Business liability insurance

[BizGuy]

Hello,

I am a successful businessman involved in private ventures that take advantage of some of the powerful and advanced technology that modern American society has to offer. Having said that, I have been pursuing the idea of starting a Segway based tour possibly expanding to include rentals once we are off the ground; I know that some of you are already involved in this business and I can promise you that nobody within hundreds of miles of me is currently operating.

I think that my home city would be an excellent place to start this venture and I would like to promote its beauty and history. I also think that these type of operations promote the safety of the Segway, a non-polluting, safe alternative for urban travel whose time has come. Obviously, I am interested in turning a profit, but there are so many unselfish reasons to do it, that I think that it is worth my time even if I can make more money elsewhere (which I do).

Having spent several months investigating all aspects of this business and working best and worst case scenarios, my partners and I have run into one major obstacle: insurance. We have found it difficult to find an insurance carrier willing to give us a quote. I am hoping that some of you who have successfully started a Segway related business of your own will offer some assistance. I am not asking you to divulge all your business secrets to me, although any advice would be welcome, but I am interested in knowing which insurance companies offer comprehensive liability insurance for this kind of business. We have complete business plans, forward looking estimates, safety guidelines...the works, and we are willing to send these to an underwriter to make us a quote.

Please forward any information to tomorrow409@hotmail.com. All information will be kept confidential. Your help is greatly appreciated.

Roland D.

[Segway City]

What city? There is at least one company I cannot recommend due to geographic location.

[BizGuy]

SC,

I would prefer to keep that to myself for the time being. If you wouldn't mind, please email me the info on the insurance carrier that you do know of, and I will discuss my locale with them. Thank you in advance. tomorrow409@hotmail.com

Roland D.

[Florida Ever-Glides]

Insurance is a fairly coveted area as it should be.

With NO safety criteria in place, any unsafe segway related business who sustains losses under the same insurance carrier as I have, puts my business in jeprody. Unfortunatly there are a few operators who do not place rider safety first and as a result, several insurance carriers have already stepped away from this new 'cottage industry'.

If you are fortunate enough to acquire insurance please operate with the highest degree of safety and guard your carrier from other who may not. They could put you out of business.



Tom Jacobson

[Segway City]

I'm as big a fan of privacy as the next, probably more. However, for information as benign as location, you'll have to be more forthcoming or risk being ignored.

This close-knit community will not just extend a hand, they will go out of their way to assist if you further the "cause". Similarly, folks who attempt quick-buck schemes to enhance their profit in deference to safety or at the risk of community acceptance will find this same community will rally against them. Being a successful or unsuccessful businessman in this industry impacts more than just your bottom line: it can very well take away years of hard work, access and/or the rights of owners in an area far beyond the swath of area from which you draw your customers.

Which category will your "business" fit into?

[SegwayPete]

Hey
Its the menace rover aka Segwaypete.
Don't give that advice(insurance info)for free!!!
He won't even tell you the city.
I'll bet all his biz assumptions are wrong!!
Craig..Sorry I didn't get back to you on the manual thing.
I've been too busy irresponsibly taking six year olds out on tour and duking it out with Tom.
I'll contact you directly.
Cheers
SegwayPete

[BizGuy]

SC and Tom,

I could not agree with you more that the worst thing for this fledging industry is the greedy, fly-by-night or shoddy operator that jeopardizes the quality tour providers and the Segway name. I have read in this very forum a discussion of oversight by association. I concur that self regulation is the key to preserving and expanding the industry. I would offer that one way to combat the negative element is by endorsing upstart operations that can exceed certain safety expectations, to fill the void that is otherwise a target for questionable characters.

I would like to clarify my response to SC’s previous post by saying that I don’t believe that location is germane to the issue of a safe and fun tour, assuming local legislation permits. As for the other elements of our planned operations, I invite your inquiries and welcome a candid discussion. I think that I can answer most of your questions by saying that our guidelines and procedures will be similar to Ever-Glides (we think that he has an excellent operation, that we see as a standard for safety), except that we will limit our guests to 16 years and up; plus we are planning a couple of new safety and security features. We will have tours of 6-8, with 1 or 2 guides.

Understand that I hope to join your community as allies, not competitors. That is what I think the purpose of this forum is. Please contact me with any operational questions if you honestly want to help us get our operation insured. Due to the moderated medium, the fastest way to get a response will be via my email at tomorrow409@hotmail.com . Above all else, let’s keep the discussion positive.

Thank you,
Roland

[Segway City]

You are welcome to be as honest and open as you please, or closed and secret as you desire. These days, most folks won't assist secrecy and you should expect results on a level equal to that which you project. The Glide NYC debacle is proof that secrecy and middle of the night operations have the potential to ruin access for millions, no matter how safe their riders may be. Glad they backed up and reconsidered.

Location determines availability of certain insurance carriers, not the quality of operation of a business. There are carriers who operate only in the west, south or northeast, which is why the location was requested. Based upon the lack of information provided, no recommendation was given.

Moderation does not equal censorship nor a communicative delay in this forum, and I believe your inference is an insult to the members and moderators of this forum. Anybody else come away with that feeling?

Good luck in your venture. Keep it safe and sane. I'm sure you'll find a way to make it happen, one way or the other.

[SegwayBill]

Roland
Welcome to SegwayChat.
Do you own a Segway?
If not, you can not imagine what is like to operate a bussiness with them. Those guys who tried setting up bussiness in Central Park went home very unhappy.
Buy 2 and see whats happens.

Bill