MUFG, "Z"-fencing, Salle Jeanne and list lurkers,

This article ran in CFML,


it was some good news about a classical fencing club moving from a Y
into a private studio and the (lack of) avalability of activity insurance.

Three cheers for you guys and three cheers for USFA!
CLF


Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2004 13:28:39 -0700
From: "Michael Heggen" <michael@...>
Subject: salle insurance through USFA

Hi folks,

Salem Classical Fencing is now settling into its new digs, I am pleased
to report. Yes, we actually have dedicated space of our own now, in a
140-year-old former lumber sales building with 25-foot ceilings.

Anyway, our move to independence from the local YMCA raised a number of
interesting issues, not the least of which was liability insurance
coverage. But, insurance should be fairly easy, right???

Wrong! The lowest (and ONLY) quote I could find was for about $800
annually -- and that did not cover exhibitions and tournaments (~$250
each for those).

In desperation, I looked to the dear ol' USFA. The USFA has seemingly
cornered the American market on fencing liability insurance. I even
talked to the company that writes the coverage for the USFA and they
said no. Hmmm....

Anyway, the USFA offers its member clubs a $2 million liability policy
for less than $300 annually. Score!

The big question for us was tournament coverage, as our tournaments use
different rules, etc. It took some questioning of a couple of different
folks, but I just received the answer from the USFA's membership
director, Dana Brown.

She tells me (in writing) that our classical tournaments ARE covered,
even though they are NOT sanctioned by the USFA. Sanctioning is required
to earn USFA classifications -- which we don't care about -- but it is
not a requirement for insurance coverage.

As a side note, classical tournaments cannot be USFA sanctioned because
they do not use electrical scoring apparatus. Also, because there is no
need for our tournaments to be sanctioned, there is no requirement for
our fencers to be USFA members (which appears to be a requirement for
sanctioning).

We are still awaiting clarification as to exactly what equipment is
required for insurance coverage (namely, the question centers in whether
underarm protectors (UAPs) and knickers are required.

So, for those of you with classical fencing studios who are NOT involved
in historical fencing (which does not appear to be a covered activity),
the US Fencing Association is an excellent value for insurance. Even
though your salle may have a drastically different philosophy from that
of the USFA, it is worth joining the USFA just for the insurance coverage.

If someone out there has found a better way to obtain insurance for
classical studios that do not practice historical fencing, I would be
happy to hear your story.....

-Michael Heggen, president
Salem Classical Fencing
Salem, Oregon
michael@...
http://salem.classicalfencing.us