Originally Posted by
MassiveD
As far as I know, there is no actual example of any of this ever having happened in the history of custom frame building. And one way you can tell it hasn't happened is that the standard policies do not cost enough to represent any losses of the scale we are talking about.
If you ride a bike, forswear all hope that your frame builder and his 5 and dime insurance is going to make you whole in your time of need. If you see a dime, it will be 5 to 10 years down the road, and your physical recovery will be pretty much all it can be before you get any coverage.
I think it verges on the unethical to promote the industry as somehow looking out for it's clients and their welfare, when this is largely untested waters. The maker's main ethical responsibility is to make bikes that don't kill clients as a first order of business. That seems to be fully achievable.
Wow! Pretty cynical sounding to my ears.
I am proof that insurance does pay out. It replaced income that my late wife would have earned. Sure there was a limit to the amount, it was less then what would have likely been earned for the 14, or so, more years of her expected working life. But the system did work for me. BTW in my case the person who was found at fault had very little assets that i might have gone after.
I don't think linking one's injury recovery to any pay out has much bearing in this discussion.
I also don't see how the insurance industry is different when employed by the frame builder as opposed to some other manufacturer. But i do admit that i don't have any experience with this question. I also wonder if there has never been a claim made due to a frame failure. Given the number of broken forks I've seen over the years, as one type of incident, I'm surprised. Is the insurance offered to larger manufacturers different then smaller builders?
I hope you aren't saying that it's unethical for me to say that having insurance is a good and "right" thing to do, as a builder. I'm not sure how happy i would be if i purchased a frame from some one, had a failure that caused me harm (like a fork/steerer failure) and then found out they had no insurance. And I'll bet the other club riders that went down with me, because of my loss of control, would feel much the same.
I do hope I have misread your reply and comments. Like I say i have little experience with frame builder's insurance and am always willing to learn more. But reading what sounds like whining and larger then seems real claims does make me feel the need to reply back. So please feel free to educate me, I'll listen to reasoned discussions. Andy.