[Noisebridge-discuss] Insurance notes

David Molnar dmolnar at eecs.berkeley.edu
Thu Jan 24 22:53:42 UTC 2008


Jonas S Karlsson wrote:
> All good information, but is there any indication of costs?

One of the insurance agents has sent me a questionnaire today. When we 
fill it out and send it back, we will get quotes from them and some 
ranges. This will be linked on the wiki (I've been in class).
> 
> It'd be interesting to see some examples of typical insurance costs,
> for a space this big, with the least "add-ons".

I agree, we need a range and we need line items so we can figure out 
what we want and what we don't want. I will ask the agents for this.

> In any case, before having a space, I don't think insurance is going to
> be needed ;-) so for now, one thing at a time may be enough.

It turns out, from what I understand after talking to several different 
agents, that commercial landlords will want us to have a certificate 
saying that we are covered. So when we find a space we may need to find 
insurance in a short period of time. There is a bit of "chicken and egg" 
because some parts of the insurance quote depend on characteristics of 
the space, but at least one agent, the one from Bonafide Insurance, 
seems willing to work with us on partial information.

A second consideration is that we will have discussions soon on what 
kind of legal entity we want to form for the purpose of taking the lease 
on property. Do we have a "doing business as" with a few named 
individuals on the lease, do we form an LLC, do we do a nonprofit 
corporation, etc. My thought was that our choice there might have 
insurance implications and so we'd better find out. It turns out in fact 
that nonprofits have a different pool of underwriters than for-profit 
entities, although both can obtain insurance. I'm asking agents for 
quotes in the different cases.

That being said, you are right that we need to continue making progress 
on finding a space. I would encourage you, me, and everyone to go add 
more potential places to look at to the wiki here:
https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php/Potential_Locations

I still need to call back the 9th and Mission person and set up a 
viewing, as well. Regrettably I'm out of town tonight until Monday, so 
it'd be awesome if other people could set up viewing of other spaces 
over the weekend; it's "only" calling someone on the phone. (I hate 
phone calls, myself, so I know it's not that simple...)

> Personally, I'd naively think that just having insurance for the property
> would be
> enough. To make sure there is no claims from the landlord to individual
> members if something happens. I'm not sure if other insurances makes any
> sense.
> Legally, members have to be responsible for their own actions.
> 
> But then again, I'm just a naive european and have never gotten sued :-)


I plan to ask for quotes regarding property damage and general 
liability/slip-and-fall, theft to $10K, and also directors and officers 
insurance (in case we decide to form a structure that needs it). We can 
then figure out what we want or do not want. The Bonafide and the 
Sweet&Baker agents both indicated that they offer package 
deals/discounts of this type aimed at new businesses.

Speaking for myself, lawsuits in California scare me. If there is an 
economical way to cover our risk there from slip and fall, directors and 
officers (if applicable), or whatever, I'm in favor of taking it. We'll 
know more once we have quotes, preferably from several insurance providers.

-David Molnar

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