Event insurance is always a tricky question. While it is not a fun topic to think about, understanding how insurances will work at your event is important for any tournament organiser.
You definitely need public liability insurance for running the event. Do you need employers’ liability insurance? Do you need professional liability insurance? Do you need specialised event insurance in case of cancellations or other unforeseen disasters?
Consider your participants. Will all attendees be covered under your insurance policy? Or must they have their own insurance cover? Do you require a minimum level of cover from people’s own policies? What about person-to-person injury liability in the case of an accident?
You need to make sure everyone is aware of the rules (especially any techniques, behaviours, or target areas that are banned). You must also make sure that everyone is aware of what levels of force and intensity are considered acceptable and what will be forbidden (and punished).
Who should bear liability if someone gets injured, or if someone damages the venue, or if a piece of equipment breaks? Who is responsible for paying out money for repairs or medical costs? Whatever your answers to these questions, is this actually the case according to the laws of your country?
For example, it is a common idea that you might have participants sign a waiver or covenant that they will not sue the organisers or any other participant in case of an injury. That’s great in theory, but under UK law, you cannot sign away your right to sue in the case of someone else’s negligence or malicious acts. So a waiver in the UK holds absolutely no legal weight at all, and legally it is up to the participants to look after each other and it is up to the organiser to ensure that everything remains as safe as possible.
If you have not thought very deeply about insurance matters at your event, then it may be worth taking some professional advice from a lawyer based in your country. Find out from your current insurance provider what they will or will not cover, and what they do or not require of an event. Read the small print.
It is not fun or glamorous, but event insurance is important.
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We offer judge training workshops to help your staff and/or club members improve their judging skills. Becoming a better judge usually leads to developing skills that are useful for fencing, such as perceiving openings and predicting an opponent’s behaviour, so judge training has a wide range of benefits.
If you would like to book a judge training workshop, then please send us an email to discuss your requirements, and we would be delighted to help.