unicycle insurance

You might want to pm billham on this. He has been doing a lot of
research on getting a club insurance. If you are in a position to get
umbrella coverage through your insurance company that should cover you,
and is relatively cheap. Until our club has an official status and buys
its own insurance, that is what I will be doing.

--
bugman - Survivor 2004 Wolfman Duathalon

-"Worried about rising sea levels? Move into the hills! I might be a
hillbilly but when you're drinking saltwater in the 2nd floor of your
beach condo, my mullet will be drier than a can of Skoal left open on a
sunny day."- - maestro8

-"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who
are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."- -
Albert Einstein

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We have a $1M policy for our club through Cincinnati Insurance Company
at a great rate. Their number is (513) 870-2278. Or if you'd like to
talk directly to the agent who wrote the policy, Query Insurance Company
here in Rochelle, (815) 562-4152. Ask for Jim Beardin about the policy
for The Unicycle University.

We also took out a family personal umbrella policy through our own agent
just in case. We figured since, as club directors, we could potentially
be included in a law suit should something happen, it was best to be
better covered and prepared.

Bruce

--
yoopers - Bruce & Mary Edwards

My son Brad after enduring the epic movie, The Last Samurai: "Who
invented war? Countries should all settle their differences with a huge
game of Rock, Paper, Scissors."
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yoopers said:

*We have a $1M policy for our club through Cincinnati Insurance
Company at a great rate. Their number is (513) 870-2278. Or if you'd
like to talk directly to the agent who wrote the policy, Query
Insurance Company here in Rochelle, (815) 562-4152. Ask for Jim
Beardin about the policy for The Unicycle University.

We also took out a family personal umbrella policy through our own
agent just in case. We figured since, as club directors, we could
potentially be included in a law suit should something happen, it was
best to be better covered and prepared.

Bruce *

Is TUU a corporation? What is the annual $$$ for the insurance policy?
Also do you know how your agent classified the club? Many insurance
companies don't understand how unlikely an injury is compared to other
sports, and the perception that we are high risk could put us in an
expensive catagory. This is so new/small the actuaries(sp) probably
don't have numbers yet.

--
bugman - Survivor 2004 Wolfman Duathalon

-"Worried about rising sea levels? Move into the hills! I might be a
hillbilly but when you're drinking saltwater in the 2nd floor of your
beach condo, my mullet will be drier than a can of Skoal left open on a
sunny day."- - maestro8

-"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who
are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."- -
Albert Einstein

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bugman said:

*Is TUU a corporation? What is the annual $$$ for the insurance
policy? Also do you know how your agent classified the club? Many
insurance companies don't understand how unlikely an injury is
compared to other sports, and the perception that we are high risk
could put us in an expensive catagory. This is so new/small the
actuaries(sp) probably don't have numbers yet. *

No, our club is classified as a 503(c) non-profit organization.

How the agent categorized our club is what caused us the most problem
from the start. All insurance companies we talked to up until
Cincinnati saw our group as extremely high risk with very high potential
for injury. I had to lobby pretty hard through our agent claiming that
unicycling for the most part (for what we do) is a slow speed sport, not
a big potential for tangling in the equipment and falling, etc.

In our first year, our policy was $180 per year. The second year, the
insurance company jumped our cost to $380 per year. Bait and switch if
you ask me. Obviously, I went a-searchin' for alternatives. We found
Cincinnati through Query Insurance and the annual cost for the past two
years now is $150. I hesitated at first to give out our price for the
policy here because we are very close friends with agent Jim Beardin and
the Query clan that own the business and I wasn't sure how much
influence that had on our price. I didn't want anyone else who went to
Query or Cincinnati to be disappointed if their price wasn't the same.
But, for the sake of education of the public and especially the
insurance companies of and about our sport, let's all get the best price
for insurance we can get.

That brings up another question. For those of you who have clubs, what
are the IRS reporting requirements for clubs and club income?

Bruce

--
yoopers - Bruce & Mary Edwards

My son Brad after enduring the epic movie, The Last Samurai: "Who
invented war? Countries should all settle their differences with a huge
game of Rock, Paper, Scissors."
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yoopers said:

*No, our club is classified as a 503(c) non-profit organization.

How the agent categorized our club is what caused us the most problem
from the start. All insurance companies we talked to up until
Cincinnati saw our group as extremely high risk with very high
potential for injury. I had to lobby pretty hard through our agent
claiming that unicycling for the most part (for what we do) is a slow
speed sport, not a big potential for tangling in the equipment and
falling, etc.

In our first year, our policy was $180 per year. The second year, the
insurance company jumped our cost to $380 per year. Bait and switch
if you ask me. Obviously, I went a-searchin' for alternatives. We
found Cincinnati through Query Insurance and the annual cost for the
past two years now is $150. I hesitated at first to give out our
price for the policy here because we are very close friends with agent
Jim Beardin and the Query clan that own the business and I wasn't sure
how much influence that had on our price. I didn't want anyone else
who went to Query or Cincinnati to be disappointed if their price
wasn't the same. But, for the sake of education of the public and
especially the insurance companies of and about our sport, let's all
get the best price for insurance we can get.

That brings up another question. For those of you who have clubs,
what is your take on the IRS reporting requirements for clubs and club
income?

Bruce *

I have been doing a lot of research on all of this stuff, and have a few
questions, and some info. I think Billham will be very interested in
your policy. This may make it much more reasonable for the rest of us
clubs to get reasonable rates.

As for Non Profit status, it is technically a form of Corporation, just
a Not for Profit. It has a lot of benefits, but the biggest drawback
seems to be the IRS reporting. There are actual %'s of the corporate
income that have to come from general fundraising, and not just the
officers of the club or one entity. There is a lot of bookeeping that
needs to be maintained to keep your non profit status. I think in the
long run it is worth it.

One thing that I would like to see clubs with Non Profit status start
doing, is going after corporate donations, and grants. What we do is
unique and highly visible. Seems like a no brainer to me. Once we have
a template for this type of fundraising all clubs should be able to use
it in order to improve their finacial stability, and grow their
organizations.

I will defenitely give your guy a call, even though he may not be able
to write a policy out of state, just the wording of he policy may be
critical in getting better rates. Glad you did the work to help the
rest of us lost soles Bruce.

😄

--
bugman - Survivor 2004 Wolfman Duathalon

-*[-F-O-N-T-=-c-e-n-t-u-r-y- -g-o-t-h-i-c-]-'-H-e-l-p- -C-u-r-e-
-D-i-a-b-e-t-e-s- -b-y- -S-u-p-p-o-r-t-i-n-g- -M-y- -R-i-d-e-'-
-(-h-t-t-p-:-/-/-t-i-n-y-u-r-l-.-c-o-m-/-6-8-m-k-v-)- -[-/-F-O-N-T-]- -
* -
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Our club has been 501c for and has had insurance for many years. (I've
only been with them the past few years). I think our policy is $1mil. in
coverage and about $350 per year. I need to check into coverage for
officers now that Bruce mentioned it.

As for teaching. If you are doing it on your own, voluntarily, and
without compensation, your homeowner liability policy might cover you.
If it is just you and you get paid you may be able to get an endorsement
on your homeowner policy for limited business pursuits. But if it is a
club or serious business pursuit you probably need specific coverage.

Notice I said "might" and "may" and "probably". Check with you agent and
insurance company to be sure. I'm just a property adjuster, why the heck
am I posting on a liability question anyway.😕

--
UniBrier - Its Time to Ride

Steve DeKoekkoek

Hop Drop & Roll

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UniBrier said:

*why the heck am I posting on a liability question anyway.😕 *

I've always wondered if it was pronounced liability or lie-ability. 🙂

B

--
yoopers - Bruce & Mary Edwards

My son Brad after enduring the epic movie, The Last Samurai: "Who
invented war? Countries should all settle their differences with a huge
game of Rock, Paper, Scissors."
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yoopers said:

* lie-ability. 🙂 *

You got that right. One of my dad's favorite quotes:

"The first liar doesn't stand a chance."

Too true.

The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward
and questions him. - Proverbs

--
UniBrier - Its Time to Ride

Steve DeKoekkoek

Hop Drop & Roll

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yoopers said:

*No, our club is classified as a 503(c) non-profit organization.
.
.
.
That brings up another question. For those of you who have clubs,
what is your take on the IRS reporting requirements for clubs and club
income?

Bruce *

This tax exempt stuff is very confusing. I have done some reading and
have come to some conclusions. Don't quote me on these. Any comments are
welcome. Also, I was treasurer for a tax exempt 501(c)3 for 2 years.

1) A "non-profit" designation does not necessarily mean tax-exempt.
2) A "non-profit" organization does not have to file a return with the
IRS unless their income is above a certain amount (like $25,000). Or
maybe you send in the return and just check the box that your income is
below the limit so you don't have to include any dollar amounts.
However, if you exceed the limit, someone's comment about record keeping
is true, you better have good records of where your money comes from and
where it goes.

Memphis Unicycle Club would be interested in how the "official" clubs
went about filing for "non-profit" status. Is there a thread about this
(I haven't looked). Filing for non-profit status would be a good
thread.

Richard

--
mucRider - From the Over 50 Group

There are 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary
and those who don't.
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mucRider said:

*This tax exempt stuff is very confusing. I have done some reading and
have come to some conclusions. Don't quote me on these. Any comments
are welcome. Also, I was treasurer for a tax exempt 501(c)3 for 2
years.

1) A "non-profit" designation does not necessarily mean tax-exempt.
2) A "non-profit" organization does not have to file a return with the
IRS unless their income is above a certain amount (like $25,000). Or
maybe you send in the return and just check the box that your income
is below the limit so you don't have to include any dollar amounts.
However, if you exceed the limit, someone's comment about record
keeping is true, you better have good records of where your money
comes from and where it goes.

Memphis Unicycle Club would be interested in how the "official" clubs
went about filing for "non-profit" status. Is there a thread about
this (I haven't looked). Filing for non-profit status would be a good
thread.

Richard *

You probably should get someone that works for the IRS to help you with
that.😉

As for the filing, I have found a couple ways to do it. You can go
traditional and use a Lawyer or a CPA. Prepare to be smacked with a
bill that will guarantee your non profit staus...even if you are a for
profit entity. Second use an online processor like Legalzoom.com. This
option brings the price down considerably depending on what you are
willing to do yourself. Third get a book like Non Profits for
Dummies(No Joke! Check Amazon $19.95) and it comes with software for all
the forms. The last, and most attractive to me, is to find an attorney
who is willing to donate services to the organization, once your a non
profit his donated services should be able to be written off. (win/win)
The last was what I suggested to Tommy last year.

Carol Mclean is working on several projects for the USA. One of those
is establishing a Club. Anything we find out or learn as we set up our
clubs should be forwarded to her. This will make it easier for future
clubs to get the ball rolling. Billham and I have been going back and
forth on this for a while, and he has a bunch of good info as well.
Bottom line is, I have already been sued once and anything and everthing
I can do to minimize my liability is a good thing. I think Bill is a
little more concerned about litigation than I am, but be sure I am
concerned. There are a lot of people just looking for a way to make an
easy buch as I am sure Unibriar can attest. I don't want to be their
source again.

Here is Carols email if you have something to ad to her FAQ for setting
up a club. If you PM me I will send you what she sent me. Please don't
berage her with e-mails unless it is helping her out. Carol.McLean
at comcast dot net obviously I used at instead of @ and dot instead of
for those that aren't familiar with disguising an e-mail address.

--
bugman - Survivor 2004 Wolfman Duathalon

-*[-F-O-N-T-=-c-e-n-t-u-r-y- -g-o-t-h-i-c-]-'-H-e-l-p- -C-u-r-e-
-D-i-a-b-e-t-e-s- -b-y- -S-u-p-p-o-r-t-i-n-g- -M-y- -R-i-d-e-'-
-(-h-t-t-p-:-/-/-t-i-n-y-u-r-l-.-c-o-m-/-6-8-m-k-v-)- -[-/-F-O-N-T-]- -
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