Motorcycle Club Liability Mitigation

[mdemersonbd]

Hi all,

I'm a board member of a Southern California social / riding club. We have weekly rides of 200 miles or so in the area and once a month we organize out-of-town rides. No drinking of alcohol is permitted during rides.

The club has about 100 members. In the past the club was primarily composed of various HD riders. In recent years BMW, Ducati, KTM, and other riders have made up as much as half the membership. The metric bike riders typically ride in separate groups from the HDs to better match the riding styles. On a typical weekly ride we might have 2-3 HD groups and 2-3 metric groups.

As the club has grown we've become aware that we should be trying to protect members and officers from liability. In the past we've relied on individual waiver of liability forms at the start of each season and for new members. But that doesn't do much for us if a third party is injured. Nor do we think it really protects us much if a member is seriously hurt or killed.

So the question is (finally): Do any of you belong to clubs like mine and can you point me in the right direction for our legal and insurance needs?

Mike

 

[henzilla]

Welcome to the forum Mike

Yeah, a club officer as well and this comes up. No magic answer for sure.

Below are some older threads in the Similar Threads section.

 

[akbeemer]

Probably best to consult an attorney licensed in your state.

I'm in two clubs, one MOA chartered and one unchartered, and neither has insurance of any sort. One view is that creating deep pockets by having insurance makes it more likely that one will be sued.

 

[61996]

I think there are different levels of liability exposure if you are a formal club or a casual group.
If you are a formal club and charge members to participate, then you are providing a service and have more exposure as opposed to just being a casual riding group where participation is free and voluntary.

I am an organizer and ride leader for a local MeetUp group here in Minnesota. (Free to belong)
I have two levels of liability releases.
One is the blanket release members must acknowledge in order to belong to MeetUp, and the other is specific to my group which each participant digitally acknowledges when they sign up for a particular ride.

Good luck.

Joe

 

[akbeemer]

Not an attorney and I slept at home last night, but I have heard it opined by seemingly knowledgeable people that waivers of liability have no legal bearing in a tort case and can in fact work against you. By requiring participants to sign a waiver you can be viewed as acknowledging that you are knowingly exposing them to hazards. If you are not the responsible person, then how can you require a waiver and why would you want to? Another good reason to consult an attorney.

 

[alancoles]

Not an attorney and I slept at home last night, but I have heard it opined by seemingly knowledgeable people that waivers of liability have no legal bearing in a tort case and can in fact work against you. By requiring participants to sign a waiver you can be viewed as acknowledging that you are knowingly exposing them to hazards. If you are not the responsible person, then how can you require a waiver and why would you want to? Another good reason to consult an attorney.

Kevin, like you, I'm not a lawyer and also slept at home last evening, however, my feeling is that anyone making such a statement is talking more conceptually than anything else. A waiver, any waiver, unless horribly worded, will add at least a small layer of protection. If they didn't there are a lot of groups that would stop using them, including groups of lawyers. ;-)

I'd counter that if someone tried to make that argument "acknowledging that you are knowingly exposing them to hazards" to me, my reply would be, "No, I am simply acknowledging that there are lawyers out there who will try to sue anyone or anything that might have 2-cents".

My understanding is that a waiver does not indemnify anyone from acts of negligence, incompetence, etc., put does require the grieving party to overcome a hurdle that might not otherwise exist.

Having said that, our Club online membership process requires the applicant to verify that they acknowledge that they are knowingly exposing themselves to hazards that they are responsible for.

MOA does provide insurance (flat $400/event) for Charter Club events, but AFAIK, they don't have anything for the Club itself nor it's directors. This is perhaps an area that should be explored, or if it already has and been discarded, perhaps someone could chime in on that. Certainly, the world can be a pretty miserable place if any type of lawsuit is brought against a volunteer board/club and IMHO, MOA should at least be providing their Charter Clubs with guidance in these matters. Always felt that one of the top jobs of any "umbrella" Club is to do those things that must/should be done but are too large and/or complex for one individual club to do on it's own.

 

[t2moyer]

Waivers are a good idea, but they won’t keep you from being sued/taken to court, etc. It may eventually absolve you of liability, but you will still have an attorney bill when it is over. It is a very minimal layer of protection and you need more protection than just a waiver.

Your club should be providing Directors and Officers insurance for key people “in charge.” These policies are relatively inexpensive (for the MOA, I believe it is about $1,000 per year.) A local agent that provides any kind of business insurance should be able to source it. I can put you in touch with AHM Financial who provides the MOA and Foundation policy if you need it.

Anyone involved in club management or activities should have a personal liability umbrella. Again, cheap insurance that your local agent can provide and offers some protection for you as an individual in the event you are named personally in a lawsuit (which will happen.)

The biggest issue is your club likely doesn’t have any sizable assets. If the club is sued and loses, you fold the club and move on. Which is why you are at risk personally since you likely do have personal assets and those need to be protected. The attorneys and claimants are going to follow the money and that resides with the individuals.

There are some options for group ride insurance. It is more expensive and comes with certain restrictions. The last time the MOA looked into group ride insurance, there was a basic requirement that everyone in the ride be a member and specifically listed in the ride, etc. I’m not sure how that would affect your club or rides, but that can be a challenge. Back to the previous point though, group ride insurance likely protects the club which may not have any need for protection. For a local club, I would be more concerned about the individuals and their protection.

You are welcome to contact me and I will be glad to put you in touch with the insurance agents that we use or answer questions if I can.

Ted
ted@bmwmoa.org
(205) 821-7205

 

[paul_f]

I used to be a member of our local club, as well as on the executive. I am no longer a club member as I could not convince the rest of the executive and a number of club members for the need for club insurance for our annual rally. The argument against insurance was that all were friends and no one would ever sue the club or individuals if there happened to be an incident. My position was I could accept that, but an injured individual has no control when their health provider becomes involved in seeking compensation for a person's recovery.

It is my opinion that lack of insurance for a motorcycle event is folly.

 

[omega man]

Waivers are a good idea, but they won’t keep you from being sued/taken to court, etc. It may eventually absolve you of liability, but you will still have an attorney bill when it is over. It is a very minimal layer of protection and you need more protection than just a waiver.

Your club should be providing Directors and Officers insurance for key people “in charge.” These policies are relatively inexpensive (for the MOA, I believe it is about $1,000 per year.) A local agent that provides any kind of business insurance should be able to source it. I can put you in touch with AHM Financial who provides the MOA and Foundation policy if you need it.

Anyone involved in club management or activities should have a personal liability umbrella. Again, cheap insurance that your local agent can provide and offers some protection for you as an individual in the event you are named personally in a lawsuit (which will happen.)

The biggest issue is your club likely doesn’t have any sizable assets. If the club is sued and loses, you fold the club and move on. Which is why you are at risk personally since you likely do have personal assets and those need to be protected. The attorneys and claimants are going to follow the money and that resides with the individuals.

There are some options for group ride insurance. It is more expensive and comes with certain restrictions. The last time the MOA looked into group ride insurance, there was a basic requirement that everyone in the ride be a member and specifically listed in the ride, etc. I’m not sure how that would affect your club or rides, but that can be a challenge. Back to the previous point though, group ride insurance likely protects the club which may not have any need for protection. For a local club, I would be more concerned about the individuals and their protection.

You are welcome to contact me and I will be glad to put you in touch with the insurance agents that we use or answer questions if I can.

Ted
ted@bmwmoa.org
(205) 821-7205

Nice Ted

A lawyer once said to me that “If I don’t ask, I don’t get anything.......so I ask everybody”.
Gary