Football Club Insurance
A football club is several things insured at once. It is a landowner with a pitch and a stand, a licensee with a bar, an employer of groundstaff and volunteers, a provider of activities to children, and a committee of people carrying personal responsibility for how it is run.
Spectators are what make football different from the other pitch sports. People stand at the side of the pitch, in a stand or behind a barrier, and the club is responsible for them being there safely. Once there are stands, terracing or floodlit evening fixtures, ground safety stops being a formality.
Affiliation usually settles the question of whether cover is required. County FA affiliation and league rules normally oblige a club to hold public liability at a stated limit, and the club cannot play without it, which is why cover lapsing mid season is a fixture problem as well as a risk one.
We can advise football clubs at any level, from junior and Sunday league sides through to semi professional clubs with grounds, on liability, property, personal accident and the safeguarding cover a junior section needs.
Common claims and risk exposures
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Spectator injury
Somebody hurt by a ball, by a collapse of a barrier or by slipping on a walkway. The club is responsible for people it has invited onto its ground, whether or not they paid to get in, and for the condition of everything they stand on or lean against.
Player and volunteer injury
Players are injured routinely, and a serious injury can end an income as well as a season. Volunteers running the line, cutting the grass or working behind the bar are treated as employees for employers' liability purposes, which many clubs do not realise.
Clubhouse, bar and social income
For most clubs the clubhouse is the largest asset and the bar is the largest income. A fire or a flood takes both at once, and without cover for lost revenue the club is left with a rebuild and no money coming in.
Junior sections and safeguarding
Running youth teams brings safeguarding obligations, checked coaches and the possibility of an abuse allegation. Abuse cover is not a standard feature of every policy and needs arranging deliberately.
Committee decisions and club governance
Officers and committee members can be personally pursued over how the club has been run, particularly where the club is unincorporated. Employment disputes, grant conditions and financial decisions all sit with the people who volunteered to hold office.
The cover we arrange
We arrange professional indemnity and related insurance around the services you provide, the clients you work with and the contractual requirements you face. The appropriate cover and limits will depend on your individual activities and the terms available from insurers.
Public liability
Injury to spectators, visitors and members of the public, and damage to their property. The cover affiliation and league rules normally require, at a limit those rules specify.
- Spectators and visitors
- Required for affiliation
- Limits commonly £5m or £10m
- Covers the ground and car park
Employers' liability, including volunteers
Legally required where anybody is employed, and extended to volunteers, who are treated as employees for this purpose. Groundstaff, bar helpers and match day volunteers all count.
- Legally required with employees
- Volunteers treated as employees
- Groundstaff and bar helpers
- Statutory minimum limit
Property, clubhouse and ground
Buildings, stands, floodlights, fencing, contents, bar stock and groundcare machinery, together with loss of income while the club cannot trade.
- Clubhouse, stands and floodlights
- Contents, bar stock and kit
- Groundcare machinery
- Loss of bar and gate income
Personal accident for players
Benefits for players injured while playing or training, which matters most for adults whose income depends on being fit for work. Often arranged through a league or affiliation scheme.
- Injury while playing or training
- Loss of earnings benefits
- Dental and physiotherapy
- Age limits usually apply
Management liability and abuse
Personal liability of officers and committee members, and cover for abuse allegations where the club runs youth teams. Two covers clubs commonly discover they need after the event.
- Officers and committee members
- Employment disputes
- Abuse allegations
- Needs safeguarding policies in place
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- League and level played at, and county FA affiliation
- Whether the club owns, leases or hires its ground
- Spectator capacity, and whether there are stands, terracing or seating
- Whether a ground safety certificate is held, where capacity requires one
- Whether there is a clubhouse and a licensed bar, and the annual bar turnover
- Number of teams, including junior teams, and total membership
- Whether coaches are checked and a safeguarding policy is in place
- Claims over the last five years, including vandalism and weather damage
What affects the cost of your insurance?
The main factors insurers consider when assessing the premium.
Level played and spectator numbers
A junior club playing on a council pitch is a very different risk from a semi professional club with a stand and paying spectators, and the gap between them is the largest factor in the price.
Whether the club owns its ground
Owning buildings, stands and floodlights brings a property exposure that a club hiring a council pitch simply does not have.
Bar and social turnover
Licensed premises bring their own risks, from fire to liability, and the bar is usually the club's main income, so the business interruption element follows it.
Safeguarding controls
Checked coaches, a named safeguarding officer and a written policy are what make abuse cover available on sensible terms for a club running junior football.
Conditions and exclusions to consider
Terms vary between insurers, so treat these as the questions to ask rather than a description of any one policy.
The playing surface itself
The pitch is generally not insurable against ordinary wear, waterlogging or frost damage. Fencing, floodlights, goals and machinery are insurable; the grass is a maintenance cost.
Abuse where not specifically included
Many liability wordings exclude it. A club with a junior section should treat abuse cover as a specific item to check rather than assume it comes with public liability.
Injury to players under public liability
Public liability answers injury the club is legally responsible for, not the ordinary risk of playing. Personal accident cover is what responds to a player hurt in the normal course of a game.
Unoccupied or unheated buildings in winter
Clubhouses standing empty midweek and through the close season are subject to conditions about heating, draining down and inspection. Escape of water in an empty clubhouse is one of the most common club claims there is.
Common questions
Does our public liability cover our volunteers?
Not for their own injuries. Volunteers are treated as employees for employers' liability purposes, so somebody cutting the grass or working behind the bar who hurts themselves is an employers' liability claim. It is a common gap we see at clubs that believe public liability covers everyone.
A spectator was hit by a ball. Are we liable?
Not automatically, because a ball leaving the pitch is an ordinary incident of the game. Liability turns on whether the club took reasonable care, which is about barriers, netting where appropriate, signage and where spectators are allowed to stand.
Do we need insurance to be affiliated?
Normally yes. County FA affiliation and most league rules require public liability at a stated limit, and many also require personal accident cover for players. Cover lapsing means the club cannot fulfil fixtures, so the renewal date matters more than clubs often treat it.
Our clubhouse is empty all week. Does that matter?
It matters a great deal. Policies apply conditions to buildings left unoccupied, particularly about heating and water in winter, and escape of water in an empty clubhouse is one of the most frequent and expensive club claims. Get the conditions in writing and make sure whoever holds the keys knows them.
How do I get a quote from True Risk Solutions?
Call 01304 262880 and speak to a broker, or email info@truerisksolutions.co.uk with what you do, what you need cover for and a phone number with the best time to call, and a broker will call you back. We need a phone number to quote, because the cover and the price depend on questions that are quicker to answer on a call than by email.
Related trades
Speak to a specialist who understands your industry
Tell us about your business and the work you undertake, and we will come back to you with cover options built around it. Call 01304 262880, or email us with a phone number and the best time to call and a broker will ring you back.