BMABA has a reputation as one of the industry's leading providers of martial arts insurance, and in particular, instructor insurance. Our expert understanding of martial arts, the application of teaching, and the way insurance works positions us well to provide supportive, informed, impartial guidance on how insurance works, what it is for and - when required - to provide this via our national group cover policy.

It’s important to remember that insurance is not something to be purchased and then locked away in the top drawer until renewal. It is a product that requires your attention on inception and then continued thought throughout the year.

We provide comprehensive assistance in understanding the way insurance works and the claims process in greater detail as part of our level 1 and level 2 instructor qualifications. You can access this for free with your membership from here. Please don’t wait until a claim arises to find you’ve missed a key part of the insurance process!

You should take the time to fully study the policy documents, inclusions and exclusions per your requirements under the membership.

If in doubt, please check with us. There’s never such a thing as a stupid question! Please remember that not all parts of a general policy document will apply to your cover as this is for all of the different aspects of cover we provide.
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The descriptions provided below are designed to provide a summary of possible application of cover, but is not exhaustive or specific.

Public Liability is considered a core martial arts instructor insurance and is available at £5,000,000 or £10,000,000. In a nutshell, it provides cover for your legal liability to pay compensation to third parties for bodily injury and/or damage to property as the result of a negligent act by the Insured arising out of the instruction of martial arts. This is the most typical claim we see - usually from students who are injured whilst under your care as an instructor. Until an instructor has sat our Level 1 qualification (free for all members and available entirely online) only £2,000,000 PL shall exist.

This provides cover for claims against an instructor based upon professional advice given – for example, specific guidance that leads to a financial loss, rather than injury arising from supervision of a class. This could also include unintentional infringement of intellectual property rights, loss of documents or data in your trust, unintentional defamation, libel or slander, unintentional breach of confidence, confidential duty or misuse of information or bad advice on websites & social media. £1,000,000 Professional Indemnity (PI) is included free of charge at the association’s cost for all instructors.

Abuse extension is a very specialist type of cover, and it’s only available from a very few select insurers. Abuse Extension (AE) provides cover for defence of the named instructor if there is an allegation of abuse made against them. This wouldn’t be covered under usual PL or PI, so provided an additional level of support to the instructor. We provide £500,000 cover free of charge for all instructors. It is important to note that for this to be effective, you must have sat the BMABA Safeguarding Qualification which is accessible online for all members. You must also ensure you have verified your account with an enhanced DBS check.

Cover is subject to the following additional conditions. Please note, this is per the policy wording so ‘WE’ refers to the insurer and NOT BMABA.
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1. No one shall be allowed to participate whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
2. No one shall be allowed to participate against medical advice.
3. Any additional activities provided on a direct or sub-contracted basis are referred to insurers for prior approval.
4. All Instructors must be suitably qualified to instruct Martial Arts. This will be a minimum of Black Belt in the discipline being instructed or an acceptable alternative as agreed with Underwriters.
5. All Instructors must be DBS Certified (or National Equivalent) and hold a valid and current First Aid Certificate.
6. Assistant Instructors are only covered by the Instructors policy if a fully qualified, insurance Instructor is supervising the session at all times.
7. The Instructor/Student ratio must not exceed 1:20, but 1:10 for Children under 8 years of age, unless otherwise agreed with Underwriters.
8. Suitable Protective Equipment worn whilst sparring.
9. Parent/Guardian of all 3 and 4 year old children must remain in the Hall.
10. Training areas are risk assessed on a regular basis with the results recorded and any defects remedied prior to further use.
11. All equipment is used and maintained in accordance with manufacturers’ recommendations.
12. For £5,000,000 Public Liability to be effective, the named instructor must have completed our Level 1 Instructor Qualification. If this has not been done, only £2,000,000 Public Liability shall be effective.
13. For £500,000 Abuse Cover to be effective, the instructor must have sat the BMABA Safeguarding Qualification and they must have a verified profile with proof of DBS and Safeguarding, with BMABA mandatory safeguarding guidelines followed as required. Failure to do so shall nil-and-void the Abuse Cover.

14. This policy does not cover the named instructor's responsibility to secure any insurances separate to instructor liability for venue, premises or leaseholder public liability, nor any other insurances as may be required by the instructor.

15. You must ensure your suitability (audience) vetting status is updated to reflect whether or not you are teaching adults only, or adults and children. Any subsequent policy requirements (first aid and/or DBS) must be verified for cover to be live.

Special “All Risks” Equipment Conditions
1. Policy excludes gradual wear tear and depreciation.
2. Policy excludes damage whilst in use.
3. Policy excludes any unexplained shortage or inventory shortage or disappearance.
4. Theft cover is subject to evidence of forcible and violent entry or exit to property housing the equipment.
5. Policy excludes theft from a vehicle overnight unless the vehicle is contained in a locked building.
6. Policy excludes theft whilst equipment is left unattended in the open.

In the event of breach of the above Additional Condition(s), We shall have no liability under this policy, unless You show that non-compliance with this condition could not have increased the risk of the loss which actually occurred in the circumstances in which it occurred.
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MAIN EXCLUSIONS:
1. Excluding injury or damage caused by or arising from any Treatment given by or on behalf of the insured (except Emergency Aid administered by a qualified First Aider).
2. Excluding all activities other than those disclosed to Underwriters.
3. Excluding Participant to Participant Liability.
4. Excluding all deliberate or intentional Acts.
5. Excluding all cover for premises, leases and venues.

6. Excluding the use of all sharp/live blades unless specifically endorsed via the separate BMABA Live Blades Policy Extension
7. Coronavirus Absolute Exclusion
Notwithstanding any other provision (including any communicable disease extension), no cover is provided under this policy for any claim, loss, cost or expense of whatever nature directly or indirectly arising out of, contributed to by or resulting from coronavirus disease (COVID-19), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), or any mutation or variation thereof.

This exclusion also applies to any claim, loss, cost or expense of whatever nature directly or indirectly arising out of, contributed to by or resulting from:
(i) any fear or threat (whether actual or perceived) of; or
(ii) any action taken in controlling, preventing, suppressing or in any way relating to any outbreak of;
coronavirus disease (COVID-19), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), or any mutation or variation thereof.’

Your cover is assigned to you via our Group Cover policy. This means it’s served in conjunction with membership. As such, we (BMABA) are the policy holder and hold the direct insurance policy with the insurer. You are a named member on said policy, which covers all of our registered and licensed instructors and students accordingly. It’s important to bear this in mind as you must ensure your membership remains in good standing for insurance to remain effective. You must have also designated your vetting status in MyBMABA as teaching, per our terms of membership. We are not an insurance intermediary and do not process named policies without authorisation.

BMABA are proud to have been the first (and still only at time of writing) martial arts association to offer free temporary switching of insurance for all insured BMABA instructors. This is designed to primarily cover sickness and holiday. Here's how it works;

Here's the key conditions you need to be aware of for this service;

Our instructor insurance provision will cover instruction outdoors - be that one to one tuition or group classes, provided;

We have dedicated guidance for the use of Martial Arts Based Fitness & Stretching available below. Whilst martial arts centric fitness is generally supported, it is important not to stray into the field of dedicated fitness or personal training sessions.

Our policy will cover the sale or supply of martial arts related goods and accessories, alongside light snacks, packed lunches and other non-cooked food. Please ensure you read the full guidance below first.

We recognise the fantastic health benefits of martial arts for women in the early stages of pregnancy in helping to maintain fitness and martial arts progression. We also fully support a women's choice to return to teaching or training after the birth of a baby. The insurer does not set any helpful guidance on when a student or instructor should stop training, so for the avoidance of doubt we ask that;

Our insurer has specified the following in respect of remote/video based classes;

In respect of any coaching or instruction that is undertaken remotely, it is strongly recommended that the Insured should:

1. at the commencement of the session, advise participants:

a. that by participating they are doing so at their own risk;

b. a suitable, non-slip floor space is required and any potential obstructions in the vicinity are removed before they participate;

c. to avoid activities if they have, or suspect they may have any current health concerns, injuries, aches and pains;

d. avoid the use of blades, weapons or sharp instruments of any description;

e. avoid physical contact with other participants and where appropriate, adhere to social distancing guidelines;

2. ensure that sessions are conducted for the benefit of existing members/participants/contacts only who have demonstrated sufficient suitability to participate;

3. continue to only instruct activities in which you are qualified to do so;

4. record the session. Retaining the recording for a period of up to thirty-six (36) months may assist in any claim made against you;

In the event of an injury or potential claim, we need to alert the insurer to the incident without delay. Even if you’re not sure, please let us know via a ticket immediately if somebody is injured or property is damaged, or if there is any suspicion of a claim on professional indemnity, abuse extension or public liability.

There isn't as such a pre-defined list of questions the claims assessor will ask you for initially when reporting an incident. This may vary, but is generally along the lines of the below.

It’s worth noting that not being able to provide/confirm one or more of the following will not necessarily jeopardise a claim; it will depend on the individual circumstances and material relevance of the particular incidence. Whilst this may be the case, we ask instructors to be prudent and aware of all the below particulars at all times, to ensure any claim can be dealt with in full by our group cover insurance policy and the claims team;

We’ll confirm the details of questions marked * on your behalf to the insurer.

We encourage instructors to query anything on this list before assuming cover or teaching under the provision of any cover if there are any questions, concerns or problems.