Insurance

Hi!
further to a recent thread where I discovered that being 'on commitee' wasn't quite without it's complications, does anyone know of or could reccomend a decent company that handles fishing related public liability insurance?

This is the 1st time I'm getting into this & I don't want to risk a company that may not offer proper cover cos it doesn't understand the risk.
Unfortunately our club does not have the money to join the NFA & hence get their advice. We may not even have the money for the insurance but we shall cross that bridge.......

Thanks again.

Dave

Public liability insurance for our firm's social club was ?140 per year. Hope that will help as a starting point!

Regards

Kevin

Cheers Kevin.
As I understand it's rocketed since 9/11.
2 years ago it was @?130 now quotes are more in the ?350 region. Also it is getting more difficult to obtain.

Reason for trying to get good insurance is our club can't afford to go Ltd which would offer protection for the commitee. I have been told that there are case histories of insurance companies involved in fishing not paying up. This then threatens commitee members assets. Hence my reasons for trying for a 'pukka policy'.

I wonder, if all the members were on the committee, then if anyone claimed they would be suing themselves!
Maybe another way around the situation is to be pro-active in the health and safety of your members. For example new members could be given a 'safety teach in' as they join and existing members could be given a top up on a yearly basis as they renew their membership.
If a claim siuation then arises you can demonstrate from your records that 'adequate' steps were taken by the club to avoid an incedent. Very carefull thought would have to be given to the subject matter of the teach in and I would suggest that you could contact a professional health and safety advisor for assistance.
You never know you may already have one as a member of your club, or I am sure some-one will know of one as most companies now employ them.

Phil thanks for that.
I have been told (by someone in this area of the law trade)that it used to be you couldn't sue a fellow club member in English law. That now is slowly changing due to rugby injuries. Hookers not being able to sue the club, started suing the refs, now they are suing the refs & the front row. Hence that defence doesn't hold water.
Also it doesn't matter about what you teach members as you are still liable for members of the public (even if trespassing)as well.

As far as reducing risk it looks like one of the things we will have to do is lift all our pallets!

My reason for this thread was to open different avenues of enquiry. We are trying a broker & a couple of companies. I was just wondering if there was a club treasurer or member out there who had found a good 'fishing' insurer. They aren't exactly listed in the yellow pages. One person who I'd been in contact with recently found that for their club they had to employ a broker after their insurance was pulled, despite having a long standing, no claim policy.

I'm begining to think that this issue may be a potential risk to the survival of many small clubs over the next few years????

Christchurch Angling Club have recently (within the last two seasons anyway)put a disclaimer in the front of the permit book to absolve them of all responsibility towards members whilst fishing.

Is this perhaps the way to go or does it not stand up if put to the test?

It would be interesting to know, bearing in mind the state of some of the stiles and fences we have to negotiate to get around the fisheries.

From what I've found out John, a disclaimer doesn't count for much. If only it was that easy?
As I said on the other thread, my contact who knows about these things told me to go nowhere near the commitee if we didn't have public liability. He said it just wasn't worth the risk & if the worst happened I could loose all my assets, ie my house & ermin lined underpants.

I've also just found out that a broker we approached can't come up with anything. From information I've been given this is pehaps not uncommon these days for fishing clubs.
I'll have to think of plan 26b?