Chase Tour Insurance

[Ed Aldrine II]

Hey everyone, I'm a chaser of 12 years now and am thinking about setting up a way that people can come with us when we chase. Sort of like a tour company like those that are out there. I was wanting to know if there is any insurance out there so that I don't get sued incase there is an injury or loss of life while I chase. Would a legal hold harmless contract be good enough? Ideas? Thanks!!!

 

[Robert Edmonds]

Insurance requirements depend on the vehicle, state, and federal laws (depending on capacity). For example NM requires a minimum of 1 million in passenger auto liability (NMAC 18.3.3.10 C), regardless of vehicle capacity (this type of insurance is not provided by your big names like state farm, progressive, etc.). It costs at least several grand per year. That's of course if you believe you're driving the vehicle for compensation. If not, then your typical commercial policy should be fine... Either way the enforcement mechanisms requiring the passenger auto insurance appear to be few and far between. I recommend talking with a local insurance broker for starters, there are also businesses that specialize helping you comply with transportation regulations.

 

[Steve Miller]

I'm not sure you will have a problem with insuring a commercial vehicle, it will be your corporate liability insurance that will be difficult to obtain and likely very high, depending on how honest you are about what you are actually doing with your passengers.
In a high risk business like this, you will also want to consider a $1-2M personal umbrella policy for yourself. This protects you up to the amount of the policy should there be a personal negligence case brought against you.

I applaud your interest in properly insuring your venture. A lot of folks out there take people along as "tourists" with nothing more than a signed waiver they bought off the internet then customized. They charge the customer a fee in exchange for the experience, then run the operation under a personal auto policy and no additional protection.
It's only a matter of time before that will catch up to them.

 

[Mikey Gribble]

I started to get into doing the whole chase tour thing several years ago and the insurance issue was one of the reasons why I quickly quit doing it. As others have mentioned the specifics are going to vary by state and how exactly you setup your tours and business. I wouldn't mess with it unless you have a lot of money to invest and are really serious about it. Personally the biggest reason I didn't want to continue doing it was because of the time requirements and the stress involved. Forecasting and getting your own group of chase buddies organized and out of town is hard enough during chase season. When you start having to work with customers it gets exponentially worse. I felt a lot more pressure to spend time on forecasting and looking over data in the field. It kind of took the fun out of chasing for me. It also didn't leave me time to work on other aspects of chasing like posting on my blog, shooting video in the field and reporting back to the station when I'm in Kansas. And as weird as it sounds, I also think doing tours was detrimental to how effective I was at getting us in the right spot. I say that because you start allowing things other than forecasting determine where you target. Before I started taking people out chasing with me I would always target the area where I thought the best tornado potential was. I don't want to ramble on about the details, but the more you turn chasing into a business the more outside influences affect how you chase and how much you enjoy it while you do. I didn't get into the chase tours because I wanted the money, so it was an easy decision for me to get out of it. I honestly just wanted to do chase tours because I enjoy taking people and showing them how incredible a good chase can be. It just wasn't worth all the added pressure, stress and time required to set something like that up properly. The insurance thing is just one of many hurdles. Exactly what all insurance you need to do chase tours is debatable too. There are people out there doing chase tours with a rental car and no insurance and then there are people that do it with vans that are licensed and insured for what they are actually doing with them. So like I said, exactly what insurance is needed or required to do chase tours is a pretty gray area because there is a wide array of "chase tours" out there. I didn't like the idea of putting my ass on the line so I was pursuing the well insurred route with it. Getting insurance for something like chase tours is difficult to say the least and if you do find coverage then the costs involved make it very difficult to be profitable. You have to be damn serious about it and draw in a large number of customers if you want to be successful doing it with good insurance coverage because you can't disolve those high costs into a hand full of customers.
Hopefully that helps a bit. And for what its worth, personally I am a lot happier just doing my regular thing chasing. Doing the chase tours simply took away from all the other aspects of storm chasing I'm involved with and it wasn't worth it.

 

[Mike Smith]

This is the type of project for which you need an insurance BROKER, not an insurance agent. Brokers work with a number of insurance companies and they specialize in tailoring coverage to each unique business. There are individuals as well as companies of brokers (e.g., Insurance Management Associates of Wichita). Find one you are comfortable with and given them the full details of what you want to do. Let them take it from there.

 

[Mark Blue]

@Mikey - Thank you so much for enlightening us on this topic. You provided way more information than I expected and I appreciate you responding to my request to chime in. Hope to meet you out in the field one of these days and I hope your work priorities slow down some so you can get back to what I know you love doing.

Thanks again,
Mark

 

[Shane Adams]

I started to get into doing the whole chase tour thing several years ago and the insurance issue was one of the reasons why I quickly quit doing it. As others have mentioned the specifics are going to vary by state and how exactly you setup your tours and business. I wouldn't mess with it unless you have a lot of money to invest and are really serious about it. Personally the biggest reason I didn't want to continue doing it was because of the time requirements and the stress involved. Forecasting and getting your own group of chase buddies organized and out of town is hard enough during chase season. When you start having to work with customers it gets exponentially worse. I felt a lot more pressure to spend time on forecasting and looking over data in the field. It kind of took the fun out of chasing for me. It also didn't leave me time to work on other aspects of chasing like posting on my blog, shooting video in the field and reporting back to the station when I'm in Kansas. And as weird as it sounds, I also think doing tours was detrimental to how effective I was at getting us in the right spot. I say that because you start allowing things other than forecasting determine where you target. Before I started taking people out chasing with me I would always target the area where I thought the best tornado potential was. I don't want to ramble on about the details, but the more you turn chasing into a business the more outside influences affect how you chase and how much you enjoy it while you do. I didn't get into the chase tours because I wanted the money, so it was an easy decision for me to get out of it. I honestly just wanted to do chase tours because I enjoy taking people and showing them how incredible a good chase can be. It just wasn't worth all the added pressure, stress and time required to set something like that up properly. The insurance thing is just one of many hurdles. Exactly what all insurance you need to do chase tours is debatable too. There are people out there doing chase tours with a rental car and no insurance and then there are people that do it with vans that are licensed and insured for what they are actually doing with them. So like I said, exactly what insurance is needed or required to do chase tours is a pretty gray area because there is a wide array of "chase tours" out there. I didn't like the idea of putting my ass on the line so I was pursuing the well insurred route with it. Getting insurance for something like chase tours is difficult to say the least and if you do find coverage then the costs involved make it very difficult to be profitable. You have to be damn serious about it and draw in a large number of customers if you want to be successful doing it with good insurance coverage because you can't disolve those high costs into a hand full of customers.
Hopefully that helps a bit. And for what its worth, personally I am a lot happier just doing my regular thing chasing. Doing the chase tours simply took away from all the other aspects of storm chasing I'm involved with and it wasn't worth it.

This is exactly how I feel. I've done two tours, and I was horrible on both. I'm not a "guide" but trying to be one, I completely lost my ability to be a chaser. I'm probably a "6" caliber chaser, maybe an "8" on my best day....but doing a tour, I'm more like a "3". I chase my own unique way, and that isn't something I can teach, explain, or really even share with an outsider.

 

[J Tyler]

Carmen and I have taken people with us, but we are clear that when we "are working", we have to focus on "our work". At that point, our guest has entertain themselves. I think that is the big difference between letting someone come along, and actually giving a tour. If time permits, sure, I'll explain things. BUT, when the poop hits the fan, I don't have time to babysit.

As for insurance, the best advice is to talk to the independent insurance broker. If they can't help you themselves, they can point you in the right direction. You MUST be clear and ask questions.