Sorry if I got your hopes up! By "I&I" I mean incorporation and
insurance, and not what you were really thinking.[*]
A couple of times in the past few years the issues of incorporation
and insurance in our local Britcar club. It has reared its ugly head
once again, and so we are looking for any and all info.
First, incorporation. If we do it, we hope to form a not-for-profit
tax-free corporation. Note that this is not the same as a charity.
The last time someone looked into this, the conclusion was that the
paperwork load outweighed the benefits of incorporation. Has anyone
been through this? What type of corporation did you form? How has
the paperwork load been handled? Has it been worth it?
Second, insurance. Absent incorporation and/or insurance, Alabama
law places liability on the officers of the organization. So far
this has not been a detriment to anyone serving as an officer, but
you never know. And as a club officer, I'd hate to be put on the
hook for an accident at a club-sponsored event. We have one quote,
from Parish in Nashville, for ~$1000/yr for $1 million coverage.
$$OUCH$$ Our current club income will not cover that. $300,000
coverage is about $650; even that would be hard to pull off. We are
obtaining quotes from other carriers.
What I am most interested in hearing about is insurance coverage
through a national organization. We are not a marque-specific club,
so at present we are not aligned with any national org such as VTR or
AMGBA. There is a local chapter of the Antique Auto Club of America
(AACA), and we may be able to get coverage through them. If you have
been involved with club insurance, either from the local club side or
the national org side, I'm very interested in hearing your story. If
you have the info on a national club, such as what the requirements
are in order for a local club to become aligned with a national org
and thus eligible for coverage, by all means send them to me!
A club member who is a lawyer pointed out that one possible negative
impact of all this is that by filing incorporation papers we are
publicizing the existence of the club to the dreaded govt bureaucracy,
and by obtaining insurance we may be inviting spurious claims by
litigation-happy lawyers. Any info about experiences you have had in
this regard would also be much appreciated.
[*] For those unaware, I&I is short for intoxication and intercourse.
Often used in place of "R&R."
Thanks in advance,
--
T.J. Higgins | tjhiggin@ingr.com | (205) 730-7922
Intergraph Corp. | Mapping Sciences Division | Huntsville, AL, USA
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