Who would have thought playing golf could be so serious?
All we want to do is enjoy a challenging 18-holes away from the pressures of everyday life; intersperse this with some lively chat amongst friends and the day will be perfect. The problem is many of us overlook the fact that the moment we remove a club from our bag, we legally become liable for the consequences of our actions whilst using it and in the event of an accident we are 100% responsible.
We have all been there; a tee-shot down the fairway goes deep left into the rough, annoyed and concentrating on what we did wrong, we take a second practice backswing. Now imagine the consequences of a team member stepping forward to the tee, his face in your club’s swing plane. You may think this a little severe but a few years ago, a golfer did exactly that, hitting his playing partner full in the mouth. What followed was a legal challenge for damages to cover dental and facial restructure work to the sum of £15,000. Devastated by guilt at what he had done the golfer approached his insurer, Golfplan Insurance, and was enormously relieved when Golfplan accepted the claim.
Other dangers include accidental damage to someone else’s property, whether a house on the fringe of a course or a car in the club car park.
Today, we live in a society where no-win no-fee solicitors positively encourage us to make insurance claims, where once we would have never even considered it. Golf accidents are no exception. Over 12,000 hospitalised golf accidents happen every year, so it is no longer a case of should we be insured? It is definitely a case of get insured and make sure you choose the best policy possible.
The adage, “if it seems too cheap to be true, it usually is,” is very relevant to the choice of golf insurance policies available in the UK. The cost of fully comprehensive golf insurance is worth every penny. Cheap policies are only cheap because their cover is highly limited. For example, some policies only accept claims for equipment stolen from cars between 8.00am and 10.00pm and do not cover theft from cars parked outside the home or place of work regardless of the time. Furthermore, if equipment is over 2 or 3 years old they settle the claim on a depreciated intrinsic (ie second hand) value only; this also applies to equipment that is less than 2 or 3 years old and was not purchased brand new. Some even reject personal liability claims if you hit and injure a family member!
Golf insurance is essential, but choosing the right policy is more important. Choose wisely. The best advice is to take a little time to research golf insurance. To help you decide on the best direction visit www.comparegolfinsurance.com or get a free quote for a fully comprehensive golf policy from Golfplan, the first UK golf insurance provider and market leader in its field.
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