[wlug_org] Individual liability from not being incorporated.

[Carl Klitscher]

I was thinking more along the lines of:

Wellylug holds an installfest, which everyone in the room agrees is 'A Good
Thing(tm)', and finds a venue. We plug various bits of equipment into the
power sockets, perhaps even daisy chaining them. Someone (unidentified)
puts just one more wafer on the pile and something goes bang causing a
fire. Building owner claims insurance. Insurance company reviews events and
determines cause is improper use of electrical system. Looks to recoup loss
from person or persons concerned. Wellylug (Inc.) limits loss to the Inc.
Soc. assets ($425 as I recall...). Wellylug as individual members? I'd be
willing to bet that an Insurance company would be prepared to go after some
if not all. How successful would they be? Don't know. Would it be an
unmitigated pain in the butt to defend? You bet. Could I personally do
without the hassle? Absolutely.

The green belt argument doesn't stand up because as ratepayers we already
implicitly belong to an organisation that controls those assets on our
behalf. We don't need to run out individually and bulldoze it because we
vote in a City Council (who bulldoze it for us).

A small group of like minded individuals with a common goal is a different
proposition. And some very weird things do happen. A few years ago some
officials of the Motorsport Association were targetted because some
spectators died after a crash at a race down south. MANZ are very strict
about their safety policies and insurance coverage etc. and they still had
to spend a LOT of cash defending themselves (paid in part by their
affiliated clubs). That, and the actions of the organiser of a bicycle race
in Christchurch where a cyclist got killed, caused so much trouble in the
automobile club game that a number of clubs just stopped operating rather
than run the risk of prosecution. While the club I'm in continues to
operate and hold events we no longer run timed events of any sort as that
implies speed... which automatically voids our public liability insurance.

At the end of the day it comes down to risk analysis. How likely is it that
a loose organisation of identifiable individuals with a fairly benign goal
will be targetted by the forces of evil? Not very. Can I see a sitaution
where we could be? Maybe. Am I worried about it? No.

Carl