I have a friend who organizes, directs and makes a good living from at least 100 tournaments a year. He refuses to purchase insurance. He tells me “What could possibly happen?”
Frankly I can’t think of a single instance a problem happened for an organizer/TD who didn’t have insurance.
Anyone got any real life anecdotes to share?
Very easy for someone to trip over a chair or power cord or whatever, and bingo! Lawsuit.
There can be lawsuits even with insurance, but at least things like falling could be handled in a straightforward way.
I am guessing he also has a limited liability corporation so that if there is a lawsuit then it is more difficult to go after his personal assets.
Against whom? The Organizer or the owner of the chair?
I am looking for real life examples where not having insurance caused a problem for the Organizer/TD. With so many organizers and TDs on here surely at least one can tell us the story?
Nope! My friend is strictly a sole proprietor.
These days? Anyone and everyone. And no, insurance can’t prevent a claim or lawsuit, but it is there to manage the risk one could happen.
IMHO, past examples might provide motivation, but if you don’t get any, that doesn’t mean it wouldn’t be prudent to have insurance to protect against the risk you may end up needing it. Especially for someone running a number of events.
OTOH, a personal umbrella policy might suffice, especially for someone running fewer events. I’m not an insurance expert, but in my experience umbrella policies are very inexpensive.
Okay. I’m with you. So far, no one can provide a true to life story.
You probably won’t get many true-to-life stories because of the sensitivity of the situation. I know of one case where a lawsuit ended up getting the (minimal) assets of the LLC that the TD/Organizer had.
That’s the story I want to hear!
Importantly, if you do get sued, insurance provides for the defense costs after the deductible is paid.
Many venues require proof of insurance these days. Also it can be costly to answer a lawsuit even if you have done nothing wrong. The venue might sue you, and then you need to sue the person really at fault. Perhaps the OP’s friend is a practicing attorney who can handle his own legal transactions.
There is also greater risk when children are involved. Some kid runs down the hall, hits an elderly person (maybe not even affiliated with the chess tournament), and the person falls and injures themselves.
Have you never experienced chess violence? I have seen chess pieces thrown several times, and once an airborne chair. One titled master literally smashed a large door off the hinges after blundering a rook out of the blue in an endgame against me. Over 25 years ago, an outsider pulled a gun on a player several boards away from me and the two men went outside to argue. Nothing serious happened, but you can never know for sure.
Michael Aigner
I am convinced! My friend is going to do whatever. Someday I will probably say “I told you so.”
Thank you, Michael.
I am aware of a state court case where the defense costs were $250,000 and the case was never actually heard. It was dismissed at the circuit court level, then the dismissal was affirmed at the court of appeals, then the dismissal was affirmed unanimously by the state Supreme court. It took 10 years. There never was any cost of discovery or any trial. And the cost was $250,000 just to get it dismissed - not counting all the time involved from those being sued. and even though there was no real case, there was no way to get costs from the plaintiffs.
My friend reads the Forums. He’s been quiet.