Insurance in the USA for biohackerspaces

[Steven Stowell]

Far more boring tedious email than average, . . . sorry.

As many of you know, we have opened BUGSS, a biohackerspace in Baltimore, USA, and we would like to explore ways for us to get better insurance.

I know its a touchy subject, but it would be great if someone has some suggestions on getting biohackerspaces safely insured for a low rate.  I have been involved with conventional hackerspaces, with their welders, laser cutters, and table saws in firetrap buildings, and the insurance seems routine and reasonably priced,  but the biology stuff seems to be a difficulty for insurance companies.

Additionally, there are risks associated with having classes, or child-friendly activities.

Is there an agent somewhere that seems to truly understand risk assessment in this area?
 
Is there some particular way to present your organization that is effective at getting insurance?

My guess is that biotechnology probably has a lower risk, in reality, than do many other industries.

Steve Stowell

[Dakota Hamill]

Could insurance be avoided by having people sign a waiver?

[Nathan McCorkle]

On Mar 1, 2013 2:24 PM, "Dakota Hamill" <dko...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Could insurance be avoided by having people sign a waiver?
>

Probably, but then you are out of luck if an accident happens. Out of luck can mean $1000 to $10,000,000 that the proprietor might be held responsible for.

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[Avery louie]

can waivers not cover accidents?  I understand it might not be strong protection, but is it anything good?

--A

[Myles O'Neill]

Waivers do pretty much nothing other than deterring people from suing. They tend to hold very little legal importance.

[Nathan McCorkle]

On Fri, Mar 1, 2013 at 6:45 PM, Avery louie <inact...@gmail.com> wrote:
> can waivers not cover accidents? I understand it might not be strong
> protection, but is it anything good?

If you have everyone sign waivers, it protects you against them
getting hurt, probably. It does nothing if they start a fire and the
building burns down... that's my thinking.

-Nathan

[Nathan McCorkle]

On Sat, Mar 2, 2013 at 12:12 AM, Nathan McCorkle <nmz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 1, 2013 at 6:45 PM, Avery louie <inact...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> can waivers not cover accidents? I understand it might not be strong
>> protection, but is it anything good?
>
> If you have everyone sign waivers, it protects you against them
> getting hurt, probably. It does nothing if they start a fire and the
> building burns down... that's my thinking.

Or if they break your $XXXX.YYY costing piece(s) of equipment.

--
-Nathan

[Bryan Bishop]

On Fri, Mar 1, 2013 at 5:23 PM, Nathan McCorkle <nmz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Probably, but then you are out of luck if an accident happens. Out of luck
> can mean $1000 to $10,000,000 that the proprietor might be held responsible
> for.

Wasn't there some hackerspace insurance pool somewhere? I can't
remember the name of this project. Maybe it was a group plan.. thing?

- Bryan
http://heybryan.org/
1 512 203 0507

[Jason Bobe]

On Friday, March 1, 2013 2:42:04 PM UTC-5, balduino wrote:

I know its a touchy subject, but it would be great if someone has some suggestions on getting biohackerspaces safely insured for a low rate. 

I recommend the folks at William Gallagher Associates.  

http://www.wgains.com/

Unlike auto and health insurance, where websites exist that allow you to plug-in your info and compare policies easily and maybe even buy online w/ a credit card, some of these insurance markets still require broker mediation. These insurance markets can get real opaque real fast in my experience, with complicated exclusions and very specific and important terminology you may never have encountered elsewhere (e.g. "extended reporting").  Working with a good, experienced broker has been really important to me.  A broker can help you figure out what you need.  A general liability insurance policy is probably the minimum.  These are common and often low-cost.

Jason

[Nathan McCorkle]

Hmm, is this a question for the bioSafety experts?

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[Steven Stowell]

Hopefully the diy bioSafety experts have professional affiliations that insurance companies recognize. It may be an amazing service if the DIY bio community could provide guidance or statistics to insurance companies, to further the financially-safe expansion of the bio-hackerspace concept

Jason, I'll look into William Gallagher Associates.  If you could turn me on to a specific agent, it would be great, but I realize these guys are probably regionally based.

Thank you for your help.

[BioGuy]

My understanding of waivers is that they generally do not offer any legal protection for torte liabilities.