Golf Club Insurance
A golf club is a trading business with a large estate attached. There is a clubhouse with catering and a bar, a pro shop holding stock, a machinery fleet worth more than most clubs realise, irrigation and drainage across the course, and a membership whose subscriptions and visitor green fees have to keep all of it running.
That makes golf the largest property exposure in amateur sport. Greens machinery alone can run to six figures, much of it stored in one shed, and a fire there takes the club's ability to present a playable course as well as the machines themselves.
The errant ball is the liability claim everybody recognises. Balls leave courses onto roads, into gardens and onto neighbouring property, and where a hole has a history of it the club's response to that history decides liability for the next incident rather than the individual shot.
We can advise golf clubs on property and machinery cover, liability including ball damage and buggy use, and the business interruption position where green fee and function income pays for the course.
Common claims and risk exposures
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Course machinery
Mowers, tractors, sprayers and utility vehicles, usually housed together. A single fire in the machinery shed is the largest realistic property loss most clubs face, and it stops the course being presented as well as destroying the fleet.
Errant balls leaving the course
Damage to vehicles, houses and glass, and injury to people on adjoining land or roads. Where a particular hole produces repeated incidents, the club's failure to net, screen or re route is what creates liability.
Buggies and course vehicles
Buggies are driven by members and visitors of all ages and abilities, on slopes, near water and sometimes across public paths. Injury and rollover claims arise, and the insurance position depends on where they are used.
Clubhouse, catering and pro shop
A commercial kitchen, a licensed bar, function business and retail stock in one building. Fire, escape of water and theft all apply, and the income lost while the clubhouse is shut affects the whole operation.
Members' property and lockers
Clubs hold members' clubs, bags and trolleys in locker rooms and storage sheds. Theft from those areas is common, and members expect the club to answer for it whether or not it is legally obliged to.
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.
Property, clubhouse and course structures
Buildings, clubhouse, halfway house, greenkeeping sheds, irrigation, bridges, fencing and contents, with cover for income lost while facilities cannot be used.
- Clubhouse and outbuildings
- Irrigation and course structures
- Bar and pro shop stock
- Loss of green fee and bar income
Machinery and plant
The greenkeeping fleet, both while stored and while in use on the course, including breakdown cover where it is offered and hired in machinery during a busy season.
- Mowers, tractors and sprayers
- In use on the course
- Hired in machinery
- Theft from sheds and compounds
Public liability, including ball damage
Injury and damage to third parties, including damage caused by balls leaving the course and incidents involving visitors, contractors and function guests.
- Errant ball damage and injury
- Visitors and function guests
- Limits commonly £5m or £10m
- Covers the whole estate
Employers' liability and volunteers
Legally required for greenkeepers, bar and catering staff and professionals employed by the club, and extending to volunteers helping with course and club work.
- Greenkeepers and bar staff
- Legally required
- Volunteers treated as employees
- Machinery operators
Management liability and members' effects
Personal liability of officers and committee members, and cover for members' property held in lockers and storage, which is a recurring source of small claims.
- Officers and committee members
- Employment disputes
- Members' clubs and trolleys
- Locker room theft
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- Whether the course is owned or leased, and the number of holes
- Rebuild value of the clubhouse and all outbuildings
- Value of the greenkeeping machinery fleet, and where it is stored
- Annual income split between subscriptions, green fees, bar, catering and retail
- Whether roads, houses or public footpaths adjoin the course, and at which holes
- History of ball damage claims and any netting or screening installed
- Number of buggies, whether club owned, and where they are permitted to go
- Claims over the last five years, including fire, theft and storm damage
What affects the cost of your insurance?
The main factors insurers consider when assessing the premium.
Property and machinery values
The largest factor by a distance. Clubhouse rebuild cost and the machinery fleet value typically account for most of a golf club's premium.
Trading income
Bar, catering, retail and green fee income determine the business interruption element, which for a club dependent on visitors is a serious figure.
What adjoins the course
Roads, housing and public paths raise the liability exposure. A course surrounded by farmland is a materially lighter risk than one bordered by a housing estate.
Fire protection in the machinery shed
Detection, separation of fuel storage and secure compounds are what insurers look for, because the shed is where the largest single loss sits.
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 course itself
Greens, tees and fairways are maintenance rather than insured property. Structures, irrigation, machinery and buildings are insurable; turf and trees generally are not, beyond debris clearance.
Repeated ball damage from a known hole
Where incidents recur at the same point and nothing has been done, insurers can condition or exclude that exposure. Netting or re routing protects the cover as much as the neighbours.
Buggies on public roads
Where a buggy crosses or uses a public road, motor insurance requirements can apply. That is a different policy from the club's liability cover and needs checking against where buggies actually go.
Machinery left outside the compound
Cover for the fleet is usually conditioned on secure storage. Machines left out on the course overnight, or in an unlocked compound, may fall outside it.
Common questions
A member's ball broke a car windscreen on the road. Are we liable?
Possibly, and it depends on history rather than on the shot. A club that knows a hole regularly sends balls onto a road and has done nothing is in a weak position; one that has netted, screened or re routed is in a strong one. Report incidents to your insurer even when you settle them yourself, because the pattern is what matters.
Is our machinery covered while it is out on the course?
It should be, but check the wording rather than assuming, because some policies cover machinery in store and treat use as a separate item. Also check the storage conditions, since the shed is where the largest loss would happen and cover usually depends on how it is secured.
Do we need motor insurance for buggies?
If they cross or use a public road, very likely yes, because road traffic requirements apply regardless of the vehicle's size. Buggies used entirely on private land are normally dealt with under the club's liability and property cover, so the answer depends on where yours actually go.
Are members' clubs covered in the locker room?
Only if the policy specifically includes members' effects, and usually up to a modest limit per person. It is worth having, because locker room theft is one of the most frequent claims a golf club makes and members will come to the club before they come to their own insurer.
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.