insurance, liability, etc.

["Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-jpl.nasa.gov> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

I've been thinking about TC's and insurance, and here are some thoughts,
which will hopefully spawn some thoughtful comments...(and probably some
flames, but, hey, Terry probably hasn't seen any really good ones recently
and is getting bored)

First off, if you are doing TC's as a business (and that includes losing
money on them, but still calling it a business on a Schedule C), then you
have to deal with liability like any other business would.  Either form a
corporation with limited assets so that if something goes wrong, you can
dissolve the corp, and shield yourself from personal liability (the
approach taken by the defibrillator companies) (although, the "corporate
veil" CAN be pierced), or go kVA Effects route and get real insurance.

However, what if you do it as a hobby, albeit slightly more hazardous than,
say, knitting quilts.  There are several approaches... if you are single,
have no assets to speak of, and are a risk taking kind of person, you can
"go bare".  Do things intelligently and hope nothing bad happens, and if
something does, and you get sued and lose, you don't have anything to take.
 Assuming you weren't egregious in your actions, you probably won't have to
pay any punitive damages. (This was the approach I used, in my younger,
bolder days.)

If you DO have a family, or assets, etc. the situation is a bit more
tricky.  Say you own a house with a mortgage.. Most likely, you are
carrying some sort of homeowner's policy, which in turn covers some amount
of personal liability coverage. You can also buy personal liability
umbrella coverage.  Hopefully, the policy doesn't specifically exclude
liability for loss by tesla coiling. 

Now you are in the same situation as if your hobby was shooting guns, using
a chainsaw, etc.  and you decided to give a demonstration of your skills
and abilities (say, by juggling those chainsaws at the park). Assuming you
acted responsibly (note: much time has been spent in court by lots of
people to argue about what "responsible" means in a particular
situation..), but something bad happened (e.g. a large bird grabbed the
chain saw at the apex of its flight, carried it over the crowd and dropped
it on someone, cutting them), you'd probably be covered.

Or for another example, say you're coiling in the garage, and it starts a
fire, and burns your house down.  Is this particularly different from
having an accident when refinishing a lacquered chair and having the
solvent ignite? Not really, assuming you weren't being totally negligent
(documentation being the key here.... not that insurance companies are
snaky or anything, it's just that they are in business to maximize
shareholder value, which means avoiding paying as much as they can).

The key here will probably be the "hobby" nature of your activity... if
you're getting paid to do it (other than reimbursing expenses), it gets
perilously close to what the insurance company might want to consider a
"business", and therefore not covered.  The other key will be the technical
legality of what you are doing.  If you destroy the house down because the
nitrating process runs away when making nitroglycerin, your insurance
company is going to turn you down, because making explosives in a residence
is illegal.  For TC's I would imagine that you would want to make sure that
your wiring is "up to code", at least to the primary disconnect, etc.

I will say that I am always amazed at the just plain stupid things that
people do (like smoking while refinishing that lacquer chair in a closed
garage), and the insurance company pays off anyway, so it's clear that you
don't have to be omniscient or perfect.  The whole reason for insurance is
that accidents DO happen. The question will be whether you knew better, and
whether you exercised a standard of care appropriate to the situation and
your knowledge. (For instance, Jeff Parisse and Bill Wysock would probably
be held to a higher standard of care than some relative unknown, because
they do it professionally, and "they should have known better")....


Anybody want to drag out their homeowner's policies and take a look?
(Or be brave (or foolish) and call their agent, raising a big red flag:  
"Bob, I'm thinking about raising cobras and rattlesnakes in my garage as
exotic pets.  If the neighbor's kid gets bit when they get out of the
cages, is that covered?"
"No, Jim, now that you mention it, I don't think it is.  Say, what else are
doing over there? Why don't you come over to the office so we can review
your coverages and policies."