Golf Club Insurance Policies - Call Assetsure for a quote
Golf Club Insurance-There are over two and a half thousand golf clubs in the United Kingdom. Protecting the financial viability of each club with a comprehensive golf club insurance policy is essential. At Assetsure we can help insure your golf clubhouse and other assets of your golf club. Golf clubs face a wide variety of risks some which may not be completely obvious when shopping around for golf clubhouse insurance.
If your golf course is damaged due to vandalism you may have to close those damaged areas for repairs. This may make a significant dent in your profits. Unfortunately many thoughtless vandals can quite easily access most golf courses due to their geographical expanse. While private members or guests may choose to still play on temporary greens, it spoils the enjoyment for all players and damages the clubs reputation. Malicious damage to well tendered tees or greens can prevent medals or competitions from being played. Worst of all society bookings represent an important flow of income into any club and the quality of greens is paramount. Damage to the greens may take weeks or months to repair during which time the reputation of the course suffers badly. Business Interruption insurance can help protect your golf club for loss of profits for a wide range of perils.
These days most golf clubhouse’s will have some form of catering facilities on site such as a restaurant, cafe and bar. The risk of destruction of the golf clubhouse from fire is the most likely and significant threat to the financial viability of the business. The loss of income a major fire would create may prove devastating to many golf clubs. In particular the rebuild time find as well as the settlement of golfclub insurance claim are key issues to consider. Like most business insurance policies the golf clubhouse, pros shop and any other related golfclub buildings (and assets such as contents, stock and fixtures & fittings) need to be protected from all forms of major disaster. They are the most expensive fixed assets to protect using golf clubhouse insurance. Such risks may include falling trees damaging the building, flooding or lightning strikes, fires, storms, burst pipes and can be extended to include accidental damage.
All golf clubs need liability insurance is also protect themselves when dealing with the public (especially if) serving food and beverages. Many have branched out into hiring out functions rooms for wedding receptions, birthdays and other special events. If a member (or visitor) becomes ill soon after eating or drinking at theses events there is a possibility that the club could be sued for failing to comply with health and safety regulations (for illness injury or disease). Likewise most golf clubs have employees who work in the clubhouse kitchens areas. Sometimes accidents happen which may result in serious injury to those employees (or unless serious circumstances) (lead them to being forced to take time off work causing substantial loss of income. If the effected employee can prove that the golf club acted negligently in their duty of care a court of law may force the club to pay financial damages to the employee. In today’s compliance driven world, it is essential that all members of staff, receive adequate training for the jobs they are expected to perform. This will help to prevent accidents from happening.
Similarly many clubhouses require maintenance, minor building alterations or undergo extensions to broaden their facilities or physical size. During these building works if a tradesmen working on-site has an accident and injures themselves there is the possibility that the club may become liable for damages. Again negligence would have to be established but it is nevertheless a real and quantifiable risk that needs protecting against.
As part of a building insurance policy is critical to protect stock stored inside the Pro Shop. A growing trend amongst golf clubs is theft of expensive stock from the pro shop during the night-time. Many clubs have suffered ‘ram raider’ attacks from criminals seeking to quickly grab expensive Callaway clubs, bags, clothing and other accessories. Many pro shops are now stocking expensive GPS devices (such as Skycaddie) to tell golfers ‘nearest the pin’ yardages. These devices are an ideal target for thieves as they are small and easy to carry away and there resale value is quite high. The installation of physical preventative security measures may be a factor in determining your annual golfclub insurance premium. When assessing your request for a renewal insurers will be checking to find out whether any new security measures have been put in place such as CCTV, secure doors and window locks and controlled pass code access to member areas.
As a golfer you should not rely on a golf club to have it’s own liability insurance policy that covers you as a playing member, guest, visitor or green fee player. If you are a keen golfer and take part in many society away days visiting other golf clubs, it may be prudent to check whether your own home insurance policy also has an option for liability cover to protect you in the event of range of circumstances. Firstly if you are personally injured at the club you are visiting you may be to claim from your own policy. Most liability policies have some form of personal injury option (such are slipping down the stairs of the clubhouse or getting hit on the head by a golf ball).
Most personal policies that cover your own individual golf clubs will include a section covering personal liability Many people get hit by golf ball each year. Unfortunately in this litigious society even if you shout the traditional ‘four’ (in the spirit of the error) the golfer that gets hit with your ball could potentially sue you for personal injury to them or their property.
As a player you should also think about protecting your possessions when visiting a golf club. Check to see whether your home insurance policy will help protect against loss or theft of your contents while out and about. It is a sad fact that many petty thieves target golf clubhouse’s car parks, changing rooms or practice putting areas (where thieves know golfers sometimes temporarily leave golf bags outside while they nip into the clubhouse or pro shop to get signed in). Most of us like to keep our personal possessions in our golf bag such as car keys, whites, mobile phones – all of which criminals are seeking to steal.
A major threat to any golf club may occur when there is some type of denial of access into it’s car park or course area. An example of this was the threat in the 1990s of the foot and mouth disease on UK countryside businesses. To help mitigate this it is possible to obtain insurance where access to your premises is restricted through no fault of your own. This may not be as dramatic as any national wide disease outbreak. However it may occur due to a local gas leak cutting off nearby roads and access points, discovery of an unexploded bomb nearby or similar scenarios restricting your members ability to go into the car park or getting out onto the course. Business Interruption insurance, will help protect you against this.
