurt them, they just want cash and as much as they can get, as quickly as they can get it. If they see that you are burning their reward paying for lawyers, I'd think they would be much more likely to settle fast. If you insulted them, no amount of money will satisfy them, they just want you out of business. In that case, once you burn your available defense cash, you're out of business.

At least, that's how my lawyer explained it to me.

 

[fisheater]

Not if the defendant has non-insurance assets. If the policy burns up the liability protection, then the defendant's personal assets (house, bank accounts, investments, wages) are at risk.

Burning up policy limits screws the defendant.


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[Wookie]

Not if the defendant has non-insurance assets. If the policy burns up the liability protection, then the defendant's personal assets (house, bank accounts, investments, wages) are at risk.

Burning up policy limits screws the defendant.


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I would hope that any one in a defendant position would be incorporated, and careful enough to maintain strict personal business separation between their corporations and non corporate assets. Or are you talking about nearly every independent instructor in the United States?

 

[aikidude]

The best safeguard against individual liability is COMPETENCE. The next is COMPETENT PERFORMANCE. Third is compliance with all standards, and fourth is insurance.
DivemasterDennis
attorney at law

Unforetunately the only part of your list that really matters is #4, having INSURANCE. Because the first three will be determined by the court, by both judge and jury, at least 3 to 4 YEARs into the legal process. That's where the insurance comes in to pay for your lawyers, private investigators, expert witnesses, agents of the court for depositions, etc while your case is making its way thru the legal process. So even if you were absolutely 100% competent in performance & 100% compliant with all standards, if somebody was seriously injured or there was loss of life, you're getting sued!