can one of you legal type folks point me in the right direction?

[blueindian]

i'm going to hire a dude to cut down a few trees in my yard. he's an arborist for the city and does this sort of thing on the side.

he carries personal insurance but not liability insurance. i want him to sign a release such that if he gets hurt he can't sue me. i'd like one specific to NC that i can just print and fill in the blanks...where's a good place to find such a form?

[Wizard]

#1 Rule I've learned from all the law classes I've taken is that you will never find such a form online that will hold up in court. If you are truly worried call a lawyer and pay the 400 bucks for him to draft one for you, that way if something goes wrong it's his reputation on the line, not just your money.

[ialsohaveadream]

Single-incidence liability insurance is generally very cheap, depending on what amount you need covered (a policy for $1 million is generally about 500 dollars around here).

I doubt a waiver would do you much good, because I'm assuming you're wanting liability insurance so you can sue the guy if he f*cks up. Well, either way, you can sue the guy if he f*cks up, you'll just have a harder time getting a large sum if he's not insured. I don't see how the waiver helps you, unless I'm not understanding your question correctly.

[blueindian]

no, i don't want to sue him. there are two problems:

1. he drops a tree on my house. fine, my home owner's policy will cover it.

2. he drops a tree on himself. not fine. i don't want him to sue ME.

I want HIM to release any right of claim against ME.

[sizemic1]

How about finding a fully insured arborist?

[blueindian]

How about finding a fully insured arborist?

none of them want to take the job. i have about 20 trees i want taken down but all i want is for someone to top short enough that i can handle them. all the big guys either don't want to do it or want way to much money to do it.

[chadlnc]

I think what you are looking for is something along the lines of a Waiver and Assumption of Risk and Liability Release form. I tried to find one for you online, but they are all specific to certain groups (rock climbing for a school, etc.)

[gwilks98]

You're forgetting what to do if he drops the tree on your neighbor's house. Does his "personal" insurance cover that?

[ialsohaveadream]

none of them want to take the job. i have about 20 trees i want taken down but all i want is for someone to top short enough that i can handle them.
Have you tried hugging them to death? :)

Sorry, couldn't resist. I'd suggest looking into a single-incident liability policy. Considering the work being performed, and the experience of the worker, I'd say it'd probably be pretty cheap, depending on the dollar amount you want covered.