NOHVA Insurance Facts

By Dan Nitzel

There has been some concern about the need for insurance with the new Nebraska Recreational Liability Act passed this year by the Nebraska legislature.  Our insurance bill was $9,700.00 this year and will take about 20% of out total budget.  Last year insurance costs were $8,600.00.  We anticipate the insurance cost to be about $10,500.00 in 2008.  Our insurance protects NOHVA officers and volunteers, and the land owners who allow us to ride on their land.  While insurance is not necessarily ‘required’ by all the land owners we are involved with, the Board of Directors believe that we should try to protect everyone as much as possible in the event of a law suit or claim.  We want to stay in good graces with those that are kind enough to help us by allowing ATV and dirtbike riders on their land. 

With our current insurance, those protected include NOHVA officers, volunteers, and the land owners we work with.  With out insurance, there is a potential that a lawsuit could try to claim the personal assets of NOHVA officers and volunteers.  We’ve had to deal with injury and legal claims in the past, thankfully we had insurance to pay the costs.   Reflecting the sediment of the Board of Directors, those of us presently involved in NOHVA want to keep what we’ve saved for retirement and keep our homes rather than having them taken from us by a law suit involving the projects that we are involved with.

I’ve received a lot of comments from non-members stating that our insurance “story” is a scam.  Most of these people do not identify themselves but often times they enjoy the benefits that NOHVA members pay for.  The fact of the matter is that everyone involved needs to be protected from liability.  Everyone has something to lose in the event of a law suit. 

We welcome input from those who are knowledgeable about liability.  If we can obtain a qualified determination from a qualified person or group of people that we can protect our officers and volunteers from liability with a lesser insurance policy or with no policy, we will do so.  In the mean time we will continue to fund the insurance to protect the land owners, and NOHVA officers and volunteers.  If someone is interested in replacing the existing NOHVA officers and yours truly (me) and running the events with out liability insurance, please let us know!

 

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This page was updated on Sunday, March 01, 2009