Do Parks 'Insure' Their Rides?

This is just something that I have been thinking about. Do parks take out some sort of insurance on the rides they sell? Say a coaster has some sort of accident that renders one or more of the trains unusable. If this accident was purely the fault of a design error on the part of the manufacturer, is there some sort of insurance that parks can take out on their rides so that the manufacturer is responsible for replacing the trians or parts damaged? Or is it purely the responsibility of the park once the ride is complete anmd opened? I am just curious about this aspect of the industry.

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"Standing in line to see the show tonight and there's a light on, heavy glow, by the way I tried to say I'd be there."-The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Interesting thought. I never thought of that.

Maybe Paula, aka Raven Maven, can help us out! ;)

It seems to me that the parks do pay, partly because it is so expensive anyway. But I can never be too sure.

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The Jet Coaster ROARS!
Will Johansson, Webmaster of Xtreme Paramount Parks
http://xpp.coasterbuzz.com/

I would think that there would be a warranty period after the ride was purchased and then the park could purchase a maintenance agreement. Insurance would be for the riders in case there was some sort of an accident where people would get hurt.

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The worst day at Cedar Point is better than the best day at work.

In the state of Texas, the amusement ride inspection process requires parks to carry a certain amount of general liability insurance to protect them in the case of guest injuries. Ironically, in Texas, the state's Department of Insurance oversees ride safety. As far as carrying some type of property insurance on rides, I would bet that is up to the individual park, but I'm not 100% sure.

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"Look, we all go way back, and uh, I owe you from the thing with the guy in the place and I'll never forget it." "That was our pleasure." "I'd never been to Belize."

Thats great big boy, but we aren't talking about that kind of insurance. I'm guessing they get like a year or so, I'm sure Paula will answer some day.

Based on my experience in other industries, insurer's are not usually interested in insuring you against the cost of repairing mechanical failures. Nor would it usually make since considering that the deductables are usually into 6 figures on major commercial and industrial insurance. However, a manufacturer might be interested in providing an extended warranty.

Property insurance against fire, wind storm, etc. is different. I would suspect that how much property insurance is carried is a function of park policy and what their insurers will go along with. Note that the deductable on a policy of this type may be $250,000 or more.

Insurance is carried by independent parks or by the corporation as a whole for chains. They carry three types of insurance : mechanical failure insurance on the ride, which some carriers refer to as lost income insurance; liability insurance, which covers the park in event of death or injury; and property insurance, which covers fires and other disasters. The cost of insurance has skyrocketed in the last decade, which is why park admissions have skyrocketed. One administrator told me last summer 80% of the ticket price covered insurance and they ran the park on the other 20%. All the insurance influences decision making, too. Just like you might not buy a Corvette because you can't afford the insurance, a smaller park might not buy a hypercoaster because it can't afford the insurance. And if legislators pass additional laws, the cost of insurance will climb even higher.