Insurance Question

prettygurrly

I had no idea where to pose this so I'm sorry if it wastes anyone's time.

I'm taking a minor out with me to do fieldwork for my PhD. I take samples on a lake so for a day out I asked him if he'd like to join me. Does ANYONE know of a personal accident insurance policy that I can take out for him for tomorrow? I would hate if anything happened and his parents wouldn't be supported financially and him in the future. It's my boyfriends little brother that I'm taking so it's important....

drunkmonkey

I don't think you need insurance. You need to keep your eyes on him at all times.
You just need to be careful with him, can he swim well? Have you lifejackets?
If not and you've a fear something might happen in your care then you should leave him with his parents.

prettygurrly

yes of course I would be keeping an eye on him however in this day and age you need to have insurance. If it was my own kid then it wouldn't bother me but because he is my boyfriends little brother I'd prefer the peace of mind. (I'm thinking of a little boy that went under in a pond while out with his childcare facility and is permanently brain damaged. will need care forever. these things happen).

yes we have lifejackets and i'm a fully licenced powerboating person with another fully licenced person and 3 other adults present. but still I need to take out the policy. he's a good kid but as i said, accidents happen.

drunkmonkey

Insurance does not make your innocent if there is an accident. You can still be held responsible.
I'm not sure if you can get daily insurance but talk to Yachtsman you can find them here http://www.yachtsman.ie/ they do a lot of marine insurance. If it's found that you were irresponsible causing accident no insurance will pay up.

prettygurrly

yes of course. I'm aware of that. I never said insurance made me not responsible for something happening. What I said was that if something awful happened that he would be looked after....not sure why this is such a difficult thing to organise....

but thank you for the link to yachtsmen I'll have a look

drunkmonkey

Let us know will they do the daily insurance, I know mine is just over €200 for the year, it covers everyone except me if something goes wrong on the water or the boat is stolen etc.

prettygurrly

i seem to be drawing a blank...there's nothing out there to cover somebody for a day. i thought about possibly travel insurance but to qualify for that i'd have to book 2 nights accomodation somewhere. the only thing i can do is to get an extension on the boat that i use and the owners are going to say no as this is all very unofficial. what a nightmare. i think my minor will just have to stay on the land or his parents will just have to accept that its at his own risk...but i just hate the idea of something awful happening. it probably wont but...

drunkmonkey

If you've take all the necessary precautions you should be fine. Accidents do happen but if he has a proper lifejacket on the odds of a serious accident would be tiny, more chance of getting hit by a bus.
I wouldn't panic the parents, maybe get your boyfriend to go as well just in case somebody goes overboard and somebody is needed to stay on the boat.

Don't get caught up in insurance, go out and have a good day on the lake and be safe.

prettygurrly

thanks,

i explained everything to my bf's dad and he's happy for his son to go out with a life jacket on. so happy days. its very easy to get caught up in insurance though i agree...

amen

of course if you were involved with a voluntary organisation that works with children it would be highly doubtful if you would be allowed out on your own with a child due to child protection issues.

If this is offical PhD work what does the college say about having a minor along? Are you opening the college up to a liability ?

prettygurrly

no child protection issues, i've known him for four years and he's my boyfriends little brother (u cud raise the issue with me babysitting him too if you were pedantic about it). also there will be 4 other adults there if you look at the previous post.

no liability for college, his parents know its at his own risk and they trust me to look after him.

i have a hse qualification, fully trained in powerboating, trained in life saving and cpr. i think it'll be fine, he'll have a life jacket and it'll probably only be one trip out to collect my probes.