Information supplied by Ault, providers of Swimsure Swimming Club insurance

There are a number of questions that arise on a regular basis from our members in respect of the insurance cover provided by the STA free of charge as part of your STA membership.

As a result we have put together some of the questions that are asked most often, and done our best to answer them for you.

Who is covered?

The insurance provided as part of the STA membership provides cover for you, the individual STA member whilst acting within your STA approved qualifications and other qualifications issued by other organisations provided that they have been approved by the STA.

So for example, if you are providing classes for aqua aerobics or aqua yoga, provided that you have the appropriate qualification and the qualification is approved by the STA, protection against claims made against you as an individual in respect of your legal liability for injury to third parties, or for damage to third party property will be provided under the Public Liability Insurance.

Who isn’t covered?

Your individual membership covers you as an individual. It does not provide cover for any business entity, for example, a limited company, a partnership, a limited liability partnership or committee. This means that if you are operating for example, a swimming club or swim school you will need additional insurance, as your individual membership insurance will not provide adequate cover.

If you have any employees you will need Employers Liability Insurance as a minimum, which is a statutory requirement and provides cover in respect of claims made against you in respect of injury to your employees. It is important to note that for legal and insurance purposes that employees include full and part time paid staff, volunteers, trainees, temporary staff and contracted staff. It will also include any administrative staff or ancillary staff, such as lifeguards, if they are employed by you rather than provided by the facility if you hire pool time.

If this is so, your individual membership will not provide you with adequate Public Liability Insurance cover and you will need to have separate specialist cover to provide Public Liability Insurance and Professional Indemnity Insurance so that any claims made against the business relating to acts by you and your employees are covered.

The Swimsure insurance policy provided by Ault Insurance Brokers is a tailor made solution to meet the needs of swimming clubs and schools and also to ensure there are no gaps between your STA Membership Insurance and Club insurance cover (www.swimsure.co.uk for information).

When does my STA Membership Insurance cover me?

Your STA Membership Insurance covers you for claims made against you as an individual during the period starting from the date of commencement of your membership with the STA until the date that your membership expires.

When do I need to report a claim?

If you are aware of any incident where there is injury to any third party person, or damage to third party property or there is any suggestion of a third party taking action against you, you must notify the STA and your insurers immediately. This allows your insurance company the best opportunity to defend you and avoids the possibility of invalidating your insurance cover.

If I have my own Swimming Club or Swim School Insurance, or if I work for somebody else, do I still need my STA Membership cover?

The short answer is YES. We have a current example of an ongoing law suit in which individual STA members are named as defendants although they were working for an unrelated swim school. Even if you run your own swim club or school and you have the correct insurance cover in place, claims can still be made against you as an individual, or you may work for someone else temporarily, or in your own capacity outside of the business. You still need to be covered.

How much Public Liability cover do I need?

The amount paid in actions for damages in respect of personal injury have increased significantly over recent years. The swimming related action Woodland v Essex County Council (2013) is a fine example, and is likely to lead to calls from local authorities and other suppliers of pools and leisure facilities to request that those contracting with them to have higher levels of Public Liability Insurance in place, most likely a minimum limit of indemnity of £10,000,000.

The Public Liability limit of indemnity provided by the STA Membership Insurance is already £10 million for individual members.

For those operating their own swimming club or school, it is increasingly likely that you will have requests from your pool time suppliers for increased limits.

The Swimsure Swimming Clubs and Schools Insurance policy provided by Ault Insurance Brokers offers a standard limit of indemnity of £5 million with readily available options to increase to £10 million as needed. (please see www.swimsure.co.uk for more information).

We hope that we have answered most of your questions. However, if you have anything else that you need to know please get in touch with us. Or alternatively, you can contact our insurance broker, Ault Insurance Brokers at enquiries@ault.co.uk.