[Dixielandjazz] Liability Insurance...for a gig

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

Anybody know whether there are
ways and means of buying cheap coverage for small bands?

I would like to know this too ---

When I was in the AF band we had a sign that weighed about 10 pounds in it's 
frame.  It was about 2.5' x 4' and sat on an easel.  One night a gust of 
wind sent this thing sailing out into the audience.  Fortunately no one was 
hit but could have done serious harm.  That sign got deep sixed real fast. 
I have been in situations where microphone stands have gone crashing onto 
dance floors and one time a best man used a mike then twirled it around 
several times and let it go at the band.  That mike could have clocked 
someone in the audience and we could have gotten sued since it was our piece 
of equipment.

I worry that some old person might come up and lean on a stand, trip on a 
cord or mike stand and end up injured.

Things can happen.
Larry
St. Louis
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Dustin" <postmaster at fountainsquareramblers.org>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Friday, May 11, 2007 7:45 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Liability Insurance...for a gig


I am pleased to see this topic surface.  I¹ve been worried about this too,
figuring sooner or later some venue or festival would want me to produce an
insurance certificate in order to play the gig. I¹m in the
engineering-construction business in my day job and deal with insurance
quite a bit, both for the firm and from our subcontractors. You can get a
³one-off² commercial general liability (CGL) policy on an occurrence basis
(cheapest way: coverage expires after a period of time) that will cover your
band for standard perils at an event for somewhere in the range of $150-$300
from a commercial insurance broker.

I figure an OKOM band¹s risks, outside California, are pretty much limited
to a flying beer bottle ricocheting off the tuba and onto the head of an
audience member, someone knocking his stand onto the head of an audience
member, a speaker stand collapsing onto the head of an audience member, an
out of control trombone slide careening onto the head of an audience member,
an audience member tripping over a speaker or mic cable, or the bass player
backing up and knocking some backstage person in the head with his peg head,
etc. These risks tend to be Odirect¹ damages showing a clear cause and
effect.  (Of course, in California one might encounter claims for
Oconsequential¹ damages, such as the failure of an audience member¹s last
movie project brought about by post-traumatic stress disorder induced by the
bone player¹s lip screams in Tiger Rag, or the trad band¹s unexpected
performance of Moon River.)

Bottom line, risk management would represent a significant business cost for
a band, and needs to be carefully considered during the negotiation phase.
If insurance is going to be a requirement, you need to do some homework
quickly and pump up your quote accordingly.  Or consider taking out an
annual policy that will cover all your performances in that policy period,
which might be a prudent move in an increasingly litigious society here in
the US&A.  Your insuror will want to know approximately how many
performances you anticipate and will base the premium on factors such as
that < and especially whether or not you might accept a gig in California.
I am thinking an annual policy is the way to go for my band but so far have
not been forced to give it a lot of thought. Anybody know whether there are
ways and means of buying cheap coverage for small bands?

David Dustin
_______________________________________________
To unsubscribe or change your e-mail preferences for the Dixieland Jazz 
Mailing list, or to find the online archives, pleas visit:

http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz



Dixielandjazz mailing list
Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com