Help Portrait Session - Insurance Needed ?

We are a non profit camera club as of this thread and we hold portrait sessions (help-portrait.com) for the less fortunate to give back to the community. We have spaces donated to us to use for example a large meeting room in a musuem or a gymnasium at a immigrant center.

The question is this, our members are asking what happens if a family member comes in and trips over a light stand and breaks a hip? Then decides to sue are we in legal jeopardy here in Canada, I know we should consult a lawyer but that needs money which we don't have.

Perhaps these places that are donated to us to use have insurance that woulds cover us? We will certainly ask them if their insurance would cover the event?

Or maybe we should have a waiver they sign like as if they were going to go bungee jumping?

Cheers

Waivers and insurance both.

Start calling around, it may not be as expensive as you think.

No matter the degree of your altruism, you don't want to "need" insurance because of an "accident" at not have it.

Here in my neighborhood in the states we’ve got Oregon Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. Perhaps you’ll find a similar organization in your city? Here, OVLA runs clinics where under-resourced artists can get a free half-hour of legal advice... and referrals and orientation for when more legal support is needed.

Waivers are practically useless. In the States, at least, liability from an injury resulting from negligence cannot be waived. That is, the court will brush such a waiver aside immediately.

I expect the advice you will get from an insurance professional will be to insure your non-profit group as a group.

The owner of the venue (if knowledgeable) will insist on it, and will insist on you providing a certificate from the insuring company that his venue is protected from liability by your group's policy for the event.