From our side of it as a dealer, if I was doing splicing or had someone doing splicing for me, I can tell you for a fact there would be no insurance cover. I no a failure is unlikely to happen but it's not something I'm willing to risk. As a dealer the insurance company's are taking the pee as it is.
I have no problem selling a hank of rope for the user to splice, but I like the peace of mind that if a splice on a rope failed I sold I would be able to pass the claim on to the manufacture.
This is a letter from last week form our insurance company, just another £1500 pound to find for nothing.
Justin,
Our recent discussions refer concerning the retail of climbing equipment for arboriculture industry.
Having passed on all the information I gleaned from you at our meeting and subsequent conversations
to your insurers, we have 2 options going forward.
Option 1 - to exclude all product liability claims caused from the sale and supply of climbing equipment.
No change to the current premium.
or
Option 2 - Insurers to include cover for products liability for the climbing equipment as an increased risk.
Additional premium of £1,590.00 including insurance premium tax.
I appreciate that this is almost a 50% increase in the overall premium but would stress that if option 1 is
taken then it will in no way effect the products liability cover on the other ranges of goods you supply. You
may feel that you could live with the exclusion but would ask you to bear in mind that although any
products claim would be passed down the line to the manufacturers, there could be legal fees involved in
doing so. These would be met as part of any potential claim against you as supplier should you have the
cover..
Could you let us know what you decide to do when you have had a chance to consider matters.
Many thanks