Power Kite Forum - Insurance in the US

Insurance in the US

GulfSandEater - 27-8-2007 at 02:15 PM

I've seen insurance mentioned a number of times on the forums. I'm wondering if this is referring to your typical health insurance policy; or are people referring to some special recreational or "extreme" sports coverage? If the latter, any recommendations for a source of this coverage in the US?

Thanks!

BeamerBob - 27-8-2007 at 02:48 PM

It would seem it is general liability insurance associated with your homeowners policy.

Bladerunner - 27-8-2007 at 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BeamerBob
It would seem it is general liability insurance associated with your homeowners policy.

That's what I'm counting on but hope I never have to prove it !
IKO offers insurance to folks who have their IKO cert..

Ive not had any luck

dylanj423 - 5-2-2008 at 12:34 AM

I have spoken with several sports liability insurance reps, and nobody insures kiters here in the US (that I know of), as a matter of fact, I was told by my Allstate rep that if you admit to flying these kites, that it exempts you from being covered by health insurance.

I wonder how I would go about becoming a British Citizen??:?:

barnes - 21-2-2008 at 06:37 PM

:wow:

That seems extreme. You kite? NO INSURANCE FOR YOU!

acampbell - 21-2-2008 at 07:35 PM

Yeah that is suspicious- I can see that Allstate would say that their umbrella liability policy for homeowners would not cover damages to third parties from extreme sports, but that has nothing to do with health insurance.

After all, health insurance companies insure smokers, who work hard every day to injur themselves (no flames, I'm an ex-smoker).

As a dealer, I have commercial product liability insurance that also covers me for demos if I personally bonk someone with a kite or buggy and hurt someone. But if I hand my kite or buggy to someone else pre-purchase, all bets are off and I have to manage that risk using good judgement for the conditions.

sodfarmkiter - 31-3-2008 at 11:14 PM

It's sad that we live in a sew happy world, everyone looking to get rich the lazy way! I definitely thought there was a few kite clubs that offered insurance,I didn't know you had to jump through hoops to get it. I'll go back on the hunt to see what I can find. SFK

Looking_Up - 27-3-2009 at 03:01 PM

:lol:

I got about half way down the page and couldn't go on i was laughing so hard i can just imagine the guy on the comercial for allstate saying Oh you fly kites , sorry but no insurance for u :lol:

I fly remote controled weapons with sharp spinning parts that go well over 100 mph but as long as your a member of AMA ( american modlers asociation) and have your member info on the weapon (airplan or Helicopter or rocket ) your covered against colateral damages Provided you were at a sanctioned feild or location

so if aka starts a list of approved locations couldn't they offer the same liability insurance provided you werent making an a$$ of your self:dunno:

indigo_wolf - 27-3-2009 at 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Looking_Up
so if aka starts a list of approved locations couldn't they offer the same liability insurance provided you werent making an a$$ of your self

The AKA can only work locally through it's affiliate clubs.

At one time the AKA did offer individual insurance for kiters. This meant that all AKA members were at least partially pay for coverage for powerkiters, even if they didn't engage in the activity.

For various reasons, it was dropped. Around that time, power kiters (especially in the South East) left the AKA in droves.

Realize that this insurance was a last resort kind of thing, and all the other insurance policies you had would have been tagged first, before this policy was tapped.

That said, it was attractive from the point of events and land access.

When Richard Ridgeway posted that NAPKRA couldn't obtain insurance, and it would impinge on their operations, it got me to thinking (this sometimes leads to spontaneous combustion)...

Individual insurance would be a nice thing, but insurance for events and possibly for clubs holding regular get togethers was more on my mind. In AKA-speak, this would be "sanctioning" by the AKA.

So, here's what came back from the the AKA's insurance broker:
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Regarding traction kiting, the truth is there is no discernable attitude in the insurance industry. Because it is not a standard sport like soccer or baseball, there are no readily available statistical trends to support positively or negatively. Can AKA provide this with and update perhaps? The weight in opinion lies with the underwriters at K&K who have believed it to be risky and historically haven't wanted to take that risk primarily because of prior incidents.

Added to that, I take the request for consideration of traction kiting seriously by you and your members. I am always happy to go back to the drawing board with the underwriters for you, but need some ammunition to argue the case. The question I would ask of AKA is "What has changed in traction kiting that would make it a compelling argument for the underwriters to consider adding the coverage?"
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So the gauntlet is on the ground now. If anyone, especially event organizers have any insights they would like to offer up, I would love to gather them all up and take it back to the AKA Executive Director and Board of Directors. Growth numbers for power kiting would be great if anyone has any numbers that has some grounding behind it.

ATB,
Sam