Hockey Club Insurance
Most hockey clubs do not own where they play. Artificial pitches belong to schools, universities, leisure trusts and councils, and the club hires them by the hour, which makes the hire agreement the most important insurance document the club has.
Those agreements routinely require the club to hold public liability at a stated limit and to indemnify the facility owner. That indemnity is worth reading, because it can extend beyond the club's own negligence, and the club is usually signing whatever is put in front of it in order to get the pitch.
Injury in hockey comes from sticks and a hard ball at speed rather than from contact, which produces a particular pattern: hands, faces and teeth. Goalkeepers carry expensive kit that is often club property, and dental claims are more common here than in most sports.
We can advise hockey clubs on the liability cover their hire agreements require, equipment and kit cover, and the safeguarding position where junior sections train alongside adults.
Common claims and risk exposures
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Hire agreements and indemnities
Facility owners require liability cover at a stated limit and an indemnity in their favour. Where that indemnity goes beyond the club's own negligence, the club has accepted an obligation its policy may not fully answer.
Damage to a hired facility
Artificial surfaces, surrounds, boards and lighting belong to somebody else. Damage caused by the club, or by spectators it brought, is charged back under the hire agreement.
Stick and ball injury
Injuries to hands, faces and teeth, and to goalkeepers despite protective equipment. Dental treatment is a recurring cost in hockey and personal accident cover is where it is met.
Goalkeeping kit and club equipment
Goalkeeper pads, helmets, goals and nets are expensive and frequently club owned. They travel to away fixtures, sit in cars and are stored in shared facilities the club does not control.
Away travel and junior sections
Clubs travel weekly, often with juniors, sometimes in members' cars. Transport arrangements for young players carry safeguarding as well as liability considerations.
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 third parties and damage to property, including facilities the club hires. The limit is usually dictated by the hire agreement rather than chosen.
- Injury to spectators and visitors
- Damage to hired facilities
- Limit set by hire agreements
- Evidence required before booking
Employers' liability, including volunteers
Legally required with employees, and covering coaches, umpires and committee volunteers acting for the club.
- Legally required with employees
- Volunteers treated as employees
- Coaches and umpires
- Statutory minimum limit
Equipment and kit
Goals, nets, goalkeeping equipment, training gear and club kit, including while in transit and while stored at a facility the club does not own.
- Goalkeeping equipment
- Goals, nets and training gear
- In transit to fixtures
- Stored at hired venues
Personal accident for players
Benefits for players injured playing or training, with dental cover being particularly relevant in a stick and ball sport.
- Injury playing or training
- Dental treatment
- Loss of earnings benefits
- Age limits usually apply
Management liability and abuse
Personal liability of officers and committee members, and abuse cover where the club runs junior hockey or transports young players.
- Officers and committee members
- Employment and grant matters
- Abuse allegations
- Transport arrangements matter
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- League and level played, and England Hockey affiliation
- Where the club plays and trains, and whether facilities are owned, leased or hired
- What the hire agreements require by way of cover and indemnity
- Number of teams, including junior sections, and total membership
- Value of club owned equipment, and where it is stored
- Whether the club arranges transport for junior players
- Whether coaches are checked and a safeguarding policy is in place
- Claims over the last five years, including equipment theft
What affects the cost of your insurance?
The main factors insurers consider when assessing the premium.
Owned versus hired facilities
A club that hires by the hour has almost no property exposure, which makes it one of the lighter risks in club sport. Owning a pitch or a clubhouse changes that entirely.
Hire agreement requirements
The limit specified by facility owners drives the liability element, and university and council agreements frequently ask for more than a club would otherwise buy.
Club owned equipment
The value of goalkeeping kit, goals and training equipment, and where it is stored, is the main property factor for most hockey clubs.
Junior section and transport
Running junior hockey, particularly where the club arranges travel, brings safeguarding requirements and is rated with the abuse exposure in mind.
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 hired facility's own defects
A defect in a pitch or its surrounds is the facility owner's responsibility, not the club's. Where an injury arises from the surface itself, the hire agreement and the owner's own cover decide the position.
Indemnities beyond negligence
Where a hire agreement requires the club to indemnify the owner regardless of fault, that obligation goes beyond what liability cover answers. It is worth asking for it to be limited to the club's own negligence.
Equipment left unattended
Kit stored at a hired venue or left in a vehicle is subject to conditions. Goalkeeping equipment left in a car overnight is a common and often uninsured loss.
Ordinary playing injury under liability cover
Being hit by a stick or a ball is part of hockey. Public liability answers injury the club is responsible for; personal accident answers the ordinary risks of playing.
Common questions
The facility we hire wants us to indemnify them. Is that a problem?
It can be, depending on the wording. An indemnity limited to your own negligence is what your liability policy answers. One that makes you responsible regardless of fault goes further than the cover, so ask for it to be limited, and if the owner will not agree, at least know what you have signed.
Is our goalkeeping kit covered when it is in someone's car?
Only if the policy includes it away from premises, and usually subject to conditions such as being out of sight or not left overnight. Given how much goalkeeping equipment costs and how much it travels, this is worth confirming specifically rather than assuming.
Do we need our own insurance if we only hire a pitch?
Yes, and the facility will normally insist on it before letting you book. Their cover protects them and their property, not your club's liability to players, spectators or the facility itself.
We drive juniors to away matches. What should we think about?
Two things. The driver's own motor insurance needs to permit it, since carrying club members can raise questions about business use, and your safeguarding policy should cover who transports whom and in what circumstances. Both are more about process than about insurance.
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.