Civil Liability Insurance for Club Members - An Introduction
This section contains details about:
Club Members - Registration of members
Civil Liability Insurance Overview
How Liability could attach to members of a Club
Significant Exclusions or Limitations
Click here for specimen copies of the MCofS Certificate of Insurance and Confirmation of Liability Cover documents
Click here for a specimen Confirmation of Club Cover document, including Incident Reporting and Recording Guidelines.
General enquiries concerning the operation of the Civil Liability Insurance Scheme and the cover provided should be referred to the Senior Officer at the MCofS, rather than direct to Perkins Slade. Telephone 01738-493947 or use the contact form on this website.
Incidents should be recorded and reported using the guidelines detailed in the Confirmation of Club Cover (see above), to The Sports Team, Perkins Slade Limited, 3 Broadway, Broad Street, Birmingham B15 1BQ. Telephone 0121 698 8000; Fax 0121 625 9000. email sports@perkins-slade.com.
The following information is provided to inform officials and members of Club Members regarding the operation of MCofS Civil Liability Insurance, and its relationship to subscriptions.
Membership Subscriptions
There are three categories of membership – Individual, Club and Associate
- Individual membership options include Ordinary, Youth, Concession, Joint and Family categories
- Individuals who are members of a Club Member are eligible for MCofS membership at concessionary rates, providing the club has registered the member's details and paid the relevant subscription to the MCofS
- Associate membership is offered to organisations and companies which demonstrate a corporate commitment to supporting the mountaineering community and the mountain environment
The purpose of the membership subscription is to:
- support the activities of the MCofS in representing members' interests
- enable the MCofS to provide relevant information, including a subscription to The Scottish Mountaineer magazine
- provide the MCofS (its staff and volunteers), club and individual members, with Civil Liability Insurance (CLI)
The subscription year runs from one Annual General Meeting (AGM) to the next AGM. Subscriptions of Club Members are due and payable:
- within six months of the AGM if the AGM is held on or before 31st August
- within four months of the AGM if the AGM is held after 31st August
The CLI premium is included in the subscription and the premium is determined in consultation with the insurance broker.
Club Members - Registration of members
Members of Clubs declared as being active to the MCofS will enjoy CLI cover on activities undertaken with the registering club, another club or individually.
CLI insurance covers club events including outdoor and indoor activities. For insurance purposes a Club Member member who no longer participates in club events, including social activities, need not be declared in the submission by that club. However, such members may wish to continue to support the MCofS by paying the subscription fee. The MCofS maintains a database of registered club members. In the event of a claim by a Club Member, the database will be used to establish whether a member of a club involved in a claim is registered and eligible for cover.
Members joining a Club Member must be registered with the MCofS within one month of joining that club. The subscription for new members is calculated on a pro-rata basis in blocks of 3 months.
If an incident occurs at a Club event, which includes an individual who is not registered, insurance could be invalid for that event or the individual concerned.
Where clubs undertake activities or events involving unaccompanied children (under the age of 18), it is a mandatory requirement of the insurance broker that a Club Member has an appropriate Child Protection Policy in place. This would ensure that the officers and members of that club are covered by the CLI Policy in the event of a claim against them made by a child. In the event of such a claim being made, the insurance policy may be invalidated if no Child Protection Policy is in operation.
If a guest participates in a club event, he / she is not personally covered by the insurance. If that person causes a claim to be made he /she can be sued on a personal basis, or the club can also be held responsible and may be brought into legal action. CLI will cover the club, its officials, and its members and the event only. The guest is not covered in his / her own right. If a guest participates with the club on a regular basis they should be regarded as a member of the club and be made either a prospective or full member, and the relevant subscription sent to the MCofS. There is automatic cover for the club when individuals participate in club events on a trial basis. The club is indemnified for liability but the individual has no insurance in his / her own right until becoming a fully paid up member of the club.
Assuming that the Club constitution allows their membership, children (under 18 years old) may join a club and particpate in its activities and the club will be indemnified against liability. Although children legally cannot be held responsible for their actions, the insurance charge is still applicable becasue when liabilities are incurred by a child in respect of third party personal injury or property damage, the duty of care will ultimately lie with the club. Club officials must ensure they are aware of the provisions of the MCofS Child Protection Policy Statement and Guidelines when organising events involving children. Club officials and members should note that claims for damages due to allegations of abuse against children, brought against the members or officers of a club, are specifically excluded from the insurance policy.
Insurance cover is only available to members of clubs who have been declared to the MCofS and who have a permanent UK address. Such members are covered for mountaineering activities in both the UK and overseas (but excluding USA and Canada).
Members with a permanent UK address who are working on a temporary contract or serving with the armed forces abroad are included within the cover, for mountaineering activities in both the UK and overseas (but excluding USA and Canada).
Any person permanently living abroad is not covered because the policy is subject to UK jurisdiction and the underwriters will not extend cover to permanent overseas residents.
Civil Liability Insurance Overview
MCofS Civil Liability Insurance provides protection against any circumstance in civil law: for the MCofS, including its volunteers and staff; for Club Members, including club officials and members; and for Individual Members, including:
- PUBLIC LIABILITY: Accidental bodily injury to third parties and / or damage to third party property arising out of mountaineering activities
- PRODUCT LIABILITY: Accidental bodily injury to third parties and / or damage to third party property arising out of any goods sold or supplied by members of the Club Member
- PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY: Loss (financial or otherwise) arising out of Errors or Omissions (e.g. bad advice)
- LIBEL AND SLANDER: Includes defamation
- DIRECTORS' AND OFFICERS' LIABILITY: Legal liability protection in respect of mismanagement
- OWNER'S LIABILITY: The policy is also extended to protect against liability arising out of the use, ownership or possession of any club premises, e.g. mountaineering huts
How Liability could attach to members of a Club
First, it is necessary to explain that liability actually attaches to individual members of clubs, not to the club itself, unless the club is incorporated (see note below). Most mountaineering and hill walking clubs are unincorporated and therefore they have no legal personality of their own, unlike companies limited by shares or guarantee (or partnerships in Scotland). Because clubs are unincorporated their property - the legal title to land and buildings - has to be held in the names of individual members (minimum 2, maximum 4).
So as far as clubs are concerned, all members of a club are equally liable at law in the event of any claim arising from, or in connection with, its activities, for example in respect of its hut.
In practice, the claimant would address a claim to a limited number of individuals. In the case of a claim involving an accident at a hut the claim would be addressed to the hut warden, officers, committee members and trustees. Any individual singled out to defend a claim would be entitled to an indemnity from the membership on whose behalf they were acting in respect of the claim itself and associated costs - to the full extent of any uninsured losses.
Liability can attach to the collective membership of mountaineering clubs under a variety of circumstances, principally under the five heads of cover detailed above, some examples are:
- A member or third party could be injured by faulty or poorly maintained club premises.
- Members or third parties may take offence to published materials, e.g. guidebooks / newsletters / website.
- Food poisoning could be suffered by a member or a third party from materials either made or distributed by a member or members of the club at an event organised by the club, or illness could be caused by a contaminated water supply to a hut.
- A member or a third party may sustain injury as a result of faulty equipment provided by a member or members of the club at an event organised by the club.
- If a novice mountaineer sustained injury on a walk or climb led by a member or members during an event organised in the name of the club.
- If a rock or debris was dislodged and caused injury or damage to a member or a third party or property when it fell.
- Should the club become insolvent as the result of mismanagement of finances.
- Should a landowner's gate be left open and cattle or sheep escape and cause third party injury or damage.
Note: Clubs may incorporate themselves, usually by registering as a company limited by guarantee. Such a company has no share capital. The members guarantee that in the event of the company going into liquidation they will each contribute a specified amount, say £5. Thus, their liability is limited to £5. The company's liability is unlimited - all its assets (such as a club hut if owned by the club) are available to meet its debts.
CCPR Sports Scheme Combined Liability - Policy Summary
In order to comply with Financial Services Authority regulations Perkins Slade and the underwriter, Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc, require that the policy summary below should be provided along with the foregoing notes. It is a generic document that all National Representative Bodies that have access to the Civil Liability insurance policy are required to distribute to their members.£2,000,000 is the minimum level of cover that is provided. The individual certificate of insurance and schedule held by the MCofS and BMC respectively specify any variation from the generic policy and detail the (i) policy period, (ii) name of the insured, (iii) operative timeand (iv) limit of indemnity etc. In the case of the MCofS and BMC the limit of indemnity for any one event is £5,000,000. See note below reviewing the policy.
This Liability policy is an annually renewable Combined Liability insurance, underwritten by Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc.
This Policy provides cover in respect of:
- Civil Liability (including: Public Liability, Products Liability, Professional Indemnity).
- Civil Liability to pay damages in respect of claims arising out of the conduct of the Business or Insured Activities made against the Insured and notified to the Company during the Period of Insurance.
- The Civil Liability section also provides legal liability cover for associated claimant legal costs.
- The Civil Liability section of the policy provides cover for all liability to pay damages under civil law unless otherwise excluded under the list of policy exclusions.
Cover therefore includes liability:
- arising out of injury to any person (excluding persons employed);
- in respect of loss or damage to third party property;
- in respect of nuisance and trespass;
- in respect of libel and/or slander committed in good faith;
- arising out of advice, tuition or coaching provided.
In certain circumstances cover may include member-to-member liability. This cover applies only when one Insured member brings a claim against another Insured member.
The following tables provide only a summary of the main policy benefits and the terms and conditions. For full details of these and all the terms and conditions that apply you should read the policy document. Commencing January 2008, and thereafter on payment of subscriptions, each Club Member will be issued with a personalised Confirmation of Club Cover - click on the link for an example.
Note: The original Certificate of Insurance is held at the MCofS office. A specimen copy of the Certificate of Insurance is available here.
Significant Exclusions or Limitations
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risks that require more specific insurance, i.e. Motor, Marine
- injury to any Person Employed
- loss of or damage to property in your custody or control
- pollution unless caused by a sudden identifiable unintended and unexpected incident
- any legal action brought against the Insured in a Court of Law within the United States of America or Canada other than in certain circumstances
- fines, penalties or punitive damages
- damage to products supplied and work and the repair, replacement or recall of same work
- claims arising out of or in connection with asbestos
- repair of defects in premises disposed of
- claims arising out of or in connection with damage to any Data
- nuclear risks
- war risks
- deliberate, dishonest or foreseeable acts
- infringement of trademark name registered design copyright or patent right
- medical negligence
- abuse
- Directors and Officers liability for any wrongful act employment wrongful act or wrongful trading
- some other specific events may be excluded or cover may be qualified
- claims arising from loss happening prior to the retroactive date stated in the schedule