Multi-Sport & Community Club Insurance
A community club is a venue as well as a club. It runs several sports, it hires its hall, pitches and clubhouse out to other groups, and its calendar includes activities nobody on the committee would describe as sport: parties, classes, wakes, elections and playgroups.
That makes hiring out the defining exposure. Every time the facility is let to somebody else, there are people on site doing something the club does not control, and without a hire agreement requiring the hirer's own cover, the club is the only insured party in the building.
Declaring activities properly is the other half. A policy written for football and cricket does not contemplate a martial arts class, a bouncy castle at a summer fair or a fireworks night, and the activity that was never mentioned is the one that produces the claim.
Governance sits behind both. Community clubs are commonly unincorporated or hold charitable or community amateur sports club status, which brings trustees with personal liability and funders whose grant conditions specify the insurance the club must carry.
We can advise multi-sport and community clubs on cover across all their activities, the hire agreements that decide who is responsible when the facility is let, and the trustee liability that comes with community governance.
Common claims and risk exposures
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Hiring the facility out
Third party groups using the hall, pitches or clubhouse for activities the club does not run. Without a hire agreement and evidence of the hirer's cover, an injury at somebody else's event becomes the club's claim.
Undeclared activities
Classes, fairs, inflatables, fireworks and one off events added to the calendar without telling the insurer. The unusual activity is exactly the one most likely to produce an unusual claim.
Multiple sports under one roof
Each sport has its own injury profile, affiliation requirements and safeguarding position. A single policy has to reflect all of them, and gaps appear where a section is assumed to be covered by its own governing body.
Trustees, governance and grant conditions
Unincorporated or charitable status puts liability on individuals, and funders commonly impose insurance requirements as grant conditions. Failing to meet them can put funding at risk as well as leaving the club exposed.
Buildings in community use
A building used by many groups, often with keys held widely, suffers damage nobody admits to, and stands empty between bookings. Escape of water, arson and break ins all follow.
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 across all activities
Injury to members, visitors, hirers and the public, and damage to their property, across every activity the club runs. The activity schedule is what makes this cover work.
- All declared activities
- Hirers and their guests
- Limits commonly £5m or £10m
- Events and fairs
Hirers' liability and hire agreements
Cover contemplating third party use of the facility, alongside written hire agreements requiring hirers to hold their own liability cover.
- Third party use of the facility
- Written hire agreements
- Evidence of hirers' cover
- Damage charged back to hirers
Property and business interruption
Buildings, hall, pitches, floodlights, contents, bar stock and equipment for every section, with cover for income lost while the facility cannot be used.
- Buildings and contents
- Equipment for each section
- Bar and hire income
- Loss of revenue
Employers' liability, including volunteers
Legally required with employees, and covering the volunteers who run the bar, maintain the grounds, coach the sections and staff the events.
- Legally required with employees
- Volunteers treated as employees
- Coaches across all sections
- Bar and event volunteers
Trustee liability and abuse
Personal liability of trustees, officers and committee members, and abuse cover across every section that works with children or vulnerable adults.
- Trustees and officers
- Grant and funding conditions
- Abuse across all sections
- Safeguarding lead required
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- Every activity the club runs, listed, including non sporting use
- How often the facility is hired out, and to whom
- Whether written hire agreements are used and hirers' cover is checked
- Rebuild value of buildings and the value of contents and equipment
- Annual income split between subscriptions, bar, hire and events
- The club's legal structure, and whether it holds charitable or CASC status
- Insurance requirements imposed by any funder or landlord
- Safeguarding arrangements across all sections, and coach checks
What affects the cost of your insurance?
The main factors insurers consider when assessing the premium.
The activity schedule
The breadth of what the club does is the main factor. Each additional activity adds exposure, and the unusual ones add more than their frequency suggests.
Hire out volume
Frequent third party use brings members of the public into the facility for reasons unconnected with the club, and is rated separately from club use.
Property values
Buildings and contents across several sections, and the income the facility generates, which together usually form the largest part of the premium.
Governance and safeguarding
A club with a clear structure, a safeguarding lead, checked coaches and written hire agreements presents far better than one where each section does its own thing.
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.
Activities not declared
The most important exclusion in a community club policy, because the calendar changes constantly. An activity the insurer was never told about may simply not be covered.
Hirers' own liabilities
What a hirer does is generally their responsibility. The protection is a hire agreement and evidence of their cover, not an assumption that the club's policy covers everybody in the building.
Hazardous activities
Inflatables, fireworks, motorised activities and contact martial arts are commonly excluded or conditioned. Each needs declaring, and some need the provider's own cover.
Unoccupied and shared key conditions
Buildings standing empty between bookings, with keys held by several groups, attract conditions about security and inspection that the club needs to be able to meet.
Common questions
We hire our hall out. Do we need to worry about what hirers do?
Yes, because without a hire agreement you are the only insured party in the building. Use a written agreement that sets out what the hirer is responsible for, ask for evidence of their own liability cover, and keep a record of both. It is one of the most useful pieces of paperwork a community club can have.
Do we have to tell the insurer about every activity?
Yes, and it matters more here than anywhere else, because the calendar changes. An inflatable at a summer fair, a new martial arts class or a fireworks night are all things a policy written for football and cricket may not contemplate. A quick email before the event is much cheaper than an argument after it.
Our trustees are worried about personal liability.
They are right to think about it. In an unincorporated club, liability attaches to individuals rather than to an entity, so trustee and management liability cover protects the people holding office. Some clubs incorporate for that reason, which is a decision worth taking deliberately rather than drifting into.
Our funding says we must hold certain insurance. How do we check?
Send us the grant conditions. Funders frequently specify limits and covers, sometimes including trustee liability and abuse cover, and meeting them is a condition of keeping the money. It is straightforward to check the policy against the wording once somebody reads both.
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.