Event Insurance Changes for 2024

The Professional Disc Golf Association wishes to update our members about a series of events regarding our event insurance. To begin with, the PDGA will continue to provide industry-standard event insurance to events sanctioned in the United States and Canada in 2024, just as we have in past years. We wish to be transparent about the circumstances surrounding our need for a new provider and the search for that provider, as they involve PDGA Board President Nate Heinold and the Ledgestone Group.

In late 2023, the PDGA received word that our event insurance was not going to be renewed for 2024. We immediately began to look for other options. We were only able to find a policy that involved coverage that didn’t meet our coverage needs and which raised our annual premium close to a half-million dollars (see Option 1 in the table below). Upon further inspection, the provider was also a non-admitted carrier, which would render the coverage unacceptable for some jurisdictions where PDGA events are hosted and insured.

Because of his prior experience in the insurance industry, PDGA staff reached out to Nate Heinold. After his review, it was clear that the option on the table was not satisfactory. Nate spent the last few weeks of 2023 researching other options through his former employer, the Ledgestone Group, and he was able to find a higher quality insurance option from an admitted carrier at less than half the price (see Option 2 in the table below).  

This new insurance arrangement was vetted by the PDGA staff and the PDGA Board of Directors. We understand that the first question some members might ask: isn’t this a conflict of interest? The answer to that is no.                                                                

First, a conflict of interest is a situation where an officer of an organization may have a personal interest that is not the same as the best interests of the organization. The officer must choose the option that is best for the organization and not the option best for their pocketbook. Here, the best option for the organization was clearly the less expensive and more comprehensive insurance that Ledgestone was able to secure for the PDGA and our events, so even if Nate were to gain some material benefit, his interests and PDGA’s are still clearly aligned rather than in conflict. 

Second, members elect people with professional expertise to the Board of Directors so they can use those skills to benefit the organization. In the past, the PDGA has leaned on other Board members for guidance in the areas of accounting, finance, and law. This is simply another case of the Board using their experience to benefit the PDGA. 

Finally, Nate stood to receive a commission in excess of $15,000 for brokering this insurance deal. To ensure the complete absence of any appearance of impropriety, Nate has declined the commission. In this way, he solely acted as a volunteer Board member and receives no financial benefit from the transaction whatsoever. 

For these reasons, the Board and staff are confident that this outcome is the best one for the organization, our members, and our events.