Insurance
In essence, there are two main types of insurance that Instructors should ensure are in place
Instructor Public Liability (PL) and Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance
The Instructor PL and PI is designed to protect Instructors in the event of a claim for negligence that may be made as a result of injury or loss by a third party (usually and injured student). Liability Claims can be made against Instructors despite injuries simply being caused as a natural consequence of martial arts being a sport and art that holds self-evident risks, and where no liability on behalf of the Instructor exists.
This policy is held personally by each Instructor and is not restricted to when teaching at one’s own club but rather is wide-ranging cover for teaching at any location as well as abroad, but on the basis that any claim for negligence must be raised under UK legal jurisdiction.
Instructor and Student Personal Accident insurance
Any person who participates in a sport where there is the risk of injury should be advised to have Personal Accident (PA) insurance. Whilst, for the standard ‘membership inclusive’ premium the benefits are never large they can be quite meaningful in terms of claim payents in relation to the small premium - whether this is paying for time off work, additional physio and dental costs, or a range of capital benefits for more serious, permanent injuries or death.
The specific cover and premiums can be found on the BCA and BCKA sites. We are not able to provide insurance for our WCA members.
Student Public Liability cover
Whereas Instructors, because of their elevated status owe to their students a higher duty of care than, say, one student does to another. Instructors may be liable for not only what they do (say physically) but what they tell people to do, or forget to tell peole what to do!
Students, however, operating within the accepted bounds of a sport or activity that holds risks, but which is willingly taken on cannot sue for negligence if the are subsequently injured as a result of that activity. This is an old Englich Common Law principal, specifically ‘Volenti non fit injuria.’
As a consequence of this legal principal no insurance is available on the market place to cover the liability that one participant owes to another participant - often what people refer to as ‘member to member’ cover.
Where you have arranged member to member cover for your students you are likely to find that, in fact, there is no cover in force when they are actually participating in their martial art or combat practise. The ‘member to member’ cover, as it is with the liability cover we can arrange for students, effectively covers them for them causing an injury i.e a fellow student tripping over their training bag on the floor, but not once they are training together.
Travel Insurance (including martial arts)
Typical travel insurance will exclude a range of potentially dangerous sports including martial arts. However, through our brokers we have the facility to provide travel cover which includes martial arts training.
Personal Accident Insurance
Our Instructor/Student membersip includes personal accident cover, which for the premium is very worthwhile. However, this cover only applies to injuries sustained during the specific martial arts training. Through our brokers we have arranged Personal Accident cover which operates 24/7, covers accidental injuries sustained not just through martial arts, but obviously including them, with the additional benefit that the weekly benefit to cover ones inability to work can be up to £500 per week.