MESSAGE BOARD

2002 ORGANISERS CONFERENCE

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INSURANCE INFORMATION

As seen in Markets & Fairs Issue #69 (June/July 2005)

Who Are We: The Jardine Lloyd Thompson group of companies (JLT) is a leading Insurance, Reinsurance Broker and Risk Management adviser. JLT is quoted on the London Stock Exchange and is the largest UK and European headquarted company providing these services and is one of the largest firms of its type in the world.

Jardine Lloyd Thompson Australia decided to set up an online Insurance facility in response to the need for affordable Public Liability and Products Liability Insurance for individual Market Stallholders. In addition we wanted to make it available only via the Internet so the whole process of insurance buying was made simpler with greater accessibility and the Internet provides this channel. The primary purpose of this Insurance Facility is to provide affordable and effective Public and Products Liability Insurance cover specifically designed for individual Market Stallholders that have the following characteristics:
l Sell products on a casual basis at a market, show or trade fair.
l Has a turnover of no more than $75,000 per annum
Jardine Lloyd Thompson Australia is committed to providing Stallholders Insurance using only APRA Approved Insurance companies.

The Insurance Company:
ACE Insurance Ltd. (ABN 23 001 642 020), (AFSL 239687)
Website: http://www.aceinsurance.com.au

Types of Cover Available:
* $10 Million Public Liability Only

* $10 Million Public and Products Liability

* $20 Million Public Liability Only

* $20 Million Public and Products Liability

Minimum Premium: From $185 GST and Stamp Duty Inclusive
Request A Quote: Please visit www.jlta.com.au/stallholders
Here you can receive online, an obligation free quote that can be converted into cover hassle free.

 

Risky Business or not ? - by Cathy Lee

As seen in Markets & Fairs Issue #58 (Aug/Sept 2003)

As a regular buyer (and fan), of Markets and Fairs magazine, I have become increasingly aware of how the issue of Public Liability has come to affect not only those who are involved in the high end of corporate and community events but the local grass roots community event.

Reading through the recent articles on the subject of Public Liability, the thought crossed my mind that whether you co-ordinate a market, fair, festival or fete, you are working within the arena of events management therefore you are, in every sense of the word, an event manager. With that title comes a great wealth of knowledge and responsibility.

Over the years, the events scene has grown into one of the fastest growing recognized employment industries. More and more advertised positions within events companies, corporations and charities call for tertiary qualified applicants only. It has become recognized that events don't just "happen". They are conceived, planned, project managed and evaluated. Strategies and processes are put in place to ensure a safe enjoyable event for both worker and attendee. Risk is constantly assessed and managed.

The point of this article is not however events management qualifications or how to plan an event, but the issue of Public Liability.

In my experience, Public Liability issues spring from either bad event management or failure to identify and manage a risk. It is important that the market coordinator and his/her team not only understand what the risks associated with their market are, but how something might occur, the likelihood of it occurring, the level of risk and the effects and consequences should that risk occur. How many market coordinators walk around their site before the public enter, note the risks, eliminate them or at best diminish them, record the risk and their actions and keep this on file should a need arise in the future to prove in a court of law, that you as the market coordinator (business owner), took every care and precaution to ensure your site was as safe as possible. It is important to mention here that 'signs" and "barriers" may not necessarily mean that you have managed the risk or that you are now released from any responsibility.

While this seems extreme, it is the norm for those involved in professional outdoor event management. Ask any Event Coordinator employed by a local council.

Whether it is the strategic or operational side of event planning, Risk Management should be a high priority. It begins in the strategic stage and is continued through the operational stage of your event. Risk Management is more than ensuring your tables are stable, whether your food is properly refrigerated so as not to spoil or whether your electrical cables are well hidden.

Why is Risk Management important?
There are three good reasons (1) the increasing threat of litigation (2) increased costs of Public Liability and (3) the risk of attendee harm, which manifests itself in a variety of ways, and finally, for safety and security.

There are seven main risks that need to be taken into account:

* Risk to human life

* Risk to environment

* Organisational risk

* Operational risk

* Reputation risk - leading to crisis management

* Post event risk

* Third Party risk.

As a long time visitor and devotee of markets and fairs and as a professional event organizer, I am often amazed and concerned about layout and site plans of these events.

Let me offer this scenario…. A visitor to your event has a heart attack, no one on site has first aid experience, an ambulance is called, the ambulance needs to pull in close to the patient, there is confusion as the access way between the stalls is not wide enough to accommodate an ambulance, a gurney is required, valuable time is lost and the patient passes away. Now you may think this scenario is a little far fetched. I can tell you, this is a true case.

Several issues arose out of this case.

(1) There was no site layout other than a hand drawn piece of paper.

(2) The access way though and around the stalls was not wide enough for an emergency vehicle

(3) There was no crowd management plan to move people around the market site safely.
Traffic flowing in one direction is far better than two way traffic.

(4) There was no accident plan.

(5) There were no first aid people at a market that attracted several thousand people.

(6) There was no traffic management plan enforced which meant that stallholder vehicles were
parked in unsafe areas.

(7) No person was designated as the point for crisis management control.

It was pointed out that the market coordinators had failed in their duty of care to the public in ensuring every aspect of best practice event management had been employed.

As the events industry grows the expectation increases that people engaged in events will have an inherent knowledge of all aspects of Risk Management and most definitely have the operational skills required conducting an outdoor event with safety, attendee comfort and professionalism.

The best way to overcome the problems associated with Risk Management and Public Liability is easy…education, application and enforcement.

MARKET INSURANCE -

A GUIDE FOR THE ORGANISER

As seen in Markets & Fairs Issue #57 (June/July 2003)

As a Market organiser there is certainly one matter that you need to leave to the experts - Insurance. With over ten years experience Insuring Markets we provide the following checklist and suggestions for Market organisers.

A. DO NOT SIGN INDEMNITIES TO OTHER PARTIES - ESPECIALLY THE OWNER OF THE PROPERTY THAT YOU OPERATE FROM - This may prejudice your rights at the time of a claim. If a person breaks their ankle in a pothole that has been left unrepaired by the property owner - your Insurer may not respond to this claim as you may not be seen to be negligent. If you have signed an indemnity to the Council or Property owner then the claim may remain uninsured and as such become your personal responsibility.

B. INCORPORATE YOUR COMMITTEE - This will help reduce your personal liability in the event of an action against the committee.

C. DO NOT HOLD YOURSELF OUT AS AN INSURANCE AGENT OR EXPERT - That is the Insurance Broker's job. Do not collect Insurance costs as a separate item. Simply include these within your usual overheads.

D. INSURE WITH AN APRA AUTHORISED INSURER AND MAKE SURE YOUR STALLHOLDERS DO THE SAME - Details of APRA authorised Insurers are available on their website: www.apra.gov.au

E. IF POSSIBLE INSURE YOURSELF AND THE STALLHOLDERS UNDER ONE POLICY - This will eliminate any doubts as to which policy to claim under. Additionally you will not have to concern yourself as to whether your Stallholder's policy will stand up under scrutiny.

F. BE PROACTIVE - REPORT ANY POSSIBLE CLAIM OR INCIDENT IMMEDIATELY - Get your Insurance Broker or Claims Manager involved immediately. If you take no action following an incident you can expect a writ in the mail. Naturally tendering all possible assistance to an injured party on the day will reduce the likelihood of you being sued later.

G. TAKE A WALK THROUGH YOUR MARKET AS IF YOU WERE AN INDEPENDENT SAFETY OFFICER - Look for uneven or slippery surfaces, protruding objects, sharp edges, stallholder's boxes etc.

For further information or advice feel free to contact: FREEMAN MCMURRICK PTY LTD ONE OF AUSTRALIA'S TOP TEN INSURANCE BROKERS Phone: (03) 9867 5677 Fax: (03) 9867 6326 Email: scant@freeman-mcmurrick.com.au

THE INSURANCE DEBATE

As seen in Markets & Fairs Issue #56 (April/May 2003)

MARKET ORGANISORS AND THE NEW INSURANCE REGULATIONS Market organizers need to be sure they don’t act as Insurance Agents or Brokers by collecting Insurance Premiums as part of their stall rental rates. The new Financial Services Regulations (FSR) were introduced as result of the collapse of HIH and Others. These new regulations have far reaching effects and have been designed to stamp out non-professional financial practices. A market organizer could be deemed to be an Insurance Agent or Broker if offering insurance cover to their stall holders as part of the stall rental. The two essential elements are; Representing a particular insurance product; Collecting a premium on behalf of an Insurer; If you do either of these the regulations will deem you to be trading as an insurance agent or broker. This means, you have to be qualified under the regulations to do so, and have in place your own professional indemnity insurance. Quite frankly it is a mine-field not to mention expensive. You have to think of what could go wrong -for instance, what happens if you collect premium from a stall holder and a claim is later made. Imagine if there was a clause in the policy wording that excluded something that resulted in the claim being denied by the insurer – guess what? - the claim would fall back to you personally because the successful argument would be that you as an agent collecting the premium failed to disclose the exclusion to the stall holder who relied on your representation of cover. As a result of these new regulations things have toughened up a bit for insurers who now have to deal with market stall holders on an individual basis. There is some competition between the insurers which has reduced premiums a bit however, the really good news for market organizers is that it’s easier now because all you have to do is ask the stall holder for their Insurance Certificate of Currency. Just make sure it is valid and that the period of insurance has not expired. With this simple test, you are relieved of liability and assured that nothing will fall back on to you. If we can be of any further assistance to market organizers please don’t’ hesitate to contact us: Rural &General Insurance Broking Pty Ltd Marketsure Email: office@ruralandgeneral.com.au Phone: 1 800 227 473 Fax: 1 800 802 956

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SOME COMMONLY ASKED QUESTIONS IN REGARDS TO ‘OFFSHORE’ UNDERWRITING

Why use the word "unauthorised"? The word "unauthorised" can be a bit misleading because foreign insurers are required to be authorised in their home jurisdictions. Unless authorised as an Australian insurance company no matter how big it might be, the company is considered a foreign unauthorised insurer. Indeed, many of the biggest insurance companies in the world would be considered foreign unauthorised insurers under Australian law. Why not be registered in Australia? It would be uneconomical to be registered in every country the insurer does business in. In some ways it would be like a shopkeeper being registered in every suburb their customers live in. Are my claims handled from Australia? Yes in most cases, claims are usually always handled in Australia. So, there are no problems insuring with a foreign unauthorised insurance Co? Not at all, foreign unauthorised insurers play a very important role for Australians, and besides your insurance will be placed by an authorised Australian Insurance Broker with Australian Government approved professional indemnity insurance, which is there to protect you. Secondly, a foreign insurance company is at all times required to meet the minimum capital and solvency requirements under its home Insurance Act. More information is available from the website: www.ruralandgeneral.com.au Or;- Contact: Rural &General Insurance Broking Pty Ltd Email: office@ruralandgeneral.com.au Phone: 1 800 227-473 Fax’: 1 800 802-956