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Firstly,if it insurance only that you want- check that you are not already covered under your house / home insurance.

 

Secondly, if you join an association, double check what / when their insurance covers you! You will find that some cheap organisations have some pretty severe restrictions on their policy and will not pay out, if for example, you DO have cover under your house / home insurance. if this is the case then why part with your money?

 

Finally, do remember that in all cases the fee to join an association includes insurance, insurance is not the total cost, look at what else you are getting for your money, like supporting the future of your sport for example, the political and media battles that need to be fought, the back up of experts if you ever need them etc.

 

David

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SACS cover specifically state for SPORT only so if you are beating or picking up and get paid, and legally even a brace of birds will constitute payment, then you are not covered by that policy.

As david says check your household policy first, and then any other organisations to which you belong and which include insurance cover with their membership sub.

I checked regarding the position if a claim needed to be made and was told only one company would pay out - which one though?

Devil is always in the small print get the policy document if you can and read it throughly, ask all the questions you want and get replies in writing- so many companies now will look for every loophole to avoid paying out.

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The law on paying out on insurance claims is pretty strict and very clear. If there is a liability and that liability is covered under the policy, then the policy MUST respond - excluding of course any policy limitations, exclusions or endorsements. The insurer has just 90 days to accept of deny liability by the way.

 

As to who pays, this can be tricky. Typically the best option would be for one insurer to take the case on and deal with it, and then, behind the scenes as it were, discuss contributions with other relevant insurers, that is how it happens on the BASC policy for example, if the claimant has another relevant policy in play. The only time I have ever known the BASC insurers discuss a claim with the members home insurance company is when the accident happened in the home.

 

What I think is a bit naughty, is where a policy has a clause in that basically says they will not be liable at all if ANY other liability policy is in force and the members of the organisations are not clearly told of this exclusion… and I can think of at least three organisations that have this very clause.

 

The law on selling insurance got much stricter a few years back, so by law the seller of the insurance must give you all the relevant info about the policy before you buy. Relevant items would include for example anything that could alter your decision as to buy that particular policy or not.

 

Now, its your money and your choice, but would you join an association just for insurance, if that association insurance policy has a clause that said they would not pay out if there was any other liability policy in play? Perhaps more importantly would you join an association that did not give you the information about the policy before you part with your cash?

 

We all want to keep a close eye on the pennies, of course we do, but cheap deals are cheap for a reason! So I have no problem at all if you choose to buy cheap, its your money but all I suggest is that you do so with eyes wide open and know what you are, or are not’ getting for your money.

 

David

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my insurance cover has ran out now and i need to renew it but i don't really want to go back to the insurance company i was with as its 64 quid for the cover i had so who do i go with any tips

Would that be with BASC, It is 64 sheets but then you gets wots u pays for !!! worth it for a few dollers more in my opinion

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BASC don't just take your money, take commission & pay the rest onto insurers. BASC have a busy and knowledgeable firearms dept to help out in time of trouble, or with queries about licensing.

 

They also help administer a scheme to assist wildfowling clubs buy up land to preserve shooting.

 

They lobby MPs and influential bodies.

 

They speak out on our behalf to the media.

 

They attend public events and promote shooting.

 

They offer training and advice to shooters. The list goes on.

 

I've been a member for about 20 years I think, and I'd rather support BASC and pay the extra cost (which is about the same as 250 shells these days) than ignore the pressing need to have a decent reputable representative body for shooting sports. Also I don't know of any insurance salesmen who do all the above.

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SACS cover specifically state for SPORT only so if you are beating or picking up and get paid, and legally even a brace of birds will constitute payment, then you are not covered by that policy.

As david says check your household policy first, and then any other organisations to which you belong and which include insurance cover with their membership sub.

I checked regarding the position if a claim needed to be made and was told only one company would pay out - which one though?

Devil is always in the small print get the policy document if you can and read it throughly, ask all the questions you want and get replies in writing- so many companies now will look for every loophole to avoid paying out.

You are WRONG about sacs mate NOBS have joined on mass 9,000 of them so i think they would have brought up your little oops wouldnt you

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i realise i may be being a little slow but what kind of trouble or queries and what do you do just phone them and they give advice? or do they take a more active roll in whatever problems arise

nick

 

Pretty much. I've been given advise from everything to do with firearm laws to questions about certain disordereds within pheasants.

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BASC’s key roles is to ensure that shooters and shooting have:

 

A strong and unified voice for shooting

All party backing for shooting

High standards in shooting

Opportunity to go shooting

Balanced comment in the media for shooting

 

And that is what we spend most of the membership fee on. But we know full well that although most shooters would support BASC just because of our work on these 5 key objectives, others will also expect, quire rightly, support in more practical ways also. So we have developed our support and advisory services and the liability insurance package for all our members.

 

The support that BASC give depends very much on the situation.

 

Sometimes a simple phone call will sort things out or at least get them moving in the right direction.

 

Sometimes a phone call is not enough and letters and more phone calls are needed

 

Sometime letters and phone calls are not enough and face to face meetings are needed

 

Sometimes letters, phone calls and face to face meetings are to enough and others, such as lawyers need to get involved.

 

As to insurance, I cannot say it enough, for goodness sake get hold of a copy of the insurance policy and the policy summary before you part with your cash and READ it – if ANYTHING is not clear then ask questions. Most importantly ASK then when they will NOT pay a claim, like if I get paid for beating/ picking up, like if I have home insurance and so on. Find out NOW what the exemptions are not when you make a claim!!

 

If they will not give you a copy of the full policy wording and the policy summary with a written list of the key exemptions then , walk away because you have no idea what you are buying!

 

David

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Is the paid for beating bit a major issue though as you're not going to be shooting at the time so you need liability insurance for what purpose?

If its for your dogs actions then that will be on your dog insurance, If its personal accident well you might as well take out a separate policy to cover you when walking down the street if you're that worried

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Is the paid for beating bit a major issue though as you're not going to be shooting at the time so you need liability insurance for what purpose?

If its for your dogs actions then that will be on your dog insurance, If its personal accident well you might as well take out a separate policy to cover you when walking down the street if you're that worried

 

There are a multitude of claims that you could get hit with when beating or picking up. For example, leaving a gate open and a prize sheep escaping (one tup sold at Lanark Mart last week for £250,000), damaging a fence while climbing over it, running over a drain while driving to the next drive (does you motor insurance cover you off the public roads? most don't) - a whole host of things that you think could never happen - but do.

 

The idea that you only need insurance while you are firing your gun is very false. Maybe David could give a figure for how small a proportion of BASC insurance claims actually involve the discharge of a firearm.

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realistically all those apply to any walk in the countryside, even the driving ones work on the basis you need to be driving most shoots I know were you to collapse a drain while picking up wouldn't pursue you for a damage claim and if they did they'd never have any beaters or picker uppers again. Seems like one way of shooting down a few organisations insurance policies for shooting but without real foundation. Yes we live in a litigious society but if you apply those what iffs you wouldn't do anything in life. Its like saying do you take out insurance to go to work as you could do all sorts of things at work that using the same logic your employer could sue you for

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Without going into the files in loads of detail, about 60% are directly gun related.

 

And it always amazes me that every time one of our members harms a sheep it is a prize tup!

 

Yes beaters can and do get into all sorts of bother, but in many cases, as employees, their employer will get the bill!

 

David

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be interesting to hear of anyone who goes beating on a shoot that requires you to be insured as I've never heard of one.

 

David thats farmers for you out for a buck anywhere they can :( do most sheep come to harm through gun accidents or is it more sinister than that

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Everyone should know that wheat etc is toxic to sheep, cows and horses, if they come across it they woof it down, it ferments and causes all end of problems, most die in my experience, but those that survive are almost always very poorly afterwards.

 

If, on your shoot, you have livestock about you must take reasonable care to prevent the livestock from getting at the wheat. If you fail to do so and an animal is injured or dies the owner will be after you like a shot (pardon the pun)

 

Examples of how livestock and wheat come together where people have been sued are:

 

  • Leaving bags of open wheat in a sheep field on the edge of a pond.
  • Using a two bail high wall of straw to prevent cows getting to a grain store
  • Putting an electric fence round grain feeders, and then taking the fence down
  • Failing

to secure a feeder properly that was knocked over and rolled downhill into a horse field

 

Typically the owner will not sue all of the syndicate members, typically one or two members will be clearly identified as ‘responsible’ and it would be they who were sued.

 

Hope that helps

 

David

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