Insurance for Clubs
Contents...
Croquet England Club Insurance Policy - Summary
Croquet England holds an insurance policy with Sportscover through its brokers Endsleigh which offers insurance cover to Croquet England Affiliate Clubs (and associated Academies) and Federations. This document, which has been agreed with our brokers and insurers, is intended as a brief summary of that insurance, it is not intended as a substitute for the policy documents (Combined Liabilities and Directors and Officers) which can be found on the Croquet England website. If you are uncertain about any aspect of the insurance held you should contact either the Croquet England Manager, Croquet England Treasurer, or Endsleigh (0333 234 1657) for clarification.
Multi-Sport Clubs
Where croquet is only one of a number of activities carried out at a club the policy is only for the specific activities of the croquet section. Multi-sport clubs should seek the advice of the broker if there is any doubt as to the coverage offered.
Public Liability
The policy provides £10,000,000 Public Liability cover (No excess for bodily injury, £250 for property damage). Coverage is primarily for accidental bodily injury (except to employees, see Employers Liability) and accidental property damage caused by members or officers of an insured Club or Federation.
Employers Liability
The policy provides £10,000,000 Employers Liability cover (no excess). Coverage extends to volunteers as well as paid employees and is primarily for bodily injury sustained whilst working for an insured Club or Federation.
Professional Indemnity
The policy provides £1,000,000 Professional Liability cover (no excess). Coverage is primarily for coaching and broadly covers Croquet England Qualified Coaches, coaching on a voluntary basis on behalf of a Croquet England Affiliate Club (or associated Academy), Federation or Croquet England itself. Further details are available in Croquet England Insurance - Guidance for Coaches
Director and Officers
The policy provides £500,000 Directors and Officers cover (£250 excess). Coverage is for the officers of insured parties, for their personal liability arising from any wrongful acts they may commit while acting in their capacity. Full policy wording is provided in a separate specific document available on the website.
Property Insurance
Property Insurance is not offered under the policy. Endsleigh offers a preferential rate to Croquet England Affiliate Clubs for a property policy and a number of clubs take advantage of this. For details ring Endsleigh on 0333 234 1657
Coverage
Whilst there are exceptions coverage is generally restricted to the UK, please check the policy or contact the brokers for information on overseas coverage.
Policy Nos: PLON99/0114805 & PLON99/0114806 Brokers: Endsleigh 0333 234 1657
Cover notes will be circulated to clubs when issued by the Insurers.
Frequently Asked Questions
For simplicity, the word "club" is used throughout to mean an insured party i.e. Croquet England Affiliate Club (associated Academy) or Federation*
Who is insured?
It is important to remember that the insured party is the club. For an insured matter if a claim is submitted against the club the insurance cover will respond. This can be in one of two ways either to defend the club and dispute liability, or to admit liability and deal with the claim.
Am I insured if…?
It is common for individuals to ask questions along these lines e.g. am I insured when mowing the lawns? Individuals are not insured under the policy, it is the club that is insured so questions are more properly phrased as "Does the club's cover extend to…"
The coverage offered by each section of the policy is set out above. As it is the club that is insured they will need to be at fault for a claim to exist. In the absence of any fault on the part of the club there will not be a claim. Indeed it should be noted that if the insurers believe that they can defend the claim (i.e. the club is not at fault) they will act for the club and defend the claim, rather than pay out.
Personal accident and liability insurance is available and sometimes included within Home Insurance policies, it is not offered under the Croquet England Club Insurance Policy.
In the case of Professional Indemnity, the individual needs to be acting for an insured body, not in an individual capacity. Director and Officer insurance is slightly special which does insure an individual if they incur personal liability whilst acting in this capacity for an insured body.
Does the Director and Officers Policy cover ordinary committee members?
Yes, a committee member is considered to be an officer.
We are hosting an event organised by Croquet England, the Manager has been assigned by Croquet England, what if their decision leads to an accident?
Here we benefit from having one policy. If there is a claim against the club cover will respond, on behalf of the club, or if there is a claim against the Manager cover will respond on behalf of Croquet England.
Do I need to Carry Out Risk Assessments?
Yes, there is an expectation that risk assessments have been carried out as part of the insured's duty to take reasonable steps to avoid a claim.
General advice on risk assessments is available at that link.
How will I know my Risk Assessments are Adequate?
Provided you have carried out your risk assessments reasonably and to the best of your ability, the risk assessments will likely be adequate. The wish for risk assessments to be undertaken is to avoid accidents, reduce claims (keeping the premium low) and make croquet clubs safer places, it is not to provide an excuse not to pay a claim. A failure to carry out any risk assessments might prove problematic but the oversight of a risk which subsequently leads to a claim would not in itself be a reason to refuse a claim.
Our lawns are cut by a club member, often working alone is this insured?
Lone working is acceptable provided it has been properly risk assessed and consideration has been given to Health and Safety Executive guidance (see risk assessment page of Croquet England website).
What if the volunteer is not a member of the club (e.g. husband of a member)?
Any volunteer working on behalf of the club would be covered, subject to other considerations.
What if one of two volunteers working together cause an accidental injury to the other?
There would need to be negligence on the part of the club for cover to respond. However, if there was negligence on behalf of one of the volunteers as they are working for the club cover would respond.
We share our site with a bowls club who have a similar insurance policy to this what if there is an accident in a shared area?
Assuming the event is insured the insurance policy will respond either to admit liability and deal with the claim or to defend the croquet club against the claim, which could mean holding the bowls club to be liable. In theory if there is liability one of the two policies should accept and deal with the claim.
Are groups such as Women's Institutes, U3A Groups insured when visiting our premises? What about "Pay to Play" visitors?
Public liability cover would extend to groups such as this for accidents on the premises or whilst playing, for which the club was found to be at fault. Similarly coverage would extend to "Pay to Play" visitors. There is an expectation that a member would be present when such activities were taking place.
We hire out our clubhouse to the local bridge club to play bridge, not croquet, is this insured?
Public liability cover would extend to a matter such as this in terms of for accidents on the premises for which the club was found to be at fault, it would not extend to the bridge club and the activity of playing bridge.
What about incidental activities at the club such as petanque in the car park, or darts in the clubhouse?
Public liability cover would extend to such activities providing it is members/visitors to the croquet club taking part. A petanque or darts club using the club premises would need their own insurance for the activity (i.e. as the bridge club above).
We sometimes operate away from our club at a local church or village fair is this insured?
Public liability would extend to your organised activity of playing croquet, it would not extend to accidents which were a result of a failure on the part of the venue who should have their own cover in place for such accidents.
(NB this is basically the bridge club scenario in reverse)
Do we need to maintain a Visitor's Book?
No, unless you have identified the need for one as a result of your risk assessments.
What is the situation with unauthorised visitors i.e. Trespassers?
The club still owes intruders a duty of care, so a claim could be made by an intruder that injures themselves. Cover would respond either to defend the club or deal with the claim.
Children sometimes visit our club do we need to do anything as a result?
You should be familiar with the Croquet England Child Safeguarding policy and operate in accordance with it for insurance cover to respond.
What should we do if we have an accident?
Do not admit liability.
Gather evidence, including photos, statements as appropriate.
If you believe an incident is likely to lead to a claim you should inform our broker's Endsleigh (details above) as soon as practical following the incident. Do not wait for the claim to arrive although obviously if you have not done so previously you should do so at this point.
If I have a query about the Croquet England Club Insurance Policy what should I do?
You should contact Endsleigh directly, or the Croquet England Operations Manager, Treasurer or Secretary.
Property Insurance is not included in the Croquet England Club Insurance Policy, how can I obtain it?
Property insurance can be obtained from a variety of sources including Endsleigh, who insure around 50 croquet clubs.
When taking out property insurance be particularly aware of the need to conform to security standards i.e. requirements for locks and padlocks. Also, be sure to consider the replacement cost of your contents, for example, your existing club mallets might not be worth much but they will be expensive to replace. Finally, trophies will need to be specifically declared.
*In some circumstances this policy also covers Croquet England itself. However, Croquet England holds its own separate policy, which generally covers its property, office and shop operations.
The content of this document has been agreed with our brokers and insurers.
This document is to be reviewed on 30th April 2025
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