I'm new to this list but it seems like an awesome community of shared knowledge!
Here is another question that our shop is dealing with - insurance and liability questions. We have recently expanded to a substantially larger space; in the past we operated out of a large garage/warehouse area, with very low rent, one paid staff member (hired as independent contractor), and no insurance. We are growing substantially and we want to make sure we protect all of our customers/volunteers/clients from issues if someone was hurt on one of our bikes or at our shop.
But - it seems really expensive, how do community bike shops pay for it? How much do you pay per month for liability insurance? Do you have volunteer lawyers giving legal advice? Do you pay workman's comp for your staff, or do you hire staff as independent contractors? We want to make sure we do this right and protect our people, but it's expensive and hard. Any information is helpful!!
-Jason
UBP pays by the year (around 650 I think...) for general liability insurance, no directors or child molestors coverage. This covers activities inside the shop only, bikes that leave are not insured. No paid staff so no workers comp.
We had to get insurance to make good on our rental/license agreement that requires 1,000,000 of coverage. We met a broker who helped "pitch us" to insurance companies. We were turned down by more than a few before we finally got coverage.
more on the wiki: http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Insurance
good luck, Brian
On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 12:41 AM, Jason Tanzman jtanzman@riseup.net wrote:
I'm new to this list but it seems like an awesome community of shared knowledge!
Here is another question that our shop is dealing with - insurance and liability questions. We have recently expanded to a substantially larger space; in the past we operated out of a large garage/warehouse area, with very low rent, one paid staff member (hired as independent contractor), and no insurance. We are growing substantially and we want to make sure we protect all of our customers/volunteers/clients from issues if someone was hurt on one of our bikes or at our shop.
But - it seems really expensive, how do community bike shops pay for it? How much do you pay per month for liability insurance? Do you have volunteer lawyers giving legal advice? Do you pay workman's comp for your staff, or do you hire staff as independent contractors? We want to make sure we do this right and protect our people, but it's expensive and hard. Any information is helpful!!
-Jason _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
i'm sure someone else will post today with more info than this, but since it hasn't been mentioned yet, here it is.
the league of american bicyclists has some kind of ride insurance that covers our activities in and outside of the shop. if we are doing a community ride, and someone falls down or gets hit, i believe that covers it. also covers things where we're out of the shop and not riding...say we're working on bikes in a neighborhood, and some kid/volunteer picks up a wrench and gets a finger caught in a chainring/chain while wrenching...it's my understanding that you'll need a list of participants before any accidents happen...
again, someone else will have more info(i hope...), but that's my basic understanding...
On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 8:00 AM, Urban Bike Project Wilmington, DE < urbanbikeproject@gmail.com> wrote:
UBP pays by the year (around 650 I think...) for general liability insurance, no directors or child molestors coverage. This covers activities inside the shop only, bikes that leave are not insured. No paid staff so no workers comp.
We had to get insurance to make good on our rental/license agreement that requires 1,000,000 of coverage. We met a broker who helped "pitch us" to insurance companies. We were turned down by more than a few before we finally got coverage.
more on the wiki: http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Insurance
good luck, Brian
On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 12:41 AM, Jason Tanzman jtanzman@riseup.net wrote:
I'm new to this list but it seems like an awesome community of shared knowledge!
Here is another question that our shop is dealing with - insurance and liability questions. We have recently expanded to a substantially larger space; in the past we operated out of a large garage/warehouse area, with very low rent, one paid staff member (hired as independent contractor), and no insurance. We are growing substantially and we want to make sure we protect all of our customers/volunteers/clients from issues if someone was hurt on one of our bikes or at our shop.
But - it seems really expensive, how do community bike shops pay for it? How much do you pay per month for liability insurance? Do you have volunteer lawyers giving legal advice? Do you pay workman's comp for your staff, or do you hire staff as independent contractors? We want to make sure we do this right and protect our people, but it's expensive and hard. Any information is helpful!!
-Jason _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
-- Urban Bike Project of Wilmington 1908 N. Market Street (entrance is in the parking lot behind the building) Wilmington, DE 19801
Hours: Thursday 6:30-9:00 Saturday 1:00-4:00
Visit us online at http://urbanbikeproject.org _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
See: http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Insurance
On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 10:23 AM, veganboyjosh@gmail.com wrote:
i'm sure someone else will post today with more info than this, but since it hasn't been mentioned yet, here it is.
the league of american bicyclists has some kind of ride insurance that covers our activities in and outside of the shop. if we are doing a community ride, and someone falls down or gets hit, i believe that covers it. also covers things where we're out of the shop and not riding...say we're working on bikes in a neighborhood, and some kid/volunteer picks up a wrench and gets a finger caught in a chainring/chain while wrenching...it's my understanding that you'll need a list of participants before any accidents happen...
again, someone else will have more info(i hope...), but that's my basic understanding...
On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 8:00 AM, Urban Bike Project Wilmington, DE urbanbikeproject@gmail.com wrote:
UBP pays by the year (around 650 I think...) for general liability insurance, no directors or child molestors coverage. This covers activities inside the shop only, bikes that leave are not insured. No paid staff so no workers comp.
We had to get insurance to make good on our rental/license agreement that requires 1,000,000 of coverage. We met a broker who helped "pitch us" to insurance companies. We were turned down by more than a few before we finally got coverage.
more on the wiki: http://www.bikecollectives.org/wiki/index.php?title=Insurance
good luck, Brian
On Fri, May 9, 2008 at 12:41 AM, Jason Tanzman jtanzman@riseup.net wrote:
I'm new to this list but it seems like an awesome community of shared knowledge!
Here is another question that our shop is dealing with - insurance and liability questions. We have recently expanded to a substantially larger space; in the past we operated out of a large garage/warehouse area, with very low rent, one paid staff member (hired as independent contractor), and no insurance. We are growing substantially and we want to make sure we protect all of our customers/volunteers/clients from issues if someone was hurt on one of our bikes or at our shop.
But - it seems really expensive, how do community bike shops pay for it? How much do you pay per month for liability insurance? Do you have volunteer lawyers giving legal advice? Do you pay workman's comp for your staff, or do you hire staff as independent contractors? We want to make sure we do this right and protect our people, but it's expensive and hard. Any information is helpful!!
-Jason _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
-- Urban Bike Project of Wilmington 1908 N. Market Street (entrance is in the parking lot behind the building) Wilmington, DE 19801
Hours: Thursday 6:30-9:00 Saturday 1:00-4:00
Visit us online at http://urbanbikeproject.org _______________________________________________ Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
Thethinktank mailing list Thethinktank@bikecollectives.org http://lists.bikecollectives.org/listinfo.cgi/thethinktank-bikecollectives.o...
Hello all,
I don't post as often as I should, but enjoy reading many of the great ideas coming out on this list. I do have an idea I'd like to share.
We were approached by a big downtown marketing firm to do tune-ups for their employees. This company offers free car parking to some employees and therefore felt they needed to compensate those who ride the transit, so they started drawing a certain number of monthly transit passes. But this left out the cyclists - who are fairly numerous as the company is downtown and hires only extremely hip and good looking people.
So they approached us to do tune-ups. We set up in their conference room and everyday had to refuse people due to the high demand. We charged by tune up. It was, by our standards, very profitable and, by their standards, a very good deal. Win-win.
This company has some clients who we might have moral issues with, but this is a great initiative on their part to encourage cycling on a real one-on-one basis. By dealing with us (an employability program) the company feels that it's giving something back to the community.
On another note about taxes in Canada: Non-for-profits (OBNL) can reclaim half of the GST and PST (in Québec at least) that they have spent. And in Montreal you can get back a portion of your municipal taxes.
Keep those wrenches clinking and those wheels turning.
Richard
participants (5)
-
Jason Tanzman -
R. Dugas/Vélogik/Carrefour jeunesse emploi Saint-Laurent -
Stuart O Anderson -
Urban Bike Project Wilmington, DE -
veganboyjosh＠gmail.com