Insurance

Participation Statement

Participation in outdoor activities such as hill walking and mountain biking is inherently risky. You should only get involved if you are personally prepared to accept these risks and recognize that you may be exposed to potentially life-threatening situations. You should be responsible for your own actions and involvement, and be aware that your actions may affect the health and safety of others, both members and non-members.

Insurance

The Club has civil liability insurance to cover members for any legal claims made against them for any civil liability arising from club events. This is rather like third party car insurance, but for club events rather than driving!

The Club's insurance is provided through affiliation to the British Mountaineering Council. The BMC's insurance covers affiliated members for civil liabilities arising in connection with hill walking, climbing and mountaineering. The Club also has a supplementary insurance policy with Perkins Slade to cover other activities.

The BMC's Take Cover leaflet gives a summary of the insurance they provide. Please note that members of BMC affiliated clubs are covered by the Civil Liability insurance but NOT the Personal Accident Disability insurance. Click here to read the BMC leaflet.

The Club's insurance does not cover personal injury and any member wanting this sort of insurance should take out an individual policy.

Insurance is not a substitute for individual responsibility. You should only get involved if you accept the risks and take responsibility for your own actions. It is a sad reflection on modern litigation culture that insurance is now so expensive that it costs about 70% of our membership fees.

Any insurance queries should be directed to a member of the committee.

Activities Covered

The Club's insurance policy covers a specified list of activities.

The activities covered are:

In addition, the following activities are covered at Activity Centres:

Events at Activity Centres are only covered if the Activity Centre has its own civil liability insurance.

Other activities can be added to the policy by arrangement with the insurers.

Accident Reporting

Any accident on a club event should be reported to the committee. This applies to any accident involving injury or damage, even if no insurance claim would arise.

The following details are required for club accident records:

Insurance Notification

It is important that all incidents that may give rise to a claim are reported to the insurers as soon as possible after the event. For legal reasons incidents must be reported within 21 days.

The insurers should be notified immediately of any incident that involves:

It is important not to admit liability or agree to pay for any damage caused as this could result in withdrawal of indemnity.

Event Organisers

The club's civil liability insurance covers all members but it is especially important for event organisers.

If you organise a club event: