October Meeting -- ACA & Insurance Discussion

I talked to Crystal today from ACA insurance department. She will send me a clarification by email, in writing , as to what they actually cover. They do cover administration, but she had no idea what administration meant. She said no one ever asked her that before. It does not cover board members of a club. She has another policy available to cover board members and will clarify what administrative means and exactly what the policy covers. I expressed our concern of losing younger members with families, with the abandonment of family memberships. She will forward that to her management as well. I should have some answers by the end of this week, which I’ll post here. Kathy

Kathy

I am getting information from both ACA and Paddlesports Risk Management about this.

Please wait before you do anything else.

Well, we have adequate income for our needs, just not enough to cover third party insurance without raising our fee.

$800 is a lot to pay as a club when we have no income. After 2 episodes where paddlers were non compliant on a trip, wearing PFD, wearing shoes at a put in, take out, after multiple requests, I’m beginning to see the value of insurance. By the way, I left 2 requests to ACA insurance representative and no call back. Are club members willing to pay a higher yearly membership to cover increased costs ?

The Paddlesport Insurance also requires submission of signed waivers and a post event report sheet. The ACA only requires those if a non-ACA member participated.

Also a closer reading of the ACA insurance agreement seems to state that officers and trip leaders have liability coverage. I think we need somebody that understands the where-fores and where-as's of insurance speak to examine that document.

Kathy,

If we stay with ACA -- which is the cheapest -- that means we also continue with the need for waivers and insurance fees for non-members for each trip. That also requires a lot of tracking in the background by someone -- either before or after the paddle. You have been the most vocal critic of ACA's requirements. Are you now considering staying with ACA and their requirements if they do in fact have the insurance we require?

I’ve left a voicemail request to the ACA insurance coordinator. I hope to speak with her to get some real answers as what they provide. Once I talk with her, I’ll ask to clarify it in writing and post it here. Kathy Pszonka

Could you elaborate? It’s important to really know what these two insurance options cover .

I’ve been looking at the ACA club policy. It said it covers administrators. I would think that means board members. If that’s the case, why spend $800 for another insurance ? I don’t especially like the ACA , but their $200/ year is a bargain in comparison. americancanoe.org/insurance/

Kathy

Hello Paddlers

As most of you know, there has been a lot of discussion on whether or not this club should stay in the ACA and follow their costly (for individuals) and bureaucratic requirements. We have been looking at alternatives for the last year -- and thank you Kathy for your efforts in this. I wanted to give you an update since this is something we'll be discussing and voting on at the next meeting -- and via email survey.

What I have found so far is that none of the clubs I've approached has been applying the ACA requirements to all their trips like we have. Instead, they have moved to a hybrid approach.

They stay in the ACA (it's less then $200 per year) but only follow the requirements for instructional and safety clinics. In our case, that would be for our Skills and Moving Water Clinics. No fees or waivers are required for all the other trips for club members.

They do have third party insurance to cover their trip leaders and officers because if they didn't, no one would volunteer. And indeed, I have had members of our own club say the same thing.

I think this approach sounds pretty good, but, there is an important consideration: third party insurance is costly. Our only yearly income is from our membership dues. Now, we have money in the bank to cover this for a few years, but, it will probably become an issue in the future.

I've gotten a couple quotes and am still going through them. I'll have this information ready for the October meeting.

I appreciate any input or feedback you would like to give now. You can post them here or email me: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Thank you.

Eileen