July 30, 2004 – Earlier this year we published a statement on Non-Permitted Events. In other words, events that are not sanctioned by the OCA.

I want to make our members aware of the fact that a number of event organizers are again prepared to operate without taking out an event permit (sanction) from the OCA. These include organizers who built their events up under our umbrella and now wish to carry on without us, to organizers who cleverly give you the impression that their event is actually sanctioned by the OCA. I am always amazed by members who participate in these events and afterwards tell me they were certain the event held a sanction.

I have yet to see an organizer of what we refer to as “outlaw” events actually have the courage to state in their documentation that the event is not sanctioned by the OCA. They desperately want to confuse you, as they are afraid that they may scare you away with the truth.

The truth is that an OCA sanctioned event is required to meet a certain standard of care.We have requirements in place for all levels of sanction and the OCA spot checks events to guarantee compliance. At competitive events we provide trained and nationally recognized officials to validate the competition and ensure that the venue meets reasonable safety standards.

A sanctioned event is covered by liability insurance from a regulated insurance company based in Canada. At all sanctioned events, and depending on your level of membership in the OCA you are also covered by the policy.The OCA coverage is for 3rd party liability and includes benefits under an AD&D policy while participating in an OCA approved activity. You have no personal coverage whatsoever while participating in an outlaw event.

There are very few sources of event insurance in Canada. The OCA has access to one of the best programs in the country and with our buying power has been able to obtain very reasonable rates considering the quality of the coverage. In the past year or so we have become aware of firms based in the US, and not regulated by our provincial agencies, offering cut-rate event insurance to some organizers in the province.

The problem is that the insurance has very restrictive policy limits that will not adequately protect the race organizers in the event of a serious lawsuit. I know of no organizers with any significant assets for you to go after once the insurance runs out. All they have to do is declare bankruptcy and you are out of luck.In addition the policies that we have researched do not cover the participants in any way, requiring you to sue, possibly in a US court, in order to obtain any form of a settlement. Don’t kid yourself that only the organizer needs insurance, in many cases participants have also been named. The most serious aspect of this insurance is that with a policy based in the US, the province does not regulate the underwriter and they hold no assets in Ontario to back up the policy. If they chose to not pay out a claim you will likely have to go after them in an American court.

The solution is to not take risks with organizers that do not take out a sanction from the OCA. Help us to stamp out “outlaw” events by simply not supporting the event. Start to ask questions – is the event sanctioned and insured by the OCA? If it isn’t, put pressure on the organizer by not participating. A list of sanctioned events is kept up to date on our website and I strongly encourage you to only participate in those that have demonstrated their support to your organization by taking out an OCA sanction.

Jim Crosscombe
OCA President