| Most of us understand insurance in terms of what it costs every year to insure our sled, should we have the misfortune to be involved in an accident during the season.
This is called Personal Liability Insurance.
It protects the other party should someone else be injured, property damage should the sled cause damage to someone's personal effects, fire and theft and, if included, will cover expenses for repairs to your sled.
In some jurisdictions the Personal Liability has skyrocketed out of control. Riders with any kind of negative riding record are either told to look elsewhere, or, are unable to obtain any coverage at all. For some riders it simply does not make sense to own a snowmobile.
General Liability Insurance is the insurance your provincial snowmobile association pays so you can ride the trails. It protects the clubs, association members, volunteers and landowners from claims associated with the operation of the trails. Without General Liability coverage private landowners would not allow clubs to build, maintain and operate trails on their property, and the volunteer network would collapse.
There would be no more snowmobile trails!
In Ontario, the cost of General Liability insurance has skyrocketed from $3.00/permit in 2000-01, to $41.00/permit in 2003-04. This is an increase of over 1300% in three years! With 100,000 plus permit buying snowmobilers in Ontario, rate hikes like this can't help but have a very serious effect on winter tourism and snowmobile related businesses.
Why is this happening?
We're doing it to ourselves. Some who have been involved in accidents have allowed, and even encouraged the lawyers to sue everyone to obtain the largest settlement possible. For instance, in a single sled accident where the snowmobiler may have been either, a) driving carelessly, b) going too fast or, c) driving under the influence (although within the legal limits), EVERYBODY GETS SUED! The first target in the lawsuit shooting match is the General Liability insurer, then the landowner, then the groomer, the volunteers who maintain the trails in that area, the club executive, the local snowmobile association and eventually (possibly) the snowmobile manufacturer. The courtroom costs (even for an innocent party) can reach up to $20,000 per day!
As a result it's been established that snowmobile claims have become more frequent with average costs equaling automobile claims.
How can we fix this?
First of all we need to check our egos and ride responsibly. This means governing ourselves about alcohol consumption, speeding on trails and irresponsible riding habits. Furthermore, it means when we have an accident, we need to look inside and determine where the fault really lies. A frivolous lawsuit can effect thousands of our fellow riders and eventually shut down the system completely.
For the complete article by Kent Lester please see page 9 of issue (v 15, No.4) of Supertrax Magazine.
Secondly, we need to write and talk to our government officials. Legislation which allows insurance companies to be sued with abandon needs to be restricted. We need lower limits placed on liability settlements. Quebec has a claim limit of $5 million, Ontario is $15 million. Guess who is having a harder time with insurance?
Once again, common sense needs to prevail.
More info can be downloaded here (20Kpdf file)
Paraphrased from 'Inside Trax', courtesy of Kent Lester and Supertrax Magazine.
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