Frequently Asked Questions - Insurance Policy

I have received numerous calls from members asking me if it is too late to join the insurance program after the annual renewal, January 1st.

The answer is no; you can join at any time during the policy period.

However, I must make it clear that your coverage ONLY STARTS FROM THE POST DATE OF THE ENVELOPE RECEIVED BY THE TREASURER WITH YOUR CHECK. If you hand him the check personally, he will make a note of the date for his records. Put another way, the insurer will not entertain a claim for accident or injury that occurs before you have joined the program.

 

 

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Tour Guide Liability Policy Clarification

I recently had an enquiry from one of our members regarding the apparent
contradiction that appears on the reverse side of the individual cover note
of our members' Liability policy; those of you who have signed up for the
insurance should have received your cover note in the past days. You will
note that the final line says "Professional Liability is excluded". I have
discussed this with our Broker and this is his summary of the situation;

"The policies that we have written, both covering individual members and
also the one covering the Association cover bodily injury and property
damage. Typically a trip and fall event during a tour. Obviously this is a
business situation since the Guide is providing a service in return for a
fee.

Professional Liability insurance is a separate type of liability insurance.
It covers errors in judgment while performing a service. For example, a
tour operator books travel or hotel on the wrong day, wrong city etc and
there are financial damages. For a Tour Guide it is difficult to provide an
example of a professional claim due to the limited activity of guiding a
group that is already in town. In theory, a Guide could provide
misinformation relating to a tour site and that could be interpreted as a
professional error but this with very minor negative consequences."

Please feel free to email me if you have any further questions.

 

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Tour Guide Liability Policy

In late 1999, the Association recognized the possible exposure of the members to claims for negligence brought against them when acting in their capacity of Tour Guides. As such, we contacted a broker in Washington, DC, who was able to purchase a Liability policy on our behalf - the policy that is force at this time is written by one of The Hartford group's companies, a Triple A rated insurer.

What does this policy cover you for? 

The following scenarios will help you understand:

 

Scenario No. 1

You are leading a walking tour of the French Quarter. When leading the group across a street, a passing vehicle runs down and injures one of your guests.

 Scenario No. 2

You are guiding a group on a city bus tour, hired by a local DMC, in a bus belonging to one of the local operators. The bus is involved in an accident and  several passengers are seriously injured.

  

Louisiana has the reputation for being amongst the most litigious states so it is almost inevitable that you will be brought into a negligence suit since lawyers always name every possible party in these cases. 

Are you covered for any liability judgment against you and/or defense costs?
Let us consider various possibilities:

The DMC. that hired you;

     a)  If you are engaged  by a D.M.C. as a “contract worker” (which is probably the case if no deductions are made in your pay check) it is likely that you will not be included in that company’s employee roll and will not, therefore be protected by that D.M.C.’s liability policy.

 b) If you do have deductions made to your pay check, it is possible that you are being considered as an employee and may be protected by their liability policy.

To be safe, we advise you to check with the firms that hire you to see where you stand with regard to protection by their policy in both the above cases.

 

Your Homeowners/personal auto/umbrella policies

 Many members are under the mistaken belief that their Tour Guiding activities are included in their personal insurance policies. The fact is that you are almost certainly not protected by any of the above policies. Generally speaking all professional/commercial activities are specifically excluded from such policies - if in doubt, check your policies (Exclusions) or call your agent.

 

So, what conclusions can you draw from this?

a) If you are sued and have a judgment against you and are not protected, all your assets are at risk. 

      b) And if the suit is dismissed, who pays your defense costs if you are not protected?

You do.

In order for our members to be protected, we have negotiated the following coverage:

3.  The annual premium is currently $80 payable in advance. There is no return premium for mid-term deletions of covered persons during the year. Since the annual premium for an individual policy will be in the region of about $250, this represents a substantial savings when purchasing this coverage on a group basis.

4.     In the unlikely event that the $2 million aggregate limit is reached during the year, the policy coverage would be exhausted. All covered persons would need to pay a renewal premium prior to the annual anniversary date in order to continue coverage.

 The policy

The insurer issues an annual, collective policy that is held by the Association. Individual members receive a cover note as proof of insurance which outlines the basis of cover. However, this cover note is NOT the policy and all claims  will be subject to the terms and conditions of the policy itself. If anyone is interested in reading  the policy, they should contact a Board Member and this request will be dealt with.

 Questions about coverage

All questions regarding the policy coverage and conditions must be addressed to the Association in writing via email, fax or letter. The Broker will be consulted and a written reply sent to the inquiring member.

 Claims

In the event of an accident involving one of your tour guests, it is essential that immediate notice of claim, or potential claim, be made known to the Association so that the insurer be notified. If a guest is hurt or injured during your tour, you should act in a professional manner, take the name and address of the injured person and send this to the Board with a brief description of the accident, day, date, location and what action you took. Under no circumstances should you accept liability or apologize for the accident. This may prejudice your case and could cause the insurer to decline coverage.

 Disclaimer

The above comments are not to be considered as an interpretation of the policy and are made merely as a guide to what the Liability policy covers. Any claims and/or disputes will be judged by the insurance company (Hartford Insurance Group) based on the terms and conditions of its policy. The Board of the Association therefore accepts no responsibility for any misinterpretation of the foregoing comments as in all cases, it is the insurer that interprets the conditions of its policy.

 

The Board will deduce that anyone failing to purchase this insurance is not interested in this program and the Board will not assume any responsibility for any legal action brought against a member who, by choice or default, is not on the insured list.

Who do you contact?

Insurance Form