POLO INSURANCE 2006

DURING the past couple of years there has been a considerable amount of confusion regarding Polo Insurance and the levels of cover provided to players whilst playing. Polo is a dangerous sport and recent events have shown the critical importance of having sufficient cover should an accident occur. Accidents can be expensive and all players must ensure that they are suitably covered prior to playing.

This does not intend to be easy reading and all members of the Association are recommended to read it several times to ensure that they are totally familiar with its contents. Further details can be found on the websites listed. Insurance/ liability is a ‘grey’ area, so this letter should be used as a guide not an authoritative document.

AIM
To give all members of the Army Polo Association a clear understanding of the situation regarding Insurance, including Personnel Accident Insurance, the MOD Compensation Scheme and that which is provided by the Hurlingham Polo Association (HPA) (members only).

GENERAL
MOD Compensation Claim. Listed below is the current policy regarding to the payment of compensation by the MOD in the event of an accident, when fault can be attributed:

a. Payment of Compensation to Service Personnel who are injured when playing Sports. Where a member of the Services is injured through the fault of another member of the Services, who is ON duty, then a compensation claim can be made through the MOD. However where service personnel, whether ON or OFF duty are injured by service personnel who are OFF duty or by civilians, then a claim CANNOT be made through the MOD, but would have to made through the Common Law system. Where somebody is injured through a total accident which was nobody's fault, then they cannot claim compensation from anyone. They should have their own personal accident insurance to provide for such an eventuality.

b. Compensation to other players who are injured by Service Personnel when playing Sports. When service personnel are ON DUTY and injure a third party (Military or Civilian) then the MOD will pay any compensation under Common Law. However if they are OFF DUTY then it is their own responsibility to pay compensation and they should have their own personal liability insurance to fund any payment that may be required.

c. ToPaS The MOD Third Party Accident Scheme provides legal advice and assistance, free of charge, to enable service personnel to claim compensation when injured by a third party when they were ON DUTY. Details can be found at www.topas.org.uk

d. Official Matches. Association members taking part in all Official CSPA/ APOLOA matches will be classed as ON DUTY. When players take part in Regimental Fixtures, i.e. Inter Regimental matches or Regimental Teams v’s Civilian Teams, the Manager/ Captain must seek clearance from the CO to enter the team and place the names onto Part 1 Orders.

Cover provided to HPA Members. First and foremost, a player must be a member of the HPA to be covered by this policy. Confirmation of the cover for HPA members has just been received and will be the same as last year. All members will be covered for Public Liability up to £5 million for any one event, but there will be no player to player cover (More details can be found at www.hpa-polo.co.uk).

What does this mean? Essentially, as a member of the HPA you have up to £5 million in insurance protection if, following an accident which involves injury or damage to a third party, you are found to be legally liable. You will not however be covered for any injury or damage that you yourself sustain, for example, medical costs and after care treatment. You are also not covered for any player-to-player liability, therefore (ignoring any claim that you may make against the other player for compensation through the courts) the policy will provide you no coverage if you were to have a collision and injure another player.

All claims or incidents that could give rise to a claim are to be reported as promptly as possible to:
Hamilton & Partners Ltd.
The Coach House
168 High Street
Newmarket
Suffolk CB8 9AQ
Telephone: 01638 676700
Fax: 01638 664700
claims@hamilton-partners.co.uk
http://www.hamilton-partners.co.uk/6. HPA Club Cover.

All Officially Registered Polo Clubs in the UK should have Third Party Insurance to cover them and their operations for any incident for which they may be found liable. This again will provide no direct cover for players unless they are able to find the club culpable and liable.

Private Medical and Personal Accident Insurance. Wherever and whatever level of polo you are playing, whether for the Army or not, the Hurlingham Polo Association and APOLOA strongly recommend that you buy adequate personal insurance protections to cover any injury, permanent or temporary disability, medical costs and after care treatment that you may sustain following an accident. Hamilton & Partners Ltd., the official HPA Insurance Brokers have brokered a personal Accident Policy that will cover polo players. Should anybody wish to take it up or find out more details, they can be contacted on the following numbers:
Piers Plunket Cathy Boltman
Hamilton & Partners Ltd
Dyer House
1st Floor 3 Dyer Street
14 Fenchurch Avenue Cirencester
London Gloucestershire
EC3M 3BS GL7 2PP
Tel: 0207 423 0900 Tel: 01285 657000
Fax: 0207 423 0919 Fax: 01285 658000
piers.plunket@hamilton-partners.co.uk cathy.boltman@hamilton-partners.co.uk

Other companies may also offer cover, so try and shop around, however there have been issues over the past year and cover can be hard to find. Personal Accident only covers YOU and will not extend to cover any injury or damage you may cause to another player, even if you are found to be negligible.

PAX. Polo qualifies under PAX both ON and OFF Duty, the payment (a one off fixed amount and not significant for a major injury) will vary according to the injury and the number of units that you have. For those who don’t have it, it is recommended and can be arranged through the RAO.

Personal Liability Insurance. Personal Liability Insurance is not included when you take out Personal Accident Insurance and is extremely difficult to find. In certain circumstances, as described in Para 4, the MOD will provide you a level of cover, otherwise you will have to find a policy or utilise an of your existing policies, e.g. House Insurance.

CONCLUSION
Polo is a high risk sport and accidents happen. The HPA and CSPA advise that all players, at all levels, have sufficient personal accident cover to ensure that they have financial cover should the worst happen. The availability of Personal Liability Insurance is an issue and work is ongoing to establish availability. There is a responsibility on all players to ensure that they have the sufficient levels of cover should the unimaginable happen.