I concur with Mr. Honigman. However, community garden organizations, not individual gardens,would be wise to have d and o insurance to protect the board of directors from financial harm. I have several board members who would not serve without it, having experienced the costs of runnin bare. Only if there is a fudiciary responsibility is it necessary. FYI, since 9-11, d and o insurance has more than doubled. Gateway Greening's runs $3,700 annually up from $1,700; altho we are checking out some via the United Way We do carry liability for the one garden we own, via the Missouri Botanical Garden. It is a local carrier. If you have no permanent structures, you might get away with a "flat land" rate, considerably less than if you have something that can fall down on someone or that someone can fall off of.... Best wishes from St. Louis, Gwenne Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 1:06 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [cg] insurance
In no way or form should this message be considered legal advice, which can only be given by a licensed practitioner in your area. However... Director's & Officer's Insurance? Holy moly! As a former corporate paralegal who was engaged in D & O Litigation on both sides of the fence, I think that it would be overkill for a not-for-profit community garden to engage in. Generally D & O Insurance is for stockholder run companies that are in the position to be sued for financial misdoings, toxic waste dumping and the kinds of things that the folks who run Haliburton or a "Malefactor of Great Wealth" should go to the slammer for. Unless you have an atty who insists on it, which I doubt, garden insurance protecting the usual mishaps that can happen in a not-for-profit garden should be sufficent. And a garden form signed by all gardeners and keyholders, with a "hold harmless, at your own risk" phrase should cover you. Litigious clients and their attorneys are like sharks - they can only feed where there is food, so if there is a basic garden insurance policy that should suffice - to give them a tasty D & O policy to feed on is being far too nice. Best wishes, Adam Honigman Volunteer, Clinton Community Garden <http://www.clintoncommunitygarden.org/> Subj: RE: [cg] insurance Date: 5/20/04 1:11:57 PM Eastern Daylight Time From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent from the Internet At the Hayward Community Gardens in Hayward California, we have general commercial liability insurance from Financial Indemnity Co., through a local agent. We pay $1,075/year, including the landowner (the local gas and electric company) and a funder (City of Hayward) named as additional insured. The garden is about 7 acres. How about Directors &Officers coverage? Do any of the gardens have D &O insurance? We are debating whether it's necessary. Stacie Chun Hayward Community Gardens
