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Managing Your Instructor Insurance
Managing Your Instructor Insurance

Our guide to understanding what your instructor insurance is, how it works, and what you need to do to have a successful claim.

Updated over a week ago

Overview

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.

Act as the prudent uninsured. It’s important never to ‘bank on’ insurance arbitrarily paying out in the event of a loss. You should always assume you are uninsured (the prudent uninsured) to formulate the right approach to risk management.

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 fromhere. Please don’t wait until a claim arises to find you’ve missed a key part of the insurance process!

Policy Documents

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.

Conditions & Exclusions

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.

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.

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.’

Policy Relationship

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. We are not an insurance intermediary and do not process named policies without authorisation.

Remote / Video Classes

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;


How A Claim Works

You’ll find this point covered in the Level 2 instructor qualification if you’re looking a detailed overview on exactly what each question means, how it applies and what the insurer is looking for. We also have a specific risk management course you can complete, if you'd like to understand the details of claims. We strongly recommend this.

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;

When a claim is logged, the claims assessor will arrange to come out and visit you in person to see the site on which the accident happened, inspect records and collect further information. BMABA can not be present for this visit, so it's important you can answer as much of the below confidentially to be pre-prepared.

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

  1. The Instructors personal PL insurance details ( * )

  2. A copy of the Policy Wording ( * )

  3. Instructors DBS (or National equivalent) certification ( * ) If confirmed with our office

  4. Confirmation as to who allegedly sparred with the Claimant

  5. The Instructors valid First Aid Certificate ( * ) If confirmed with our office

  6. Is the instructor a full time instructor or an assistance instructor

  7. Was a fully insured, fully qualified instructor supervising the session at all times

  8. What personal protective equipment is used for sparring/physical contact

  9. What was the instructor to student ratio for this particular class

  10. What was the Grade of Martial Arts being taught

  11. What belt does the instructor hold ( * ) If confirmed with our office

  12. Photographs of the incident area

  13. Were soft padded mats in place

  14. A full detailed version of events from the instructor – did the instructor perform any move or technique on the Claimant

  15. A copy of the risk assessment

  16. CCTV footage if available

  17. A copy of the accident book (if available)

  18. Was this the Claimant’s first session at the Insured premises

  19. How often is the sparring area cleaned/dried/maintained etc. and are any records available to evidence this

  20. Are any disclaimers signed by customers

  21. Are any other witnesses available to comment on the circumstances

  22. Details of any signage to warn of potential risks of injury to customers

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.

If in doubt, report it!
We will manage the notifiable event without broker on your behalf and we would always rather raise a case that never becomes actionable than not raise a case that becomes a claim, as this may jeapordise your cover.

Just as you would will all other insurances, you should never admit liability. You can tell a client or venue that you’ll report it to your association or insurer immediately but do not admit liability.

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