Bike Longmont has tried unsuccessfully for 2 years to get insurance. The issue we run into is insurance companies don't want to fund bike refurbishment or they're not writing policies in Colorado. It's frustrating to open a community shop for 2 reasons - there's no standard operating instructions to do so. It would be helpful to have an alliance person or some kind of ombudsperson to guide start-ups through the process.

Insurance, in general, seems to be this murky sess pit of crazy, that no volunteer in their right mind would ask to navigate. IMO. In other words - make the process, clear, straight forward and return emails & calls with actual answers and succinct questions.

Lastly, having low-cost rental bike coverage would be awesome, too.

rjk


On Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 2:37 PM, Mike Samuelson <mike@peoplepoweredmovement.org> wrote:
Hi Think Tank,

As some of you may know, the Alliance has been trying to develop an insurance package that fits the needs of community bike shops for a little while now. We first tried working with McKay Insurance Company, but that didn't end up working, and we are now in talks with Gales Creek Insurance to try and create a program. 

The folks at Gales Creek are interested in speaking with a few leaders of shops to learn more about some of the past problems they've had with acquiring insurance (they currently work with a few shops, but they said there haven't been any large problems with writing those policies and are interested in learning what some issues have been). These conversations would NOT be sales pitches, they are an opportunity for Gales Creek to learn more about the needs of community bike shops as we work together to try and develop a package that fits the needs of shops.

If you are willing to speak with the folks at Gales Creek, please let me know.

Thanks,
Mike

--
Mike Samuelson
Member Services and Open Streets Coordinator
Alliance for Biking & Walking

P.O. Box 65150
Washington, DC 20035

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"We all do better when we all do better" - Paul Wellstone