BMABA can provision martial arts events insurance for tournaments, seminars, workshops and competitions in-house directly from our Group Cover policy. This makes the process much faster and more cost effective for clubs of all sizes seeking cover. As with any insurance attached to membership, it’s important to be clear on what you’re covering yourself for, and what is expected of you in advance.
What Is The Cover For?
Event public liability insurance is designed to Indemnify the Insured in respect of Legal Liability to pay compensation to third parties for injury &/or damage to property arising out of the organisation of the insured event as a result of a negligent act by the Insured.
In a nutshell, the cover is there to provide compensation at the cost of the insurer (rather than you or your club) if a person is injured or property is damaged. Two common examples would be a spectator tripping on a mat due to the event lighting and claiming for a broken ankle, or a venue claiming against you for damage to a wood floor caused by a piece of equipment or ring. As with all insurance, this is subject to you meeting the policy requirements.
What Cover Is Available?
This cover provides Public Liability at either £2,000,000 or £5,000,000. In both cases, there is an excess of £500 on an ‘each & every’ claim basis which you are liable for in the event of a claim arising. Cover is broken up into two categories – up to and including semi-contact, and full contact. There is a small additional cost charged for full contact compared with semi and non-contact events.
Costs & Charges
We’ve tried to keep this as simple and affordable as possible, with a few ‘off the shelf’ prices available;
For non-contact and semi-contact events
£2,000,000 Public Liability – £139.99
£5,000,000 Public Liability – £189.99
For full contact events
£2,000,000 Public Liability – £199.99
£5,000,000 Public Liability – £249.99
There must be no more than 500 spectators at any one event.
Does It Cover My Students For Competing?
We’ve covered this question in-depth here. To quote the original article;
Are Events Covered?
Per the group cover policy wording, student cover is effective whilst students are taking place in “BMABA authorised activities only”. This can be quite liberally applied, as BMABA (we) do not forbid or prohibit you and your students taking part in any other type of events with any other associations; you’re free to do as you please. That said, the insurer would likely intend to mean that it must be activities we are specifically authorising with some sphere of influence or control.
The Problem With Students Competing?
The issue of event cover or a ‘fighters licence’ for students is that no association’s group cover policy will cover this as standard, no matter what they might say. Student public liability insurance provides cover for third party injury or damage to property, so there’s absolutely no recourse for a student becoming seriously injured themselves whilst taking part in an event. Furthermore, as the rules and procedures of the event will be down to the organiser or association behind the event, it’s fair to say that the insurer may deem it not to be BMABA authorised, or to BMABA’s high standard of professionalism.
Whether an event organiser wants to advertise this or not, it is the event organiser liable for an incident occurring in the ring or cage. The requirement that students have a licence and insurance is often seen by some organisers as a comfort to avoid liability in the event of a serious injury or fatality. It would not protect them in the slightest!
In Summary
Whilst there’s nothing hard and fast to say that BMABA’s group cover student public liability insurance would be non-effective in a third party event there are alot of situation in which it may well be. For this reason, we urge caution and prudence. You should assume your BMABA student insurance will not cover them for participation in third party events and this will be the same for any other association’s student cover, regardless of their terminology used. We do hear the term ‘fighters insurance’ used alot and this is a very separate type of cover which can often cost upward of £1,000 event for full contact participants!
If in doubt, please do check and we’ll be happy to help.
In respect of a dedicated event public liability insurance policy, it’s only designed to cover the third party ‘PL’ related matters and is not personal accident cover. If you specifically need cover for a fighter’s personal accident cover please contact us and we can put you in touch with our broker. A quote for this level of cover, given the likelihood of injury, is likely to be in-excess of £500 for amateur events and £10,000+ for professional full contact events.
What Are The Requirements Of Cover?
The insurer sets the following conditions of cover. You should make sure you can meet all of the below confidently before assuming cover. If you’re in doubt, we’re here to help.
Cover under all individual policy Sub-Sections is subject to the following additional conditions:
It is a condition precedent to the liability of Underwriters that the Competition is run in accordance with BMABA Rules & Regulations or equivalent as agreed by Underwriters;
It is a condition precedent to the liability of Underwriters that Risk Assessments are carried out and recorded prior to the event taking place;
It is a condition precedent to the liability of Underwriter that a Paramedic is on site throughout any “Full Contact &/or Light-Contact” competition;
It is a condition precedent to liability that the local Hospital A&E Department are notified of the Event;
It is a condition precedent to liability that all Referees, Corner Crews & Competitors have the required experience and qualification to undertake their responsibilities within the event and this is checked and recorded by the Insured;
It is a condition precedent to liability that any temporary seating is professionally erected & dismantled;
It is a condition precedent to liability that any Ring or Cage is professionally erected & dismantled.
ASSIGNED CONDITIONS;
L 56 – Participant to Participant Exclusion
Underwriters shall have no liability under this Policy to provide any indemnity or benefit for any legal liability under the
Employers Liability or Public Liability Section or indirectly resulting from or in consequence of any Injury caused by the
negligent act and/or omission of any participant towards another participant.
The definition of Participant includes but is not limited to:- Competitors; Referees; Officials; Cornermen; & Coaches.
L 10a – Bodily Treatment Exclusion
Underwriters shall have no liability under this Policy to provide any indemnity or benefit for any legal liability under the
Public Liability or Products Liability Sections directly or indirectly resulting from or in consequence of the provision of any medical
or other bodily treatment.
In the event of breach of the above Additional Condition(s), Underwriters shall have no liability under this policy, unless the Insured can 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
EXCLUSIONS;
Cover excludes any liability for injury to Competitors whilst competing;
Cover excludes any liability arising out of Medical Malpractice;
Excluding losses arising from any deliberate or intentional act;
Cover excludes all professional; semi-professional; & prize fights;
Cover excludes the liability of all referees & officials;
Excluding Participant to Participant Liability;
Event Planning Checklist
We've created a helpful PDF you can use to work through pre, in and post event matters. It's free for all members. Head to MyBMABA and in the template document section you'll find it as 'Event Management Checklist' (in PDF).
Policy Documents
As always, we fully recommend reading through the full policy documents to make sure you understand what you're covered for, and what you're not. No insurance automatically pays out and it's really important you understand the mechanics of cover properly before relying on this. We're always on hand and happy to help if needed.
Activating Cover
You can find out more and purchase an event cover package to go with your club’s membership from the below;