Just something that came to mind....
You have your props ready
You have your routines prepared

but

Do you have any disclaimers or anything legal to cover you incase something is to go wrong? like if while doing a trick you accidently hurt a child or break something?
with the ways people are taking others to court these days you really gotta be prepared for anything I guess

If you have any assets and perform more than occasionally, you should get a liability policy. Mine costs about $700 a year, but gives me peace of mind. Unfortunately, you might have to search out a couple of agents to find you a policy. It is not very common.

Well yes if you are performing and making good money especially if you are doing this as a profession you really should have liability! here is something you may not know, if you join the S.A.M. they have liabilty insurance for their members which is $169.00 a year so you may want to check that out, I would really recommend having it though.......hopefully you will never have to use it!
Greg

Public liability insurance is a must when ever you are perfforming, even if you only do the occassional show you can still have an accident and a kid or adult may get hurt. IE:- Little Bob running round the room just as you come through the door runs straight into the magic box your carrying. You can bet you life that his parents will blame you for his injuries.

A lot of venues won't even let you work unless you have got it. You should also ensure that all your electrical stuff is regularly tested etc.

In the UK you can join Equity, There is a minimum fee of I think £75 (maybe a tad more) unless you earn more than £10,000 from your magic a year, then it costs more. For your money you not only get £5,000,000 worth of public liability insurance but also free legal cover as well. Which is great as I've got my moneys worth from the 2-3 cases they've dealt with for me where I've had to get the to help chase up my fee from clients that cancelled at short notice.

L7 -

Liability insurance is a good thing. But more important is that you choose to conduct yourself in a professional and safe manner.

I hope that you don't intentionally do anything in your show that might be dangerous to any children or your environment. What sort of tricks are you doing, that might "accidently hurt a child" or "accidently break something?"

Don't take risks. There is no need to do so. You show can be entertaining without doing so.

- Donald.

G'day L7

Public liability is worth having and as mentioned plenty of venues rerquire proof before they will book you.

Depending on what you do the policy will be more expensive. If your performance includes, animals, fire, and baloons it will cost you the premium price.

In Australia a place woth checking is: http://www.duckforcover.com.au

Bob Latta (Troppo Bob)

I agree strongly with the sentiment that you should do everything possable to make sure nothing goes wrong.
BUT... we all know that "stuff" happens.

I do around 25 shows a year. In my other life I am a financial advisor. Getting Liability covrage is a real must if you are holding yourself out as a Pro. In the US you may be able to get an "umbrella" policy tacked onto your homeowners ins. I don't know about the UK, Aus, etc.

The SAM insurance is a tremendous buy and I think inexpensive enough for almost anyone. After all, you probably spend more than $170 p/y on Props.

Yes no matter how safe you think your show is something can always happen, a fellow magician was telling me about another magician that was performing at a fair and they put him on a stage twice as small as he had told them he needed and a young girl volunteer fell off the stage and broke her arm! not good!
but other things to like what if your at a b-day( we all know that at b-days we have tons and tons of space to work in LOL) and say you bump a lamp or something and it falls someone gets hurt!
I would def. say better safe then sorry! also on another thread someone asked if they should have the parents sign something that they would not hold the magician responsible if something happened.....I would not even think of doing that, if I was hiring someonme to entertain and they asked me that I would automaticaly think that something happened in the past or that there may be danger involved in this and I would not hire that performer!

I had (emphasize had) the SAM insurance. The only caveat with the SAM insurance is that it is a group policy in the true sense of the term group!. There is a total of $1 million dollars coverage per year which is distributed amongst all of the participants. In other words, if you are unlucky enough to get sued in the same year as someone else, it is possible that there might not be any money to cover your suit. That's why I went to my own policy. Of course, I am not sure if there has ever been a suit filed that took advantage of the SAM policy.
For an occasional performer, the SAM policy is a great deal.

Not been in the Café for a very long time, so hi, hope you are all ok.

Disclaimers may be ok on say a website forum on car repairs, but not for children's parties. It would be a bit like a restaurant saying "we accept no responsibility should you catch salmonella and die". We buy our insurance privately each September. Covers up to 1 million UK pounds. Am too old and awkward to become an Equity member now!

Talk to yaaawl again at Christmas!!

Just call your homeowners insurance rep.

What is the difference between the SAM insurance & the IBM insurance?

I always carry with me my SAM Liability Insurance. This covers me for most problems should they happen.

I also use a contract and signed conformation letter that helps alleviate any possible problems before they become one.

More importantly, I am aware that I think safety first. this means I really work my entire show to be as safe as it can be for kids.

Kyle

Charliemagic -

The differences between the two policies has been covered on other threads. Try looking in the Tricky Business section.

- Donald.

Thank you for all the above advice and I understand the reason for the above insurance coverage. I am starting to do kids shows in August and after reading this I am wondering if there is anyone here in the Café that has actually had to use their policies? I will do a search and I know I should have before posting but was curious so while the thread was hot wanted to get the question in.
Thanks Wade

I've never heard of anyone being sued. Of course, better safe then sorry and if someone is performing hundreds of shows a year, the risks increase.

If you perform in a home, I would think the owners have homeowners insurance unless its a rental.

PS: IBM seems to offer little in their membership package but the insurance is only $111 a year.

Hi Candini, Their home insurance would not help you if a kid gets hurt during your show. If the kids hurt themselves falling over a badly laid patio slab, or lose stair then they would be responsible, but if it's something of yours it's your responsibility and you get sued not them.

One venue I use got sued by a mum because her toddler wandered up and touched a disco light that was hot. It didn't matter that he'd wandered into an area he wasn't allowed in, or that she was too busy drinking to watch what he was up too.

I have a friend who has been sued, and his insurance company dealt with it, because he had insurance. This is not one of those "friend of a friend" stories, but was my friend. He is one of the most professional performers I know, too.

- Donald.

Thanks for the replies, I can definitely see the advantages of having a policy and thank everyone who has talked about it here because I really think it isn't something that everyone thinks of.

I'm amazed to hear that about the SAM policy. It doesn't sound like that when you inquire. That is too much umbrella for me. These policies are supposed to be limits per incident, not limits for all parties for the whole year. That wouldn't fly well if you were doing a venue where they required cover and you got sued and it wound up being left up to the venue. Under those circumstances (deep pockets and all) they would get stuck and you would never get work there again.

Martin