UKGE Statement on Insurance
Following the British Cycling decision to stop supporting Enduro in 2014, UKGE has subsequently taken a long, hard look at all things to do with safety, liability, insurance & everything Enduro.
In December, we chaired the first meeting of all Enduro organisers in the UK and 2015 will see us working together for the greater good of UK Enduro. We were aiming to set up a Federation for 2015 and like with BC’s membership, the plan was to incorporate insurance in with the membership. However, timescales meant that getting the Federation up and running for 2015 was not viable, but we will be putting a lot of time into moving things in the right direction. Our involvement with Bespoke financial is because they were the only insurance company willing to offer us advice on setting up the federation and to attend the meeting in December with the other organisers.
The aim of setting up a UK Federation for Enduro, is to standardise the quality and safety of all UK Enduro events, and to keep racing attainable for all levels. There are a lot of organisers jumping on the Enduro bandwagon and with such exponential growth of the sport, it is hard to ensure that standards are being maintained. This is maybe one of the reasons why SuperEnduro is taking a step back for 2015.
In 2011, when UKGE was born, the series was not at the forefront of MTB in the UK. However, it has seen significant growth and development on all levels, especially the riders and bikes. The past two seasons have seen such a massive rise in “Enduro” in the UK, we have truly struggled to understand British Cycling’s decision to drop the discipline. Particularly as UKGE were fully behind BC involvement in UK Enduro.
Before British Cycling’s decision not to endorse Enduro, UKGE had the safety umbrella of being insured by the UK’s governing body of cycling. British Cycling also gave us a set of safety guidelines to work to and this was primarily the reason behind the full-face helmet decision. Losing BC’s backing was a real set-back and this lack of support leaves organisers of Enduro in the UK in a vulnerable position. Please note that British Cycling membership and race licences are only valid at BC-sanctioned events. This means that the insurance on your BC membership is null and void for all Enduro events in the UK from 2015 onwards.
HAD British Cycling endorsed Enduro in the UK, then the plan was to start using the National ranking points system that is currently employed in Downhill and Cross Country. This would have meant we would have required every rider taking part in a UKGE event to have had Gold membership and a BC Race Licence, at a cost of £109 per year. Gold membership also offers a level of personal accident insurance, as we are currently asking our racers to take out.
At UKGE, we have always made safety our utmost priority. Because of this and the lack of a governing body, we feel personal accident insurance offers both the riders and us as organisers a level of protection for our sport, MTB Enduro.
“Bespoke financial” are providing all PLI/event insurance for UKGE in 2015. We have also chosen them as our preferred supplier for your personal accident insurance as they have not only helped us with the Federation, but put together a package that we think will be the most cost-effective for you, the rider.
An annual package starts at £96 (£8/month) and not only covers you for racing your mountain bike Worldwide, but also covers you 24/7, 365 days a year, doing any activity and even at work! The Bespoke policy document personal accident cover is attached below to download. This is the minimum level of cover we require, but you are welcome to increase the level of cover if desired. Public Liability Insurance is part of the permissions process that UKGE have to adhere to before putting events on, therefore riders do not require individual liability insurance to race.
Bespoke Financial will provide us with the names of all riders who have cover with them, prior to any of our races. This enables race sign-on to be as fast and efficient as possible. For those racers with existing personal insurance cover with other companies, we will need proof that you are covered for racing and that your policy is in date. This will be needed for online race entry AND to be brought to sign-on. No proof, no race I’m afraid.
For the Under 18 category, insurance cover will not be a requirement of entry.
We asked both Helen Gaskell and James Green to be our “rider reps” because they have both attended every UKGE race since the start in 2011, and were experienced downhill racers before starting Enduro. We asked Helen to become our female representative before we started looking at our insurance options, but she has been helping us with negotiations with regard to the personal accident insurance.
If you want the continuation of the series and the further development of Enduro in the UK, then this is a necessity of the evolution.
Some have asked for more detail on the Life and Fracture Cover policy documents, you can download them below if you want to read them in full.
Fracture Cover PDF
Life Cover Policy PDF
Steve Parr – Race Director
Real Shame about cycling’s NGB not supporting Enduro we have some great talent out there, think it might be a case of them not been able to pigeon hole the Enduro format. Just wondered if the insurance cover covered damage for bikes and public liability, ie if you crash into a spectator, just a thought to give it added value and use beyond events.
Hi Adam,
Yes it was a shame when bc dropped their support, but we will continue to provide great racing.
The personal accident cover is for you to cover you against loss of earning and such like. If in the unlikely event you were to hit a spectator the event insurance or third party cover that is provided as part of your entry fee would apply.
Please can you explain why the Under 18 category does not require insurance cover from the rider?
Is it true that you are charging £70 to enter and you have to pay for the whole series before it starts? – Have your costs/insurance increased as a result of the BC issue?
Sorry! Probably too many questions here!
Hi Julian,
The reason we decided that under 18 did not have to have personal accident cover, is that it is not easily available to those under 18. Yes race entry is £70, but no it is not true that you have to pay for the whole series, you can enter as many or as few events as you like. Yes cost have increased both as a result of bc dropping out, but also as a result of improvements we have made to the series such as medic being on-site on Friday.
Feel free to answer any other questions, you may have?
that makes sense……until said 17year old who works as an apprentice somewhere ends up needing big time care and huge potential loss of earnings due to a crash….who’s paying for that? your insurers ? if so why aren’t they paying for the adults. or do U18s not work at all and don’t deserve a financial payout for a broken arm?
i apologise for adding to the maelstrom of questions as it must be doing your nut in. I’m not meaning to be difficult, just trying to find reason why i should get seperate insurance when i’m essentially covered by all the stuff i have already set up in life so far…just to enter 1 or 2 races
‘unlikely event’? Entries filled up almost instantly. Forking out just shy of £100 for insurance and then hit getting any entries is a distinct possibility. Surely proof on the day would suffice?
Hi Mark,
Last year Rd1 took around 24 hours to sell out, with other rounds taking longer. It also likely that entry will be slower this year as a result of these changes. If you are on the ball and get you entry in straight away there shouldn’t be a problem. Steve Parr race director has stated that should anyone that has taken out and personal accident cover, not then be able to get an entry he will look at each on a case by case basis.
Thanks for the prompt response Matthew
Isn’t forcing people to buy insurance against FCE regulations?
Hi Mike,
Whilst I’m not able to answer your question directly, I’m no expert on fce regulations thankfully. We are not forcing anyone to buy insurance, if you don’t want to get yourself covered then don’t race.
Just like you are not obligated to have car insurance. But if you want to drive, then you do.
Hi,
Statement mentions personal accident cover policy doc as attached below, but only fracture and life docs? Can’t find a website for BF either?
Cheers,
Si
Hi Si,
Personal accident cover is made up of these two policies.
http://www.bespokefinancialnewcastle.co.uk/sports.html
trying to get my head around all this. speak plainly seems best. is the whole point of this for the following scenario:-
i race, i crash , i break my collarbone and wrist….or worse, i’m out of work for 4 months, i sue UKGE for loss of earnings/life time care
if i had insurance, i will claim from insurers, and also sue UKGE for co-orporate responsibility to me-
2nd claim gets thrown out of court as i have already been recompensed by my insurers?
is this the purpose of all this rigmarole?
Hi Mike,
The purpose is detailed in the statement on insurance here https://ukgravityenduro.com/ukge-statement-insurance/ no one factor led UKGE to this decision. We are sorry that you consider getting personal accident cover a rigmarole, but it is a requirement of entry.
where is the link for the Bespoke Financial insurance policy which is sufficient for UKGE entry?
Hi Rowan,
Personal accident cover is made up of the two policies, linked too with fracture cover as a minimum.
http://www.bespokefinancialnewcastle.co.uk/sports.html
How can Bespoke supply a list of who is insured, surely this is a breach of data protection?
Hi Tony,
As far as I’m aware part of the application with Bespoke Financial includes you agreeing to them sharing your name and dates that the policy covers with UKGE. If your insurance is provided by another supplier then it will be up up to you to prove to us that your have valid insurance in place.
Sorry I still don’t buy your arguments for the requirement for personal cover. You say that BC Gold membership also includes personal accident cover. This is true but it is not mandatory in order to race any of their events. I race BC races with a silver membership, which does not include the personal accident cover. So your statement is misleading.
Now just be honest you either include this requirement because you are worried about being sued if somebody breaks some bones or there is some nice financial advantage pushing your preferred insurance company. £70 to enter an event and having to have a mandatory insurance is starting to get silly. Sorry I will be racing the Scottish Enduro and PMBA events instead.
Hi Dennis,
We are of course concerned with any potential liability claims against UKGE as a result of accidents, thought this went without saying. As you point out that you have already decided not to take part due to the costs involved, I’m not sure how this effect you. But nonetheless I hope this has addressed some of your concerns.
Cheers Matthew, I was trying to understand why the organisation insist on the personal insurance. You make it sound in your statement that BC also insist on personal insurance due to the fact it is included in the BC Gold membership. This is not true, BC give you a choice because personal insurance is not included in Silver and you can still race using Silver membership. So are you telling me you do insist on this insurance due to concern by the organisation about being sued in case of injury?
Where do we stand on paying out for cover then not getting a place when they go live?
Hi Terry,
In the unlikely event that you are not able to get a entry, which if you enter on the day they go live shouldn’t be a problem. Steve Parr has said he will look on a case by case basis. Further more if you provide a marshal then you are guaranteed an entry.
Hope that helps.
Hi there
How does the online entry work if you are not with bespoke financial? Do we put down the name of our insurer and policy number then send a copy of the certificate as well as taking one to the race for sign in?
Cheers. Wes
Hi Wes,
Yes that is correct.
Hi Mike,
Thank you for your reply, particularly as you don’t seem to have previously entered any UKGE events it great that you are concerned.
I will pass this on to Steve Parr the race director who will take on board what you have said.
LOl, good reply. i see what you are saying Mike Welsh, but i don’t think anyones bothered about that point. especially as precedent has been set for years now with BC sanctioned races requiring you to have gold membership/insurance to race and gain points. you are just nitpicking as far as i can see. and also invalid as nobody is advising you on which insurance to go for. just setting a minimum standard to attain, anything a beyond that is your call, who, what, when.