Aberdeen and Shire Club Insurance
The following is for guidance only. For current details refer to the Mountaineering Scotland Insurance Centre web page for Clubs - click here
The club and individual members are covered for Combined Liability by Mountaineering Scotland. For example, if a club member was found by a court to be negligent and therefore liable for say, damage to a hut or injuring somebody on a meeting, they and the club are insured for up to £15m per incident.
Club members are also covered on any activities covered by the policy when out as individuals and not with the club. The cover is applicable worldwide except USA and Canada though it is probably worth a check beforehand when going abroad.
Guests are covered at meetings though their names must be advised to meeting co-ordinators, preferably in advance.
Guest are only covered for 4 meetings (in perpetuity, not per annum) after which they are expected to join the club. If they don’t join and still go out with the club they will not be insured and this is not to be encouraged. (No matter how unlikely it may seem, should that (uninsured) non-member be the subject of a claim by an (insured) club member, the member who brings the claim may be unable to receive any damages rewarded, due to lack of insurance on the part of the (uninsured) non-member.)
To put this into context, this is no different than would be the case if an (insured) club member went out with (uninsured) friends on a walk that they organised together. It is unlikely that any claim would ever be made. It would also be the case however if a member assisted a less experienced individual whom they met whilst on a walk, this being a slightly more exposed situation. Perhaps the most likely claim on the club or an individual might actually be by an injured party’s dependents for say, loss of earnings or similar.
Notwithstanding the low probability of a claim, the club has decided that both club and individual members should be insured. In part, this is because it is considered more likely that the club would be subject to a claim than an (uninsured) individual.
The club is only prepared to allow guests on day walks and 2 night weekend meetings. On any meeting longer than 2 nights all individuals must be club members. A day walk counts for the same as a 2 night weekend meeting so far as the insurance is concerned.
Insurance is not required for social events eg. the Annual Dinner, BBQ.
Note: Combined Liability insurance is not Travel insurance or Personal Accident insurance. Travel insurance is still required when applicable.
(February 2023)