Insurance

Description

I am the EC for Ottawa-Carleton and am interested in knowing how other groups deal with the issues of insurance and liability. I am not sure if this is more of a discussion item rather than a simple answer.

In our case, we are not an incorporated entity. Individual members are responsible to have sufficient insurance for themselves and their equipment for all activities (exercises and emergencies). The only time members have any protection (workers compensation) provided by their local municipality, is under the Ontario Emergency Plans Act and this is only applicable if an official state of emergency is declared. Declaring an official state of emergency still does not cover loss of equipment.

QUESTIONS:

1. Is this the same for other groups?
2. Does incorporation provide the ability to have insurance which makes a difference?
3. Has anyone looked at the liability of the EC if something goes wrong?

Regards
Peter -VE3BQP

Peter Gamble -VE3BQP
Team Leader -Emergency Measures Radio Group
(Ottawa-Carleton ARES)

Response

There have been several responses and it appears that this is a topic that many people think about.

Two specific comments were:

• Glad to hear that you have the same concern re liabilities.
• Our local Amateur Radio club carries $1,000,000 liability but this only covers third parties.

The question was raised about whether RAC has ever thought of purchasing a group liability insurance policy for ARES groups participating in ARES activities. The idea is that if we could get one policy for all Canadian groups the cost/group might be insignificant.

This was looked into several years ago and was not possible at the time. Pierre Mainville, VA3PM, the Field Services Manager (FSM) for RAC has agreed to look into the matter again.