INSURANCE GUIDELINES FOR BLDSA MEMBERS & AFFILIATED SWIMMING CLUBS
Civil Liability Insurance
The BLDSA affiliated club civil liability insurance provides cover for club committees, volunteers, officers and officials only (not their members) for the following activities:
- Indoor Competitive Swimming Training
- Competitive Swimming
- Open Water Swimming Training
- Open Water Swimming
- Learn to Swim
- Swimming Development Activities
- Social Activities
- Fund-Raising Activities
- Administrative Activities
- Recreational Swimming
However, your club MUST agree to abide by our policies and complete the required risk assessment (for each event and training venue). Your Safeguarding Officer is required to be a member of your club and complete our Child Protection documentation.
For an event to be covered by the BLDSA Insurance it MUST be run under BLDSA rules.
If you decide to operate under another insurance policy it would be wise to check their requirements as this may prevent you running events under BLDSA rules.
If your club wishes to organise any activity outside the core activities relating to the disciplines of swimming you may check eligibility of the insurance cover and gain advice on the necessary risk assessments by contacting the (BLDSA Health and Safety Officer). Please note that guidance may need to be sort from Perkins Slade (BLDSA insurance brokers) and therefore you should allow sufficient time for your query to be resolved before organising any such activity (at least 1 month prior to the event taking place).
Although, hand propelled boats used at swim events (rowing boats, kayaks and canoes) are covered, any motorised boats owned by individuals or clubs will require separate marine insurance.
Personal Accident Insurance
If you wish to cover your members and or officials for personal accident through the BLDSA this may be done by making them day members of the BLDSA
All day members’ names, addresses etc need to be recorded on the sheet provided to comply with our insurers. This form should be sent to the BLDSA Membership Secretary ASAP after the event.
The personal accident cover provides cover for members between 3 years and 80 years (restricted cover for those aged between 65 and 80 years of age) providing they are participating in an activity approved by the BLDSA.
Only UK residents are covered by our Civil Liability and Personal Accident policies. Any members from overseas should obtain cover from their own governing bodies or take out individual insurance for Open Water Swimming. The BLDSA and affiliated clubs must request evidence of this on entry forms.
Whilst the BLDSA provides personal accident cover, you may wish to take out your own “personal injury cover”.
Useful contact details: BLDSA Safety Officer (Risk Assessments etc) and general Insurance enquiries contact Richard Hardy
safety_officer@bldsa.org.uk
BLDSA Safeguarding Officer Celia Hardwick
safeguarding@bldsa.org.uk
Affiliated club membership
The BLDSA offers affiliated membership to other open water swimming associations, with a two tier option.
Option 1 Basic affiliation at a cost of £125 a year.
- Free publicity for your club – have your club’s website linked from ours, include your events in our calendar, include a report in the BLDSA annual report (sent to all our members). A great way to get your name out there to swimmers who may not have heard of you!
- Access to BLDSA equipment and facilities, including safety boats, for a small donation – often much less than the cost of hiring. (This benefit is subject to availability on the dates you wish to borrow equipment)
- Access to the experience and expertise of BLDSA officials – we are always very happy to help our affiliated clubs by offering advice. We also have a vast network of experienced volunteers, many of whom would be happy to help out at your events should you require extra pairs of hands!
- Please note with basic affiliation there is no insurance cover available for your club or events.
Option 2 Full Affiliation at a cost of £300 a year. Some of the benefits of affiliation include:
- Public liability insurance up to £5million for your events and training sessions via the BLDSA policy – the cost of obtaining such insurance as a club independently is becoming more and more prohibitive, and many clubs are struggling to obtain insurance without the help of the BLDSA or another “governing body”
- Free publicity for your club – have your club’s website linked from ours, include your events in our calendar, include a report in the BLDSA annual report (sent to all our members). A great way to get your name out there to swimmers who may not have heard of you!
- Access to BLDSA equipment and facilities, including safety boats, for a small donation – often much less than the cost of hiring. (This benefit is subject to availability on the dates you wish to borrow equipment)
- Access to training – we run, from time to time, training events – especially safety related events (e.g. first aid training, safety update training, powerboat training etc.). Affiliated clubs are welcome to join us for these, either free of charge or for a much reduced fee (when compared to sourcing this training privately).
- Access to the experience and expertise of BLDSA officials – we are always very happy to help our affiliated clubs by offering advice. We also have a vast network of experienced volunteers, many of whom would be happy to help out at your events should you require extra pairs of hands!
About You
- We accept applications for affiliated club membership from any “not for profit” open water swimming organisations based in the UK. We have also in the past arranged affiliate membership from organisations who are primarily pool based but wish to carry out some open water activity. We are sorry that we are unable to arrange membership for:
- profit making organisations
- organisations operating outside of the UK
- triathlon clubs
- In order to benefit from our insurance, you must:
- Agree to the BLDSA Health & Safety and Child & Vulnerable Adult Protection Policies
- Have certain key officials (including a Child & Vulnerable Adult Protection Officer) in place on your committee
- Submit risk assessments to the BLDSA for all insured events and training sessions
- Agree to run insured championships under BLDSA championship rules
To make further enquiries about affiliate membership, please contact Vince Classen (membership@bldsa.org.uk) For enquiries regarding the specifics of the insurance policy, please contact Richard Hardy, (aroseprint@aol.com) and for safety related enquiries please contact Richard Hardy (aroseprint@aol.com)