Managing risk: Duties and obligations of clubs

To help protect your club and its users

It is often the case that, with roles within clubs changing frequently, there is some uncertainty and gaps in knowledge when it comes to club insurance, obligations of clubs with regard to risk and actions that need to be taken to safeguard users of the club. It is vital that there is an understanding of what needs to happen in order to help protect your club and its users and, should the worst happen, provide protection by the club’s insurance policy.

Insurance

Do you know what you are covered for within your insurance policy?

It is crucial to know and understand what insurance you already have and what additional covers you may need to help protect your club. As part of your LTA registration, you receive a wide ranging insurance package for your venue arranged by Howden. This includes:

• Combined liability (Public Liability and Professional Indemnity) Insurance
• Employers Liability Insurance
• Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Cover
• Abuse Liability Insurance Cover

However, it is important to note that the following are NOT included in your cover, and need to be arranged separately. In order to make sure your club and courts are adequately protected, we encourage you to make sure these elements of your venue have the appropriate insurance cover, and information and valuation for these elements are up-to-date when it comes to renewal:

• Property & contents
• Tennis Courts
• Equipment
• Cyber

Howden Insurance Brokers can help you to protect your club and manage your risk. To get a quick online quote for your property and contents insurance visit: www.howdensportsinsurance.co.uk

Underinsurance

Many think that your standard building and contents policy will cover you and will protect you in all insurable circumstances, but in fact this may not be the case if you are underinsured.

Underinsurance is a common problem, and a big issue within property and contents insurance policies. Underinsurance occurs when the sums insured on a policy do not represent the current value of the items at risk. The sums insured is the maximum amount your insurer will pay, therefore if your property or contents is underinsured, insurers could apply ‘average’, meaning the amount paid to you in the event of a claim could be proportionally reduced in line with how underinsured you are. This may be insufficient to cover the costs of re-building or replacing contents and machinery and you will need to pay the amount not covered out of your own pocket.

To avoid the risk of underinsurance, it is important to take these necessary steps;

• Take into account the full cost it would take to re-build or reinstate any premises, including keeping a register of all current contents and the cost to replace them.
• Costs and other external circumstances will change over time, so ensure these valuations are kept up to date.
• If your club has not been valued within the past few years you may want to consider having a valuation by a professional to ensure you are aware of the current market value and rebuild costs for your premises.
• Work with your insurance broker to continually assess your sums insured and policy limits.
   

Risk Assessment

You have a duty of care to all stakeholders at your venue – whether that is those participating in sports, visitors or staff. A club must do all it reasonably can to eliminate loss, damage or injury to others and may be held legally liable to others if it fails to do so.

Reviewing the risk assessment action plan provided by Howden Insurance Brokers can highlight those areas in your club that need to be reviewed, and provides actions that need to be taken to ensure a safe environment and minimise the risk for your users.

www.howdenriskassessment.co.uk/lookup-club

Covid-19 poses unique risks to clubs, who must take steps to make sure their premises are ‘Covid-19 secure’. Appropriate control measures must be put to reduce the risk of contracting the virus to as low a level as is ‘reasonably practical’. The government’s new safe working guidance outlines, by sector, what controls are appropriate and how to implement them. Based on these guidelines your Covid-19 risk assessment should consider the following actions and you should record what you are doing.

For further information on suggested actions you can take to manage the risk of the virus spreading read our guidance on What to consider when re-opening after extended closure
 

Fire Risk Mitigation

The data from the LTA Risk Assessment shows that 26% of tennis clubs don’t undertake a fire risk assessment.

Your club house or premises is required to have a fire risk assessment in place according to the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. You must ensure a fire risk assessment is implemented and reviewed to take into account any updates including new hazards or updates to emergency plans.

A qualified person should be appointed to carry out a risk assessment and regularly review. They should follow this simple 5 step plan for carrying out an assessment:

1. Identify the fire hazards
2. Identify people at risk
3. Evaluate, reduce or remove the risk
4. Record your findings, prepare an emergency plan and provide training
5. Review and update the fire risk assessment regularly.

You must have a fire detection and warning system in place for your club house or premises. There should be regular checks that these systems are working and fire alarms should be subject to planned maintenance every 6 months. Firefighting equipment should also be available to tackle small fires. Again, these should be regularly maintained according to manufacturer’s instructions.
 

Portable Appliance Testing (PAT)

The Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 requires any electrical equipment that has the potential to cause injury is maintained and kept in a safe condition. PAT is the term used to describe the examination of electrical appliances and equipment to ensure they are safe to use. It is important to ensure that all fixed wiring and portable electronic equipment – which includes kettles, toasters and computers - are inspected regularly.

Checks must be undertaken to ensure any electrical equipment is safe to use and ultimately will not cause harm to any club members or participants.

Actions that should be taken:

• Encourage staff and volunteers to check equipment is safe before they use it
• Depending on the type, make sure portable equipment is visually inspected at regular intervals.
• At appropriate intervals, arranges for a formal visual inspection and testing by a competent person.
• Ensure damaged or faulty equipment is recognised and removed, and either fixed by a competent individual or disposed of to prevent further use
• A competent electrician should inspect fixed wiring every 5 years to ensure everyone who uses the facility isn’t harmed

For more information about updating your building and contents insurance policy or anything else discussed in this article, please contact:

T  01216 679904

E  [email protected]

Howden Insurance Brokers will be joining Tennis Scotland for the first in their monthly club development webinars to discuss our specialist insurance solutions for tennis clubs.

Tennis Scotland will be holding two sessions:

·        21 July 2020 – 1pm

·        23 July 2020 – 7pm

If you are a tennis club based in Scotland and registered with the LTA and would like to join us for one of these webinar sessions, please contact [email protected] for more information and how to register.