What is third party insurance? (
http://www.businessdictionary.com/defin ... rance.html)
Third party insurance is liability insurance purchased by an insured (the first party) from an insurer (the second party) for protection against the claims of another (the third) party. The first party is responsible for its own damages or losses whether caused by itself or the third party.
Why would I need third party insurance? (
http://cani.org.uk/download/british-can ... dmdl=10466)
All of us understand that deliberately causing injury to others is a criminal offence ordinarily resulting in punishment of the perpetrator. All of us understand that some injuries are accidental, i.e the circumstances giving rise to them are wholly unforeseeable. No one is responsible. No compensation is payable. In between those two ends of the spectrum are ‘negligent acts’, i.e they are not deliberate, but the injury is foreseeable. The negligent person will not be punished however the injured party may seek financial compensation as a result. The compensation is paid by the individual who has caused the [injury].
In terms of sea kayaking, what is a negligent act? (
http://cani.org.uk/download/british-can ... dmdl=10466)
Each of us owes a ‘duty of care’ to our ‘[fellow paddlers]’ not to cause them injury by our negligent acts and omissions. In order to satisfy or ‘discharge’ that duty of care you must behave as a ‘reasonable person’ would but taking into account your specific skill, knowledge and experience. For example, ‘reasonable’ non-medically qualified ‘rescuer’ might be forgiven a medical mistake which a reasonable qualified paramedic would be expected not to make.
The duty of care requires you to consider the consequences of your acts and omissions and to ensure that those acts and/or omissions do not give rise to a foreseeable risk of injury to any other person. Clearly, one is not expected to guarantee the safety of others, merely to act reasonably.
As a [trip leader] you have accepted the responsibility of leading others. You owe them a duty to ensure that they are not exposed to a foreseeable risk of injury as far as you reasonably can. It should be noted that on any outing where a group leader has not been appointed the most experienced and or qualified person there ought reasonably to intervene and at least advise if a foreseeable risk of injury arises.
What are the regulations and obligations associated with third party insurance?
If an accident happens in the Republic of Ireland (ROI), or Northern Ireland (NI), the insurance cover is only provided if the third party adheres to what would be considered best practice, as defined by Canoeing Ireland (CI), or the Canoeing Association of Northern Ireland (CANI), respectively. An aspect of best practice is the ratio of leaders to paddlers on any kayaking trip.
As mentioned above, trip leaders--whether designated or not--are particularly vulnerable to claims of negligence. In terms of best practice for leaders, CI does not have a leadership qualification, per se. The only CI qualifications that mention leadership are the Level 5 skills award, and the Level 3 and Level 4 instructor awards. These awards specify the conditions in which the holder is qualified to lead. CANI (and the BCU in general) do have leadership qualifications. The 4* and 5* skills awards are leadership qualifications (that also require a certain level of personal skill). Each of the CI and CANI qualifications above specifies a number of paddlers that the holder is qualified to lead and the conditions is which they are qualified to lead. The ratio is either 1:6 or 1:8 depending on the conditions and the qualification.
NOTE: These ratios do not change because a member, trip leader or club decides to take out insurance.
Where does third party insurance cover extend to?
This varies according to the policy. CI insurance provides worldwide cover. CANI insurance provides cover in the ROI and the UK, and perhaps beyond. CI and CANI insurance covers all on-the-water kayaking activity, not just ISKA meets. Anyone living in the ROI or NI can join either CI or CANI to avail of their insurance policy. CI insurance includes personal accident insurance and legal fees insurance. CANI insurance includes legal fees insurance and can include boat insurance at an extra cost.
You can also get independent sports accident insurance that provides third party insurance with the ROI and the UK. This can include personal accident cover and legal fees cover also.
What are the implications of approving the proposal to require all members to have third party insurance?
One of the most important of implications is whether or not non-members will be allowed to attend ISKA meets. The number of meets that non-members could attend would need to be limited; otherwise there would be no point in making insurance a requirement. One option would be to prevent non-members attending any meets but this would prevent potential members getting a taste of an ISKA meet before joining. An alternative option would be to limit non-members to a small number of meets but this would mean that some people at ISKA meets may be uninsured. This issue will need to be addressed if third party insurance becomes a requirement of membership.
There has been no discussion about how this requirement would be implemented if approved. There are a number of options including the following:
- The membership form is amended to a checkbox to confirm that each member has third party insurance;
- The membership form is amended to request members to provide the name of their insurance provider and a membership/policy number;
- The membership is not amended and members are trusted to take out insurance.
There may be other options. A decision has yet to be made on how to implement the proposal if it is approved.
Some members will be reassured to know that there is an insurance policy if they are injured negligently. Other members will be concerned that a ‘compensation culture’ may develop.
What are the implications of rejecting the proposal to require all members to have third party insurance?
The committee may decide to recommend that members take out third party insurance but the final decision will be left in the hands individual members. If an ISKA member is injured negligently by another member, the injured party may not know if the member that caused the injury has third party insurance.
What is the cost of third party insurance?
Membership of CI costs €30. If ISKA renews it’s affiliation of CI, the membership cost is €20. Due to recent rule changes in CI, there is a question over whether or not ISKA renews it’s CI affiliation for 2017. The details of the CI insurance policy are available here:
http://canoe.ie/insurance/
Recreational membership of CANI costs £18. Full membership of CANI costs £45. Full membership provides insurance cover for qualified leaders whilst leading kayaking trips. If ISKA affiliated to CANI, affiliate membership would cost £10 but this would only provide cover on ISKA meets. For ISKA to affiliate to CANI, it would need to put a constitution in place. The details of the CANI insurance policy are available here:
http://cani.org.uk/information-advice/insurance/
Private sports accident insurance is available from a number of brokers/companies. For example, Sports Cover Direct (
https://www.sportscoverdirect.com/) provide third party and personal accident insurance starting at €36 for members living in the ROI or NI and will cover kayaking activities anywhere in the ROI or the UK. It will actually cover a number of other sporting activities also.
Finally, this is not legal advice. For legal advice, you would need to consult a solicitor. The ISKA committee did this and received advice in favour of and against insurance.
ISKA committee