Hi. I am looking for advice on how to get a safety product insured. I am trying to bring a product to market that sets off an alarm if a child is left in a hot car. I've gone through the patent slog already. Now I am trying to get funding for product development, only to find that without product liability insurance no one will lend me enough money to develop the product. I can't make a prototype without ~$10,000, and without insurance I can't get a loan approved. Kind of a Catch-22.
I have talked with several agencies already and have been told my idea is basically too risky to insure. If it doesn't work and a child dies then I will probably sued (as if I had caused the death instead of the parent that left the kid in the car).
I found this forum and it seemed a good place to ask for advice (outside of the buyer/agent relationship). It seems strange to me that in the US you can sell assault rifles without liability but safety products are difficult to get insured, since someone somewhere might experience product failure. Any opinions or advice?
Child Safety Alarm (MO)
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Re: Child Safety Alarm (MO)
Hotcoffee,
It is possible.... but I need to know more about the process you are going through. You are saying you need to raise money to build a prototype? If that is the case, you are best to borrow from friends and family and get the prototype built. You don't need products liability in the testing stage. You need it once you start selling the item.
You would most likely start at a $10,000 or $15,000 minimum premium.
One of the problems.... is that your product allows for a parent to do something "illegial" and give them a safety net. They might say I just ran into the drug store to pick up my prescription... I was only gone a minute...
Good luck....
Ken Kukral, CIC
kennethkukral@intlxs.com
http://www.intlxs.com
It is possible.... but I need to know more about the process you are going through. You are saying you need to raise money to build a prototype? If that is the case, you are best to borrow from friends and family and get the prototype built. You don't need products liability in the testing stage. You need it once you start selling the item.
You would most likely start at a $10,000 or $15,000 minimum premium.
One of the problems.... is that your product allows for a parent to do something "illegial" and give them a safety net. They might say I just ran into the drug store to pick up my prescription... I was only gone a minute...
Good luck....
Ken Kukral, CIC
kennethkukral@intlxs.com
http://www.intlxs.com
Re: Child Safety Alarm (MO)
I am learning that there are a lot of legal issues like the one you described. The product would be promptly targeted by a lawyer if it was involved in any deaths, even if it did not fail. A creative litigant could even place one at an heat-related accident scene before the police arrived and claim the alarm failed, thereby attempting to transfer liability to me. Or create a lawsuit in hopes of getting a settlement to avoid the bad publicity.INTLXS wrote:Hotcoffee,
It is possible.... but I need to know more about the process you are going through. You are saying you need to raise money to build a prototype? If that is the case, you are best to borrow from friends and family and get the prototype built. You don't need products liability in the testing stage. You need it once you start selling the item.
You would most likely start at a $10,000 or $15,000 minimum premium.
One of the problems.... is that your product allows for a parent to do something "illegial" and give them a safety net. They might say I just ran into the drug store to pick up my prescription... I was only gone a minute...
A $10,000 premium is certainly reasonable for a product like this.