I'm looking into getting liabilty insurance for my Svengali Pitch setup and found a website that looks promising, click HERE to view.

Unlike the straight "performer's insurance" that's available from the IBM or SAM, this specifically covers vendors and also covers product liability insurance. While I can't imagine how anyone could hurt themselves with a Svengali Deck (other than getting a paper cut!), I can see some little kid chewing and then choking on a Magic Worm, which I also pitch. Never mind, on second thought, I can see Junior leaving a key card from a Svengali Deck on the kitchen floor, where Dad slips on it, falls and breaks his arm and a rib or two. While that would hardly be my fault, it could be very expensive to defend a frivolous lawsuit like that!

Plusses are the relatively modest premium and the free venue endorsements if you need them (seems like more shows are requiring this now). The only downsides I see are the $1,000 per claim deductible, plus the fact that I've never heard of this company or the insurance company issuing the policy. But I'd rather be on the hook for $1,000 than $500,000.

If anyone has any thoughts about or experience in dealing with this company, I'd like to hear from you. And if anyone has other recommendations for similar coverage, I'd also like to know about it. Thanks in advance, SETH

Seth,

I had insurance with this same company.I never had a problem with them but than to,I NEVER had to put in a claim.I'm guessing you won't either.You do need an insurance cert to get in most venues these days so I say go for it.

Hope this helped.
Don

Thanks, Don, for the info, and good to hear from you!

One thing that puzzles me, the website says the insurance covers "bodily injury" and "property damage," but then it says "Medical Payments Excluded." However, if someone does have bodily injury, it seems to me that in addition to whatever other expenses they might have for lost wages, compensation for permanent disability or injuries, a large part of their damages would be doctor bills and hospital bills. If medical bills aren't covered by this insurance, that could be a pretty big exposure. SETH

Don't think like you will ever use it just think of it as an insurence cert so you can get booked in some shows.It all B.S.anyway.

Don

I agree the main thing is the insurance certificate, and this company says they provide them at no extra charge (unlike SAM, IBM and some other outfits).

But when I buy insurance, I like to know that I'm "covered," and that if and when it rains, my feet won't get wet, so to speak. I may email these folks and ask them the same question, at least then I'll know what I'm buying.

I've seen a couple of bad blowdowns that were very close calls and could have really hurt somebody. Like Don says, stake those tents folks, gravity alone isn't worth a darn. In one case, the tent was well staked and it still went flying anyway in a fast thunderstorm. The vendor had to pull his tent out of somebody's car windshield, and it wasn't pretty.

Add to that kids who somehow manage to fall against the legs of the pitch table and hit their head, or people who aren't watching where they're going and trip over my tent stakes and guy lines, and I get nervous! Now I wrap multi-colored plastic pennants around my guy lines to make them more visible (also gives a little more flash, too!), but when people walk between and behind tents, where they aren't supposed to be, they still get caught on them. It may be their fault, but it's still my problem! SETH

I have 2 mil of insurance from Hartford. Costs $360 a year.

Of course, never used it but some shows DO require 1-2 mil or they charge you an additional $60-$100 for the show.

As Don says, it's all BS but I do need it in some shows.

Jon

So, Don, is the insurance from the IBM sufficient? It is very reasonable, so if I have to have insurance, I can just use it, right?

Thanks buddy!

Scott, the question I would have about the IBM insurance is whether it covers "selling" as well as "performing," and whether IBM considers pitching to be "performing."

As pitchmen we are demonstrating the items (performing), but unlike performers, we are also selling them. That was the point that caught my eye with the Specialty Insurance firm I mentioned in my first post, they also had Product Liability coverage.

It is a shame that something as simple as a Svengali Pitch needs to get tangled up with these types of insurance issues, but I guess in this day and age, that's the way it is. SETH