Active and provisional members benefit from a commercial public general liability insurance which is included in their annual fees, a $5 million Comprehensive General Liability and a $500,000 Tenants Legal Liability which extends to locations that are rented on a temporary basis. Coverage includes:
Marsh Canada provides the Comprehensive General Liability policy for members of the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Association. Marsh is the world's leading insurance broker and risk adviser, with nearly 35,000 employees providing advice and transactional capabilities to clients in over 100 countries. Marsh Canada Limited is in the business of managing risk and offering insurance brokering services to all types of risks across Canada with offices right across the country. As a member of Marsh & McLennan Companies it was built upon a foundation of strong values and principles and a culture devoted to customer service.
The policy is a liability only policy and does not provide coverage for the property or instruments of members. It was been arranged through the Winnipeg office of Marsh Canada and coverage is for a Liability Limit of $5,000,000.00 per Occurrence. The purpose of this Liability policy is to provide member Music Teachers who are in the business of providing music instruction with protection from lawsuits should a third party sustain property damage or bodily injury as result of the member’s operations of teaching music. The setting may be in the member’s home, the home of the student, a church, school, music store or other reasonable location. The coverage would also include the member’s customary year end recitals by the students for family and friends, or events such as going to student’s exams in conjunction with the musical instruction. However, other events such as large music recitals or competitions involving outside third parties are not intended to be covered. Special one time event insurance can be arranged for these events if they are organized by a member of the Association. Any other Commercial ventures operations of music related sales or services such as instrument sales or repairs, for example, are outside the scope of this group program.
Name of the insured person: Quebec Music Teachers Association
Description: Activities normal to the provision of music instruction
Type of Coverage: Comprehensive General Liability
Limit of Liability : $5,000,000 CAD
Effective Date : September 1, 2023 to September 1, 2024.
Compagnie d'assurance : Markel Canada
No de police : CAS679708-01
Courtier d'assurance : Marsh Insurance, 140, One Lombard Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3B 0X3.
Danielle Blaich, CFMTA Client Executive
www.marsh.com
Policy Notices
Declaration Page
An article by Danielle Langevin
Few people understand the function of civil liability insurance and the term is sometimes misunderstood. Civil liability is simply the obligation of individuals to compensate for material or physical damages incurred to others.
If damages occur on the premises of a private residence, the liability obligation devolves upon the occupant, whether owner or lessee. Hence the need for home insurance. However, it is important to note that home insurance liability coverage does not extend to clients (in our case, music students), even if there is only one. If any “guests” pay for services rendered in one’s home, this private residence is automatically considered a place of business. Ordinary home insurance becomes insufficient for coverage. Separate insurance is required to cover damages that could be incurred during the exercise of one’s profession.
Residential insurance in a divided co-ownership building differs from traditional home insurance. Coverage requires two distinct contracts: one for each area of private ownership and another for the common space of the building, the latter being obtained by the condo association. It is advisable to be aware of the specifics of one’s condo association’s regulations.
When leasing a recital venue, one shouldn’t assume that coverage will be provided by the lessor’s liability insurance. Unless insurance coverage is specifically included in the rental fee, it is the lessee who is the guarantor for any damages or losses incurred by the participants and spectators while on the premises during the rental period.
I would like to relate a personal experience that occurred during a student recital, at a time when I never imagined needing liability coverage:
I rented a hall at my regional cultural centre in which to present my student recital. A spectator arrived after the recital had begun. While hurrying to her seat, she lost her footing and fell badly, fracturing her wrist. She was off work for 8 months, and as a result, lost a substantial amount of income. The spectator subsequently sued me for damages in the amount of $85,000. Thanks to my lawyer’s convincing arguments, the judge ended up assigning one third of the responsibility to the lessor (the steps and lighting of the facility were not compliant with municipal code), one third to the plaintiff (carelessness) and one third to me. Two years later, tallying up court and legal fees along with damages paid to the plaintiff, the whole incident cost me the equivalent of a year’s salary.
A few simple measures would have prevented this catastrophe, and I learned the value of obtaining civil liability insurance for my studio.
Membership in a provincial branch of the CFMTA includes liability insurance tailored to the needs of music teachers. This insurance covers damages incurred during the exercise of our profession, whether it takes place at home, at one’s place of business or in a recital hall, provided our membership is in good standing.
© All rights reserved 2020, Ad Lib Publishing. Reprint permission granted to CFMTA.
Reference : Langevin, Danielle. Organisez votre studio pour réussir [Organize your studio for success], 3rd edition, Éditions Ad Lib, Chateauguay, 2013.
English translation: Gayle Colebrook, RMT
