Insurance Premiums: Irish Sailing Want to Hear From You

17th July 2019

Irish Sailing has been getting feedback from clubs and training centres of significant increases in insurance costs that are having a negative impact on the running of activities writes Gail McAllister of Irish Sailing. There is an element of déjà vu as this was a prevalent problem in the early 1990s. The issue at that time became so bad that some clubs and centres were unable even to get insurance quotes for their activities.

Group Schemes

One possible solution suggested is to establish a new group scheme specifically for Irish Sailing organisations. This was investigated in the early 90s, with a number of organisations signing up to a joint scheme. The issue, however, arises when an organisation makes a large claim – for example if a storm were to wipe out the pontoons of a club, or a large club were to be destroyed by fire resulting in a large claim. This would result in an inevitable hike in the premium for the group scheme, which whilst might be relatively manageable for larger organisations, would be unsustainable for the smaller organisations in the scheme.

The current group scheme for Irish Sailing affiliated clubs is set up via the Federation of Irish Sport with JLT Insurance, here https://www.irishsport.ie/insurance/. You can get a quote from them by referencing that you are an Irish Sailing affiliated organisation, and let Irish Sailing know the outcomes directly to [email protected].

Discount Schemes

Irish Sailing in the past has also looked into a discount scheme for Irish Sailing Clubs. Again the experience was not positive, as the discounts were applied as ‘introductory offers’, and over time - once the business was secured, clubs found their premiums rising again to market rates. As a result, at present there is no specific discount scheme for Irish Sailing affiliated organisations.

Irish Sailing and the Alliance for Insurance Reform

The issue of insurance is not solely a problem for sailing. As has been well publicised in the media, it is a problem in all sectors of Irish society today. Irish Sailing has joined forces with all sporting organisations in Ireland, and through the Federation of Irish Sport are now members of the ‘Alliance for Insurance Reform’.

The Alliance for Insurance Reform is a representative group formed with the sole objective of reducing spiralling insurance costs in Ireland to sustainable levels. The group consists of a wide range of civic, sporting and small business bodies as well as individual businesses; all of them affected by the unsustainable cost of insurance in Ireland. The Alliance has had several meetings with government officials and continues to lobby on our behalf to alert the government to the spiralling costs of insurance in this country. You can follow their progress here: https://insurancereform.ie

Irish Sailing want to hear from you

Irish Sailing would be interested to hear the recent experiences of their Clubs and Centres. Has your premium risen significantly in recent years? If so by how much? Is it as a result of recent claims, expansion of activities/premises or simply market forces? What are your experiences of group or discount schemes? Please email your thoughts and comments to [email protected]

Published in ISA

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Irish Sailing

About The Author

Gail McAllister

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Gail MacAllister is Irish Sailing's Regional Development Officer

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Irish Sailing

The Irish Sailing Association, also known as Irish Sailing, is the national governing body for sailing, powerboating and windsurfing in Ireland.

Founded in 1945 as the Irish Dinghy Racing Association, it became the Irish Yachting Association in 1964 and the Irish Sailing Association in 1992.

Irish Sailing is a Member National Authority (MNA) of World Sailing and a member of the Olympic Federation of Ireland.

The Association is governed by a volunteer board, elected by the member clubs. Policy Groups provide the link with members and stakeholders while advising the Board on specialist areas. There is a professional administration and performance staff, based at the headquarters in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin.

Core functions include the regulation of sailing education, administering racing and selection of Irish sailors for international competition. It is the body recognised by the Olympic Federation of Ireland for nominating Irish qualified sailors to be considered for selection to represent Ireland at the Olympic Games. Irish sailors have medalled twice at the Olympics – David Wilkins and Jamie Wikinson at the 1980 games, and Annalise Murphy at the 2016 games.

The Association, through its network of clubs and centres, offers curriculum-based training in the various sailing, windsurfing and powerboating disciplines. Irish Sailing qualifications are recognised by Irish and European Authorities. Most prominent of these are the Yachtmaster and the International Certificate of Competency.

It runs the annual All-Ireland Championships (formerly the Helmsman’s Championship) for senior and junior sailors.

The Association has been led by leading lights in the sailing and business communities. These include Douglas Heard, Clayton Love Junior, John Burke and Robert Dix.

Close to 100 sailors have represented Ireland at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Membership of Irish Sailing is either by direct application or through membership of an affiliated organisation. The annual membership fee ranges from €75 for families, down to €20 for Seniors and Juniors.