pchp

A few friends and I are heading up our guild's spring retreat and the question of insurance has come up. Our guild has not had insurance in the past; some members who have lived in other areas of the country have been in guilds which have had insurance; and others have questioned the need. I'd appreciate input from you as to 1) whether or not your guild has insurance and 2) any anecdotes around your guild's decision to have it.

Thank you!

QuiltnNan

the venue where we hold our monthly meetings requires us to carry insurance.

quilt1950

This is true for us also

QuiltE

Best to speak with a few reliable and qualified insurance advisers and hear their recommendations!

quiltingshorttimer

we carry insurance that covers any liabilities in our meeting space, at our shows and retreats. All 3 require us to do so. Check with your local insurance brokers to see about this type of insurance, not exceptionally expensive.

jmoore

Many of our Maine guilds/chapters are covered for insurance through Pine Tree Quilters which is the large umbrella over all of the smaller groups.

Onebyone

I do know a guild that was named in a lawsuit by a new member when she got a nasty cut from a rotary cutter at the guild class learning to quilt. She said she wasn't offered or informed about a safety cutting device. The building where the guild met had insurance and they handled it but could have been awful if the building turned around and sued the guild or many other different situations from it. I have brought up insurance to my guild a lot but many members balk at spending the money. That is one reason I won't take an elected office in the guild because of no insurance. Never know what a person will do when a chance of $ gets dangled in front of them. Just my thoughts.

AprilM

From what you have said, I believe that what you want to look into would be some type of Commercial Liability policy. Your insurance agent should be able to direct you to that resource if he/she does not currently have an accessible market for that type of coverage. It shouldn’t be expensive as someone here has already said. From what i know about it, the coverage premium is tiered to the risk - so a group of quilters most certainly does not constitute the same risk as say, a demolition/explosives expert 😘 LOL!

Our guild hasn’t yet been asked to comply with this requirement, but i’m sure it’s on the horizon. We meet once a month in a small community center and book our lease a year in advance. Our lease renews in December and we are already in discussion with guild membership regarding a probably overdue increase in membership dues to cover an anticipated increase in our yearly lease at the facility. Our current membership in about 30 to 40 quilters and we are always pursuing new members, however we are in a very rural community. It is doubtful that anyone will be contentious regarding a proposed increase in dues, but with a majority of our membership on a retirement income that increase will affect some more than others. At some point we may need to look into moving our monthly meeting elsewhere.

It’s an inescapable reality that expenses go up. Our guild used to put on a quilt show every year, due to expense we moved to every other year. A few years ago we decided to suspend quilt show planning for the foreseeable future. Between all of the customary/regular expenses necessary to put on a show and the additional state/county/local compliance issues we just couldnt justify it as a guild for now. We are hopeful that we can resume quilt shows again sometime in the future.

Once upon a time between charging a nominal admission at the door and ticket sales for a raffle quilt we could at least break even on a quilt show. We are a frugal bunch and we were thrilled with that! On the subject of a raffle quilt to help defray the costs of a quilt show... Did you know that depending on where you live - if you hold a raffle - then you need a separate license? Yep - so no more raffle quilt.

It’s kinda sad, but with membership in some guilds declining and expenses and other requirements increasing it can be difficult to keep functioning in the same form we are accustomed to. But, maybe the situation will cause us to make alternate arrangements we may not have previously considered. Who knows, maybe some small guilds will evolve to less of a “meeting” model and more of a “doing” model than previously has been the case? I for one would not be likely to object to a less formal meeting format, but thats just me. Some guilds may merge. But in any case we still need to consider certain basic costs of a place to meet and expenses like insurance, etc.

PAMAR

You can purchase "event insurance" to cover your retreat. Check with your insurance agent.

A participant at one of our retreats tripped over a sewing machine cord and broke her leg. Luckily, she did not sue the Guild. Thus, our decision to purchase event insurance.