[SEL] Dogs on show grounds (OT?)now fences...again.

[Curt]

Peter,
In the States there are no federal laws saying that a public event has 
to be covered by liability insurance. To my knowledge there are no 
states with such laws in place either. In fact some states have passed 
laws stating that for many public events, the organizers cannot be held 
liable for injuries. In particular equestrian events.

In the States as a club (or an individual) you would be free to put on 
an event without liability insurance. You are free to take your chances 
that no one will be injured. You are free to take your chances that if 
someone is injured they will not sue you. You are free to take your 
chances that if you are sued, the jury will not award damages to the 
injured, for which you or the club would be responsible.

In my opinion, for any public event of any significant size one would be 
nuts to assume such risk, but none the less you are FREE to make that 
decision.

Once one decides he needs to insure his public event, he contacts 
several private insurance companies and requests quotes to provide 
liability insurance. The one buying the insurance decides how much 
insurance they wish to buy. If they want they can buy as little as 
$100,000 of insurance. I'd venture a guess that many buy $1 million 
dollar policies.

For certain the agents selling the insurance know nothing about the 
hobby and you will never see an insurance booth set up at a show. They 
really don't care. They are simply assuming a risk for public injury for 
a specific period of time, independent of the event. It could be a 
concert, a car show, an engine show, etc.
The only hiccup was a few years ago after the Medina, OH steam traction 
engine explosion. It was nearly impossible to purchase liability 
insurance for the first couple of years after that accident if you were 
going to have steam at your show. Now that all states are up to snuff 
and have annual boiler inspections in place, the insurance companies are 
beginning to insure shows that have steam again.

What I gather has happened in Oz is that the insurance conglomerate has 
lobbied your legislature to put into place laws that demand liability 
insurance for all public events. Whether or not this was the best thing 
for Oz is yet to be determined, but it is undeniable that it is a 
collusive effort to extract dollars from each and every person, and to 
spread the results of law suits amongst the entire populous. But that is 
the essence of socialism isn't it!
Mind you this is not a slight against Oz. My observations of the 
wonderful people of Oz is that everyone seems happy and content.
However, to someone with the _freedom_ to make the choice about 
insurance, your system seems intrusive, coercive, and imposing. Everyone 
in Oz shrugs this off saying it is only $15 a year, so what! It works 
for you. It is simply a different system.

Curt Holland
Gastonia, NC


Peterwoodmore at aol.com wrote:

>>From one who was at the Friday night meeting right to the end.
>The insurance rep stated that the insurer put no restrictions at all on 
>rallys and that they would cover our negligence. The NHMA imposed the rules or 
>guidlines through a sytem of risk management ( which is the buzz word for all 
>things in this modern era).
>However if there should be a claim in the future  due to negligence then the 
>premiums paid by the clubs and individuals would reflect this but would not 
>necessarily preclude us from being insured.
>Could the Yanks please explain there system of public liability insurance , I 
>have been told that it is paid individually along with house insurance is 
>that so? Everybody seems to be an expert on what happens in Oz lets here from the 
>rest of the world
>
>
>Woody
>
>Peter Woodmore
>27 Craig Ave 
>Moorebank
>2170
>NSW
>Australia
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