Combined liability insurance for clubs

What does combined liability insurance cover?

Combined liability insurance arranged by the RFU includes cover for a club’s third-party liabilities. This means if someone – from an employee to a spectator – makes a claim against your club for causing them loss, legal defence costs and any settlements are covered.

We’ve summarised the RFU’s combined liability cover below. For full details, contact us.

Public liability insurance

Even with safety measures in place, slips, falls, trips and more can happen and cause serious damage to people and their property. Public liability insurance covers legal and compensation costs if this happens to a third party and they make a claim against you. 

RFU affiliated clubs in England and constituent bodies are automatically covered for £25m for every claim. A range of activities are covered, including social, fundraising, and administrative. You’ll only pay an excess (of £250) if the claim is for property damage. 

This policy also includes:

• Product liability insurance. This covers the cost of compensating someone who’s injured by a faulty product you supply. This could be club memorabilia or food and drink, for example. There’s a £25m limit for any individual claim and in total for the policy year.
• Member-to-member cover. This is protection if a club member injures a member of the same club or damages their property, and the injured party makes a claim against them.
• Participant-to-participant cover. This covers players or other rugby participants who accidentally injure someone from a different club, or damage their property.

Other liabilities, including allegations of abuse and legionellosis, are also covered – check the policy documents for a full list. You can contact us for a copy. 

Professional indemnity insurance

Professional indemnity insurance is also automatically provided to RFU affiliated clubs in England. 

This covers legal and compensation costs for accusations made against club members who provide guidance and advice to other members. So that’s coaches, captains, and officials, for example. Claims could be for financial loss for negligence, errors, or oversights. 

The policy also includes defamation cover if they’re accused of harming another member’s reputation.

Employers’ liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance protects your club if a current or former employee has a work-related illness or injury and makes a claim against you. If this happens, this insurance covers legal and compensation costs.

RFU affiliated clubs and constituent bodies are automatically covered with £10m of employers’ liability insurance for every claim. This includes claims by your volunteers and trainees. They are also covered for £5m for acts of terrorism leading to employee harm.

You’ll find the certificate of this insurance in the Policy & document hub.

Directors’ and officers’ insurance

Your key people, including committee members, board members, and trustees, have a personal liability for claims made against them for a breach of duty in their role. Directors’ and officers’ insurance includes cover for accusations of:

• Mismanagement of finances
• Not complying with fire safety regulations
• Corporate manslaughter

You’re automatically covered up to a maximum of £2m for any individual claim and in total for the policy year.