If i am donating bows for auctions, what do I need to do to protect myself from lawsuits or anything else due to damage or injury causes by donated bows.  I have never had an issue but am curious what you guys do.

I have an LLC.  Is that enough?  Do i need to include some sort of waiver?


Eric

No telling how many bows I have donated to an auction to raise money for the Alabama Children's hospital.

I have always donated bows that were as perfect as I could make and relied on divine intervention to keep me safe from law suits, so far so good.

This sounds crazy but when I make a bow to donate to a worthy cause it seems to make itself with none of the normal problem solving glitches that crop up on my other bows. Divine intervention perhaps, I do say a little prayer for guidance before I start one of these special bows.

I think if you want anything more than anecdotal experience, you probably need to ask an attorney.

Not that I don't value the experience shared by Eric, which I do.

I would personally probably use a waiver or write 'for display only' on it, or both

Your best bet would be a simple release of liability form signed by the charity.  The charity would need to get one signed by the recipient, but they probably already have something in place to protect themselves from this sort of thing.  
You can search "general release of liability form" and get a few ideas and see if you want to write one up yourself.  Basically it is saying that they can't hold you responsible for any harm caused by the bow you are donating.  Even with that, if someone gets seriously injured there's likely to be a lawsuit, but this would definitely help your case.

A lawyer could write one up in a few minutes.

Our family business deals with this from time to time being a small manufacturing shop and my wife is a lawyer.  I'll ask her option tonight.

Join the NRA and get Liability Insurance.
It's cheaper there.

Ask an attorney.  Also ask how much protection an LLC provides.

QuoteOriginally posted by Mad Max:
Join the NRA and get Liability Insurance.
It's cheaper there.

^this.
My small business is tactical gear manufacturing. It may not seem like it but there is a fair amount of liability involved in it and the NRA option is the best one, if not the only one who will even cover me because I make magazine pouches which are "firearm accessories" according to most insurers    :rolleyes:

When they come up for renewal I getting
Auto, home, and liability for land I have down the road.

James Parker got it for his Archery company.

Last I checked there was only 2 places that sold liability insurance for bowyers Hobson ins. co. and the other was in Virginia I believe not sure . You may think you have ins. with a standard liability policy but when and if ever a claim comes in you find out you are not covered .

Thank you for the replies!

I quit making bows for the general public because of liability concerns.

QuoteOriginally posted by Tim Finley:
Last I checked there was only 2 places that sold liability insurance for bowyers Hobson ins. co. and the other was in Virginia I believe not sure . You may think you have ins. with a standard liability policy but when and if ever a claim comes in you find out you are not covered .

The NRA has coverage for shoots (gun or Archery) and for sales.

SORRY
The NRA will not cover Liability Insurance for bows you manufacture.
If you were selling Bear bows/PSE/Hoyt and ect.
They would cover.