My opinion on charging for investigations and the paranormal scene in IE/UK

stormkeeper · 15-11-2009 5:32am #1

As I figured that my post woukld get too big, I decided to make my post on my blog here:

http://www.stormkeeper.net/2009/11/charging-for-investigations-ethics-and-the-paranormal-scene-in-ireland-and-the-uk/

Be warned that it's a bit of a hefty read, and I think I ramble a little in places as I've still not nailed that down for blogging! Overall though, I hope I made some sense.

Comments are welcome, if you can read through it all >.>

zerotolerance · 15-11-2009 4:46pm

That was a long read

But I agree with what you are saying, I have done only a handful of private investigations and have been nothing but grateful for the opportunity to be invited into peoples homes to try and document paranormal activity. We don't offer any service in clearing the house at all as none of us are experienced in that field.

As for open investigations as I have said in last thread all you need to ask people for is enough money to cover the cost of paying for the location, which is usually around €50 each. I fail to see why some groups charge €100 for an investigation, are they offering something different than the rest of us?
Are you guaranteed a paranormal experience?

There is no money to be made from being in a paranormal investigation group, and the sooner people realize this go find other ways to make money and stop giving other groups a bad name the sooner we can get back to doing something that a lot of us enjoy.:D

stormkeeper · 16-11-2009 10:24pm

Indeed it was a long read... it's gotten even longer now because I added a bit talking about insurance! Some venues won't even consider allowing you to set foot in there overnight unless you have Public Liability Insurance. While the waiver system may work in Ireland for another year or so, eventually groups over there will need insurance in ordered to be considered reputable, as it is over here.

Another issue is that is it now fair to charge some extra money to cover both the policy and excess on an investigation? As it stands, I'm looking at charging a yearly membership fee for team members to cover the insurance for each individual for that year. As for members of the public, they would have to pay an additional 5-10 Euros/Pounds in order for them to be included on the policy, which would need a sizable amount of liability insurance now, to the tune of £5 million at least!

I don't know about most people, but I could not afford to pay nearly £300 a year to cover insurance for many investigations. I don't think it's entirely unfair to say that a little extra money is required to include someone on the insurance, seeing as I noticed that taxi drivers over here (and perhaps in Ireland) charge extra money when the vehicle is being used as an estate car, which covers the passengers and I think the equipment being covered. Either way, at least in the UK, you have to prove that you're a reputable organisation, by first having insurance and it also seems now that you have to have your equipment tested, which I imagine will cost money!

In some ways, it's an advantage being a group in Southern Ireland because these requirements are not so strictly enforced yet, but eventually they will be. It's in light of the considerations in having a group here in the UK that I'm going to be reshuffling my group structure and policies so it's just as well my group was still being established, it means that I can restructure everything without causing considerable issues. However, as an individual, should I decide to organise or assist in organising an investigation in Ireland before the end of the year, I'll most likely be still operating within the waiver system as I'm in no way prepared to be able to do the system now. The insurance I'm looking at, coincidentally will cover both the UK and "Eire".

Anyway, I'd be interested in seeing what people have to say about my post and also the issue of liability insurance for open and private investigations, as well as what people think about the waiver system that's being used by some groups. Even better, I'd be interested to hear about opinions from people whose groups are insure and how they deal with it.

I know I'm typing a lot, but when I realised that in order for my group to be considered reputable, I had to take in a whole new set of things, so I'm essentially writing about this stuff as I find it.