Golf Insurance

How did Golf Insurance begin,

It began it's life in 1984 at Bristol and Clifton Golf club in the UK, when the writer, Ron Channon, almost killed his youngest daughter with a golfball whilst practicing side by side hitting wedge shots. His ball came off the toe of the club and shot 90 degrees right hitting Nikki on the neck just below her left ear. She dropped to the ground like a life sized rag doll without uttering a sound, her eyes had rolled back showing pure white, the writer was convinced he had killed her.

He ran almost three hundred yards to the club house carrying her, screaming for help, she regained conciousness and was imeadiately rushed to hospital where it was explained in great detail, had the golfball hit her just 3 or 4 cm higher she would have been killed or at least suffered serious brain damage, a chilling thought indeed, thankfully Nikki recovered following several months of horrific black and purple bruising and as you would expect, has never been near a golf course since.

A visit by the writer to Bristol & Clifton GC a few days later had many members asking questions such as 'What if I hit a member, or a visitor in similar circumstances and was sued, would my house insurer meet the claim?, does the golf club have any insurance in place to cover such incidents? The answer was no........ their was no specific golf insurance available to cover this type of incident or in fact many other golf related areas of risk. Research was carried out and it became clear that generally speaking house insurers did not provide cover for Sports related injuries, and neither did the golf clubs.

Ron Channon, who was already enjoying commercial success following his invention and marketing launch in 1980 of the worlds first 'Spikeless Golf Shoe' had recognised another niche business opportunity......In May 1984 GOLFPLAN Insurance was officially launched and 26 years later holds pride of place as the largest specialist golf insurer in Europe providing a range of golf related cover to meet the 'PGA recommended' needs of any golfer. A Golfplan policy provides a range of cover which extends world wide, their are no hidden extras and the company is uniqiue in operating it's own 'in house' claims depatment using the services of over 2000 PGA Golf Professionals to put lost, damaged or stolen replacement equipment back into the hands of it's policy holders on a 'no quibble' new for old basis.

Since Golfplan's inception their have been many start-up copy cat golf insurance marketers thinking they can make a quick buck in this highly specialised market place, many more have failed than survive today. In the main because they make that same old mistake of thinking 'I can do that cheaper' Time has proven that when it comes to Golf Insurance, the only thing you are guaranteed to get when you buy CHEAP INSURANCE is cheap cover ! And in most cases a major shock when you come to place a claim. So remember: Cheap insurance only saves you money 'If you never claim'

The following snippit says it all !!!

It is unwise to pay too much, but it’s unwise to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money that is all.

When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.

The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot.

It can’t be done!

If you deal with the lowest bidder, it’s well to add something for the risk you run. And if you do that, you will have enough to pay for something better.”

John Ruskin
(1819 - 1900)

Thank you Mr Ruskin, if it wasn't for the date we could almost claim to have commissioned you to write it. it certainly stands true today as it did then.

Final Comment: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER buy any Insurance without reading the small print.

Ron Channon
Managing Director