Hasn’t it been an interesting year! Despite recent challenges, we’re finally getting back to being able to hold club hikes and events. Like many of you, we have faced financial challenges this year as our membership numbers dropped significantly. Additionally, our insurance costs have increased, and FMCBC Directors identified needed improvements in our insurance deductible planning.
Membership Dues and Billing Schedule
The Board is committed to not raising member dues or insurance costs this year as we recognize the strain that all our clubs have been under. In order to offset this year’s financial hardships, we are focused on streamlining our operations. A primary goal has been to simplify member billings to save administrative costs and to make payments easier for clubs. This year, instead of billing 75% of member dues and 100% of insurance dues in June, then the remaining 25% of member dues in September, we are billing for full member and insurance dues for the year in June. This saves you having to write 2 cheques or e-transfers and is much clearer. The only exception is if clubs’ memberships jump or drop by more that 10% by September (this is particularly relevant for clubs that have a summer or fall intake of memberships), we will send out an amending invoice to reflect the change. The dues remain the same this year as last — $8 per member for FMCBC membership and $12 per each individual or family member for insurance costs.
Insurance Cost Details
The FMCBC provides insurance coverage to 46 member clubs. We charge member clubs $12.00 per member. The $12.00 is a combination of the cost of the insurance and a “management” fee to cover the FMCBC administration costs. The cost of insurance per member in the 21/22 year is $10.20 per person. In order to keep our insurance premium costs in check, we have reduced the Directors and Officers Liability insurance to a maximum of $1 million from the previous $2 million. We have an information package on the website that explains more fully our insurance coverage that we have arranged. The insurance deductible for claims arising in Canada is $2,000 per claim. The insurance Member Fee Update By Sherry Durnford & Paula McGahon, FMCBC Directors The Fed News Saltspring Island. (Photo: Cristina Jacob) 4 Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC deductible for successful claims arising outside of Canada is $10,000 per claim. There have been no successful claims since two minor claims in 2014. This is a reminder that, to have the deductible covered for your club, it is important that you have liability waivers signed by all club activity participants. If you need to get more information about liability waivers, please don’t hesitate to reach out by email to admin.manager@mountainclubs.org. This is an extremely important aspect of our insurance coverage.
New Policy – Deductible Reserve Fund
How an insurance deductible is allocated after a successful claim is the key difference in the new approach to insurance. In the past our policy was to “charge back” the cost to the member club. Many of our clubs have less than 20 members; the possibility of absorbing an insurance deductible is onerous. It might result in the club closing down. If a club is dissolved there is a possibility that the club directors would be responsible for the full deductible. At our recent General Meeting the members approved a change in the “Charge back” policy. As of 2021, the Federation of Mountain clubs of BC will set aside a portion of the insurance management fee and place it in a “Insurance Policy Deductible” reserve. The reserve will be funded by $5,000 each year and will be capped at $20,000. We believe this method of paying for a claim is a more responsible approach. It will spread the cost of a claim over all 46 member clubs and removes the possibility that the member club directors will be responsible to paying an insurance deductible. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at admin.manager@mountainclubs. org. All the best for a great summer of hiking, climbing, and other activities!
