Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, a club member can teach within their club, to their level of teaching or coaching qualification. They will be insured for the public liability and professional indemnity sections of liability insurance.

Only those members with the appropriate qualifications are permitted to teach within the club environment. Please refer to Swim England for guidance on what qualifications are required for each level. Coach-led sessions must be undertaken by an appropriately qualified coach or teacher.

E.g. level 1 teacher is only trained/qualified to support not run a teaching session and therefore when teaching should be under supervision of a level 2 or above.

Coach-led sessions must be undertaken by an appropriately qualified coach or teacher.

The ASA and IOS Best Practice requires you to have an insured and qualified lifeguard present at all teaching sessions, whether you are the sole teacher or coaching as part of a club activity.

The insurers will expect you to be following the best practice guidance provided by your governing body.

If there is a qualified lifeguard present from the venue responsible for your session you do not need to hold a lifeguarding qualification.

If you are the sole teacher poolside it is essential that you also hold the appropriate, lifeguarding qualification.

If you are teaching and are the lifeguard on duty, you must undertake a risk assessment if there are more than 2 teaching sessions taking place at any one time. Guidance suggests that you should not be both teaching and be the lifeguard where more than 2 teaching sessions are taking place. You need to assess the risk for ability to both monitor the teaching session and the lifesaving responsibilities. As with all risk assessments, it is essential to record both the assessment and any risk management solutions.

Yes, fitness & land training is a permitted activity, although we would ask you to refer to your governing body for a list of permitted land training activities.

If training involves specialist equipment or techniques, it is essential the teacher or coach is appropriately qualified. You should refer to the details of recognised activities with Swim England. These are subject to suitable qualifications being obtained for any additional activities.

If the club is unincorporated, the officer and its members could be liable for any and all financial losses incurred by the club. Directors and officers insurance is provided to support you for claims in this area for allegations which may come against the officer whilst undertaking their role.

If the club is incorporated, the directors may still find themselves personally liable, which is why directors and officers Insurance is essential.

Some fund raising activity is insured, although there are limitations on the type of activity being undertaken. Activities such as raffles, fetes, BBQs, quiz nights and galas would be considered as included in your cover. If you intend to undertake activities that are more hazardous, you will need to discuss this with your governing body.

All events need to have a risk assessment undertaken.

Yes, open water swimming is included in your cover.

Although open water swimming is a recognised activity, Swim England is aware that many clubs which do not traditionally offer open water swimming may wish to do so and therefore specific guidelines are available. Clubs will be expected to follow the guidance provided for this activity and undertake a risk assessment.

If this is something you intend to do regularly, you must refer to your regional association for guidance and registration.

The insurance provided as part of your club affiliation automatically includes employers liability insurance to protect the club or organisation and its committee in cases of injury to an employee for which it may be legally liable.

The legal expenses insurance automatically provided to clubs also includes advice and support on employment disputes. If the club’s payroll exceeds £50,000, contact Howden to arrange an extension.

You may wish to consider additional employee benefits, such as personal accident, cash plans and pensions.

All clubs must have an accident book on site.  We would recommend that a designated person within your organisation is made responsible for recording any incidents. Records must be kept for at least 6 years, or longer where it involves a person under the age of 18 years. You should also record the names and addresses of witnesses.

Since 31 December 2003, it is a legal requirement for all businesses to have an accident book which is compliant with data protection legislation.  Swim England do not issue accident books, they can be obtained from the HSE website.  Although you may be expected to record the accident in the facilities accident book it is essential that you retain a copy of the information so that it is available to you should a claim occur.

The register must contain the following information for accidents or dangerous occurrences:

• Date and time of the accident
• The person employed by the club’s full name, occupation, nature of the injury and their age
• The person who is a member or guest’s full name, occupation, nature of the injury, their age and their relationship to the club
• The place where accident occurred
• A brief description of the event
• Method by which the event was reported

The liability insurance includes the sale of food to club members and their families as a recognised fund raising activity.

However, there is no insurance provided on the stock or other property owned by the club that is lost, damaged or stolen. You will need to arrange cover for this with Howden separately.

Both liability and personal accident insurance recognise that club members may represent their clubs in competition or training temporarily outside the UK. There are limitations in the coverage for liability claims brought in the USA or Canada. You will need to apply to Swim England for an international permit at least 28 days prior to leaving the country.

This does not replace the need for the members to obtain appropriate travel insurance for their additional travel insurance needs, such as medical expenses, loss of passport, cancellation etc. Travel insurance for club trips can be arranged with Howden separately.  The product we offer recognises the sporting activity being undertaken and also competition which is often excluded from standard travel insurances.

For more information please contact 0121 698 8160 or email [email protected]

It is essential that you undertake risk assessments for the activities of your club to support you in your risk management strategy.

Your club have a duty of care to those around you; if an allegation for negligence is made against you or your club, the risk assessments will be needed to evidence what you have reasonably been able to do to prevent an incident.

Any swimming lesson should not be planned with the expectation that only the level 1 teacher will be in attendance. For teaching activity, a Swim England level 1 teacher is only trained to support a session. As per Swim England qualification guidance, we advise that a level 1 teacher must not teach in isolation and must be supervised by a level 2 instructor or above.

We are aware however in unexpected circumstances you may need to continue the lesson if the level 2 teacher is taken ill, unexpectedly delayed or not available. We would stress however this is exceptional circumstances only and would not be insured if sessions are planned for a level 1 teacher to be operating without supervision.

In all cases, coaches should only coach to their level of qualification. For club coaching and training sessions, Swim England strongly recommends that there be at least one active Level 2 coach on poolside who is responsible for the activities taking place.

The club must ensure that a risk assessment is undertaken to determine the level of competency / qualifications required for those supervising the sessions. Failure to have the appropriately qualified coaches poolside for a coaching session could impact on the availability of insurance and a defence should a claim occur. The club committee, officials or directors could also be held personally liable for failing to manage the risks to the club members.

You should contact Swim England for further advice.

Under British Law, staff count as employees whether they are paid or not, so we would advise having employers liability cover in place. The type of contract in place with the coach may also mean you have employee employer relationship.

You would need employers liability insurance in place if someone works for you where any of the following apply:

• You have the right to control where and when they work and how they do it
• You supply materials and equipment
• You have a right to any profit your workers make, although you may choose to share this with them through commission, performance pay or shares in the company. Similarly, you will be responsible for any losses
• You deduct national insurance and income tax from the money you pay them
• You require that person only to deliver the service and they cannot employ a substitute if they are unable to do the work
• They are treated in the same way as other employees, for example if they do the same work under the same conditions as someone you employ. It is essential that you check the terms of contract for their services to establish if you will be classed as their employer when using self-employed coaches or teachers. You should also check that they have their own public liability professional indemnity insurance in place.

Employers’ liability provides protection to your club, as the employer, in the event any of the volunteers or employees becoming injured themselves and suing you for negligence.

Although physical abuse is often considered a criminal matter which would not be insured by your liability insurance, there are cases where civil actions are brought against a club committee for failing to provide adequate safeguarding within the club environment.

The committee of the club may be brought into and named in a civil claim for not protecting other members as a result of the actions of one of their teachers, coaches or members.

The abuse section of the policy will aim to defend the club for allegations of negligence, such as missing or failing to undertake timely DBS checks, or failing to protect children or vulnerable adults within the club by not following the welfare or safeguarding policies. The cost of such defence can be considerable.

Swim England authorised and recognised activities as advised to insurers for clubs and affiliated/registered members apply to the following aquatic disciplines:

Training for and competitive aquatic activity as follows:

• Swimming
• Artistic swimming (synchronised swimming)
• Water polo
• Open water swimming
• Diving

The insurance applied to the clubs/members whilst involved with the following club activities:

• Training for competitive swimming
• Competitive swimming
• Teaching and skill development
• Social activities
• Fund raising activities
• Administrative activities 

Certain land-based fitness activities are also included for training purposes as long as the coach/teacher is appropriately qualified to deliver the session.  These activities are to be agreed with your Governing Body and appropriate risk assessments and risk management records are essential.  If the session involves bringing in external coaches or teachers for the activity it is also essential that you check they have the appropriate qualifications and their own insurance in place to deliver the activity. 

Swim England receives numerous queries regarding which activities are covered by the insurance policy and the members of the Health and Safety Forum have drawn up the following suggested list of excluded activities for consultation. 

The following list of excluded activities is not exhaustive and if you wish members to participate in any activity under the auspices of your club which are outside the core activities relating to the disciplines of swimming which your club traditionally offers please contact us on [email protected]

Please note that we may need to refer the query to the panel of experts appointed by the Swim England Health and Safety Forum and the insurers therefore you should allow sufficient time for your query to be resolved before organising such activity. 

Swim England is aware that many clubs which do not traditionally offer open water swimming activities may, from time to time, wish to do so and therefore specific guidelines will be drawn up providing advice and guidance on this topic.

Excluded Sports

• Abseiling
• Archery
• Boxing
• Fencing
• Flying and Gliding - and other forms of aerial activity 
• Judo 
• Martial Arts
• Motor Racing
• Mountaineering 
• Parachuting 
• Potholing
• Horse Riding
• Rock Climbing
• Roller Hockey 
• Rugby Football
• Shooting
• Skating 
• Skiing and other winter sports
• Sub-Aqua
• Water Skiing 
• Weight Lifting 
• Wrestling

Excluded Recreational Activities 

• Ballooning 
• Bungee Jumping 
• Para-Gliding 
• Cliff Diving 
• Survival and Assault Course activities 
• Paint Ball Games
• Inflatables and bouncy castles dry land indoor/outdoor
• Recreational trampolining

If you have any queries about you policy please contact Swim England.