YHAgroup.org.uk

It is of vital importance that all Sports Organisations protect themselves, their officials, employees, instructors, members and voluntary helpers against the potentially disastrous consequences of legal liability for injury or damage arising out of their actions. Individuals could find themselves held personally responsible for court costs and damages awarded, where an action is brought for negligence, and it is essential that adequate Liability Insurance should be in place to protect such situations.

Perkins Slade Ltd has designed a unique Civil Liability insurance policy for the Sports sector, which incorporates into one document the following elements of cover:

Public Liability

Accidental bodily injury to third parties and/or damage to third party property arising out of all sports and social activities held under the auspices of the Organisation.

In addition it includes [a] member to member liability, [b] liability for damage to leased, hired or borrowed premises, [c] indemnity to Principals [e.g., land or property owners], [d] trespass or nuisance, and [e] sudden and accidental pollution.

Products Liability

Accidental bodily injury to third parties and/or damage to third party property arising out of any goods sold or supplied by the Insured.

Professional Indemnity

Loss [financial or otherwise] arising out of Errors and Omissions [e.g. bad advice or failure to act]. This includes coaches and/or instructors liability.

Libel and Slander

Defamation, whether spoken or written, including allegations of abuse.

Directors’ & Officers’ Liability

Legal Liability protection in respect of mismanagement of the organisation.

Indemnity is only provided to [a] members who are UK residents and [b] to businesses registered in UK.

Basis of Cover

The policy is written on a claims made basis which means that a claim will be notified under the Policy in force at the time you first become aware a claim may be made against you, and not at the time of the alleged incident. Therefore, notification of an incident that occurred prior to the start of the policy, but about which you were not aware, will be dealt with under the policy irrespective of the date of the incident. Likewise, should policy cover cease and a claim subsequently arises from activities undertaken in the past, that claim would be uninsured.

Principle Exclusions

Liability arising out of:

• The ownership, possession or use of any mechanically propelled vehicle, aircraft, hovercraft, or water-borne craft [other than craft less than 3 metres in length with a maximum speed of 7 knots, or hand propelled or sailing craft in inland or territorial waters].
• Product guarantee or recall, necessitating repair or replacement.
• The inability of any computer or computer equipment to recognise a change of date.
• Medical malpractice.
• Trademark name, registered design, copyright or patent risks.
• Financial loss arising from advice, design, or specification where the Insured contracts to manufacture, construct, erect, install or supply materials or equipment.

Limit of Indemnity

The Limit of Indemnity under the policy would be £5,000,000.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we have to have insurance?

All groups affiliated to YHA must have adequate insurance cover. The Civil Liability Cover has been negotiated on your behalf with Perkins Slade and all new and existing groups are invited to join the scheme. If you choose to arrange cover independently, the cover must be at least comparable to the Perkins Slade scheme. Insurance cover will be a requirement of Affiliation.

How do we join the scheme?

Tick the appropriate box on the Affiliate Membership Form and return it to YHA Membership before 28th February 2006.

What is the cost?

£1.30 per member of your group (adult or child). The premium is very low and will remain so provided that ALMOST ALL of the surrent Affiliated Groups opt into the scheme. If the numbers of people in the scheme declines significantly (e.g. because groups decide to negotiate separate insurance cover), the premium will increase because the risk will be spread between fewer people.

How do we pay the premium?

In order to keep the premiums low, YHA has agreed to pay Perkins Slade one lump sum for all the premiums. Your group should calculate the premium due and forward a cheque (payable to “YHA (England & Wales) Ltd”) with your Affiliate Membership Form. YHA is offering free Affiliate Membership to existing groups for 2 years. Thereafter you should forward your insurance premiums at the same time as your Affiliate Membership fee (e.g. in 2007 this would have been £25.50 (membership) + £130 (insurance for a group with 100 members)).

Do we have to supply a list of all our members’ names?

No, you do not need to supply a list of your members, only tell us the number of paid up members of your group.

The Affiliate Membership Form doesn’t ask us how many members we have, how do we tell you that information?

The initial Affiliate Membership Form did not ask about membership size because we didn’t know how Perkins Slade wanted us to collect this information. A new version of the Affiliate Membership Form will be circulated and will include this question. If you have already completed and returned the initial Form, we will contact you to ask you how many members you have. There is no need to complete 2 forms.

What happens if we have “non-active” members?

Members are “active” if they participate in ANY of the group’s activities - meetings, social events, hostel trips, hillwalking etc. - regardless of whether the activity is low risk or high risk. A premium must be paid for every member. However, if you have members who are on your mailing list but NEVER take part in any activities, we recommend that you set up two membership categories and only collect insurance premiums from the “active” membership group.

What happens if the number of members changes in the year?

You will pay the insurance premium for your group once a year, at the point of Affiliation (e.g. end of February). Unless the membership of your group changes considerably it will not be necessary for you to pay an extra set of premiums mid-year. We recommend that you contact Perkins Slade directly should you think this might be necessary.

Who do we contact at YHA about insurance?

Throughout the transition into the new insurance package, Crewenna Dymond, Head of Volunteering, will be able to answer any questions you have about how the scheme operates. If you have specific questions about the policy itself you must contact Perkins Slade directly.