No insurance to be had for nonprofit non training Club

[Edward3c]

What the hell is going on in the SCUBA insurance industry in Canada? I‘m on the board of a non profit underwater council (Club) in Manitoba, and we can not get anyone to even quote on general liability insurance. We don’t provide any scuba training at all, we rent city pool time, hold a few weekend BBQs in the summer and a year end windup with diving by certified divers at each. We have a designated dive area at one of the local lakes, which has buoys to keep the boats out and other safety feature. We have been scouring the insurance agencies, but none of them can get a response from their underwriters. It seems that having non-profit and SCUBA in the same sentence causes them to run for the hills.
Looking for help!

I’ve looked at our, BSAC, cover, as members worldwide are covered with some exceptions; which do include North America “In addition, North America (USA & Canada) are excluded. Due to restrictions imposed by local laws …”.

BSAC became a company ‘Limited by Guarantee“ because of the reasons cited by @Angelo Farina.

You don’t need to even know the other person, act stupid and they get hurt same, no deep pocket in sight no lawyer will bother.

They will look at the assets of the combined club membership. If 10 members each had 200,000 of assets there is a 2m pot to go for, then you have defence costs to consider - winning isn’t cheap.

 

[admikar]

You definitely need a good insurance.
My local no-profit club, Parmasub, went bankrupt after one participant to an event had a stupid accident causing the loss of a finger.
The damage was evaluated about 250.000 euros, which exceeded the insurance limit.
So all the assets of the club were confiscated.
But even this was not enough, and the court asked for the missing money to the president of the club.
This happened in Italy, not in US.
No-profit does not means no-responsibility!
Actually it means unlimited responsibility.

What kind of finger costs 250k €?

 

[greeniguana]

At least here in the good 'ol USA, you could also be required to perform criminal background checks on board members/officers if you're tyring to get D&O insurance.

 

[Johnoly]

What insurance company do your local 'sky-diving' clubs use ??
Maybe contact them and ask.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Put a flyer up in your dive shop advertising a shore dive somewhere. Make the flyer completely anonymous, no names or contact info, just show up. Everyone shows up for the dive and there is no organizer, everyone is on their own.

 

[grf88]

Put a flyer up in your dive shop advertising a shore dive somewhere. Make the flyer completely anonymous, no names or contact info, just show up. Everyone shows up for the dive and there is no organizer, everyone is on their own.

This really doesn't solve the problem of how an actual dive club can effectively work. Access to a pool is an important component especially in an area like Manitoba that is not known for year round diving. A pool provides an opportunity for club members to get together to exercise, try new gear and to socialize. I hope the OP is able to find insurance to allow the club to continue.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

This really doesn't solve the problem of how an actual dive club can effectively work. Access to a pool is an important component especially in an area like Manitoba that is not known for year round diving. A pool provides an opportunity for club members to get together to exercise, try new gear and to socialize. I hope the OP is able to find insurance to allow the club to continue.

Unfortunately this is the dark underbelly of an overstructured society with 100% guarantees of safety and the promise to be made whole if anything goes wrong. Unfortunately this is impossible but everyone has to pay for that myth now regardless.

 

[Angelo Farina]

What kind of finger costs 250k €?

The index of the right hand.
The club was insured for a max coverage of 10 millions.
But the insurance company only responded to the max value established by Ania tables.
Which forc that finger is something as 80.000 eur.
As the judge had got from his medical consultant a larger value, the extra money has been recovered suing the club, which had just a few thousands eur. The remaining has been recovered by the president's personal assets. In case even in this way there was still money missing, the whole board of the club could be held responsible.

 

[tridacna]

Put a flyer up in your dive shop advertising a shore dive somewhere. Make the flyer completely anonymous, no names or contact info, just show up. Everyone shows up for the dive and there is no organizer, everyone is on their own.

Good luck with that in court!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

The index of the right hand.
The club was insured for a max coverage of 10 millions.
But the insurance company only responded to the max value established by Ania tables.
Which forc that finger is something as 80.000 eur.
As the judge had got from his medical consultant a larger value, the extra money has been recovered suing the club, which had just a few thousands eur. The remaining has been recovered by the president's personal assets. In case even in this way there was still money missing, the whole board of the club could be held responsible.

And this is why dive clubs and any social clubs of any kind are dwindling.
It’s not even an eye for an eye, it’s more like a finger for a whole life and everything a man has ever worked for.