Public liability insurance

[Higgs boson]

First, 'not entirely sure which section this should be in - I didn't go for SPL as, iirc, PL insurance isn't required by law.

Second, I'm hoping that someone with knowledge of the subject can advise.

I run a squash "club" that uses a local council-run leisure centre as its venue. There are a dozen "members". No-one is charged a membership fee - just enough to pay for the courts that are booked (in advance) for two days a week.

We have been doing this for many years. Today I received an email asking for a copy of our PL insurance. It stated that this is required from all block-bookers that use the leisure centre.

I haven't replied yet, but I am at a loss to see why it would be needed. I understand that the LC could introduce any policy it saw fit, within reason.

When we are playing, there isn't any interaction with the public, and if anyone was injured near the squash courts, they would be on council property.

Thoughts?

[Robbo 27]

Higgs boson said:

First, 'not entirely sure which section this should be in - I didn't go for SPL as, iirc, PL insurance isn't required by law.

Second, I'm hoping that someone with knowledge of the subject can advise.

I run a squash "club" that uses a local council-run leisure centre as its venue. There are a dozen "members". No-one is charged a membership fee - just enough to pay for the courts that are booked (in advance) for two days a week.

We have been doing this for many years. Today I received an email asking for a copy of our PL insurance. It stated that this is required from all block-bookers that use the leisure centre.

I haven't replied yet, but I am at a loss to see why it would be needed. I understand that the LC could introduce any policy it saw fit, within reason.

When we are playing, there isn't any interaction with the public, and if anyone was injured near the squash courts, they would be on council property.

Thoughts?

You should buy Liability insurance to protect you as an organiser.

Public Lability Insurance for clubs could include damage to premises that you dont own, member to member liability and cover you if you are brought into an action for things like trips and falls. You may feel that you have no obvious legal liability but the cost of defending you in an action could be substantial. The bottom line is that you are obliged to buy it even if you think its a waste of money.

Edited by Robbo 27 on Thursday 7th November 18:17

[dirty doug]

Robbo 27 said:

You should buy Liability insurance to protect you as an organiser.

Public Lability Insurance for clubs could include damage to premises that you dont own, member to member liability and cover you if you are brought into an action for things like trips and falls. You may feel that you have no obvious legal liability but the cost of defending you in an action could be substantial. The bottom line is that you are obliged to buy it even if you think its a waste of money.

Edited by Robbo 27 on Thursday 7th November 18:17

What he said^^^

I would just stop block booking the courts if that was me sadly and just try booking as individuals.

You're not a formal club as you say, just a group of friends etc that like to play each other.
But the LC see you differently so you must change their view of you.

If you poke your head above the parapets, someone is bound to use your bonce as a target.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

A pain in the arris if not actually required...

...but it can be bought for about £50

[Robbo 27]

I was in a squash club myself with 35 others, we were graded so that we all had a chance of a game with someone of equal ability. We played at a larger squash club that had its own courts we also played games with other local clubs, both home and away.

One of our 36 was a bad loser, when he lost he would try and trip you up or push you into a wall, and then try and laugh it off, most of us knew he was like that and made sure he left the court first but for away games it was a potential problem.

On one of these away games he pushed his opponent and broke their arm. The injured person worked for a solicitor and his employer started proceedings against the bad tempered player aswell as our Association for their employees lost earnings. There was an additional claim from the injured person for pain and suffering. The allegation to our Association was that we knew of this man's bad temper and either should have kicked him out or at least told the injured player what could happen.

We had PL insurance as a group which also included cover for the actions of members. We simply passed the claims letters to our insurers, I dont know the final settlement but it was in the thousands.

[Higgs boson]

Thanks, guys. I'll attend to it forthwith.
The outlay isn't the issue, it's just that it has appeared out of the blue.
In light of Robbo's post, it's obviously better to be safe than sorry.