Various Insurance Coverages for EA Coaches

Introductory coach Unit 2: Safety & Risk Management Part D: Insurance & Legal Issues Point 4: Identify and Discuss Different Types of Insurance Cover for EA Coaches

EA Coach Insurance Every Coach currently registered with EA is required to have insurance. Coaches may wish to obtain their insurance from EA or it may be sourced from elsewhere The Coach Registration and Insurance is due annually. EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

Top Up Insurance Top Up Insurance is available that gives coaches additional cover for: Teaching non EA members Horse training Agistment Farrier, massage, dentist etc Business/employees It is additional to regular Coach Insurance premium but gives you good value compared to an open market policy. EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

EA Coach Insurance Coverage EA Insured Coaches are covered for: All Coaches are covered for teaching those activities relevant to their accreditation, life experiences and the coaching environment. life experience would need to be verifiable ie. Stand up in court. EA can only verify a Coach s skills to the level to which they have been assessed as competent. If a Coach chooses to coach beyond their accredited level then they are responsible to prove their life experience. EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

EA Coach Insurance Coverage The EA Coach Insurance provides Combined Liability coverage including: Public Liability Products liability Professional Indemnity EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

EA Coach Insurance Coverage Public Liability provides protection to the Coach should they be found liable for causing bodily injury or property damage to a third party Products liability injury or damage resulting from products sold and supplied eg. Food/drink supplied, or training aid given to student Professional Indemnity provides protection in respect to advice or instruction given whilst coaching (tuition/coaching is not deemed advice under the Aon policy) eg. During a lesson a coach recommends a particular piece of equipment for purchase of a service provider which results in a loss. EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

EA Coach Insurance Coverage Other coverage under the policy: Property in your care, custody, control eg. Horse under your control during lesson Participation liable for a member injured during a lesson Sexual behaviour/Molestation inadvertently touching a member, allegations made by a member, relative or onlooker Third Party Property Owners covers the owner of the property on which you are coaching. Land owners still need their own cover First Aid treatment - for incorrect procedure administered or failure to render first aid.All coaches must have a current First Aid certificate. EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

Personal Accident Insurance All Coaches must be EA Members, therefore covered by EA Member Personal Accident Insurance which offers various limits for Death and disablement Income protection Non-medicare medical expenses (eg. Occupational therapy) Note PA insurance does not cover when schooling other people s horses for a fee. It does allow you to ride a client s horse in the lesson context. So if taking in and training/breaking is part of your business you should seek extra PA insurance EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

Personal Accident Insurance Personal Accident Insurance is a selling point for becoming an EA Member. Coaches should remember this when explaining membership benefits to clients/parents. Students don t have to take out full membership, most states have a recreational rider category at a fraction of the cost The cover provided via EA is relatively cheap compared to what would be paid in the open insurance market for horse sport participants EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

Why Waivers? Signed declarations (waivers, indemnity forms, disclaimers) between a participant and Coach can be used to limit the legal liability of the Coach in the case of loss or injury to the client. Legislation supporting these declarations and contracts varies between the States and Territories of Australia. EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

Why Waivers? Signed declarations can assist in the management of risks for several reasons: Firstly if participants are properly informed of the risks of an activity they may modify their behaviour accordingly. Being required to acknowledge the risk of an activity means that the participant cannot claim to have been unaware or uninformed of these risks. By including a declaration of the participant s self assessment of their capability, claims resulting from mismatch between horse and rider may have a defence. EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

The Use of Waivers Horse activities involve a number of inherent risks. Inherent risks often manifest because of the unpredictable nature of horses reactions to sounds, sudden movements, unfamiliar objects and interaction with other horses etc By their nature inherent risks cannot be eliminated by the exercise of reasonable care and skill, without altering integral aspects of the activity eg, the only way to totally eliminate the risk of a rider falling is to not get on the horse in the first place!! EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

The Use of Waivers The degree of inherent risk will vary with the nature of the activity eg. horse racing may have a higher inherent risk than dressage. Whilst it is not possible to totally eliminate inherent risks, all reasonable steps should be taken to minimise them without unduly compromising the activity (ie. Risk Management) EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

Incident Reporting All incidents should be recorded and reported. Incident report forms are included within EA Coach Insurance Packs which are available on the web The first thing you should remember to do (or rather not do!) in the event of an incident of any kind (injury or property damage to a third party) is DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE ADMIT LIABILITY. If you have admitted liability to an incident your insurer could void the policy on the basis that our legal defence has been jeopardised because liability was incorrectly admitted. EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

Incident Reporting The second thing to do is RECORD AND REPORT. All incidents which occur, regardless of the nature or seriousness, should be recorded and reported in writing as soon as practicable to Aon irrespective of the third parties intentions. Should this relate to serious incidents only ? NO, some injuries can take longer to manifest. There is no way of knowing what the injured person s intentions are now or will be in the future so the short answer is PUT IN AN INCIDENT REPORT. What may seem an onerous bit of paperwork now will be invaluable if legal action were to eventuate at a later date. EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

Incident Reporting In the event of an incident Coaches should: Complete an Incident Report Form Record a written statement in their own words while it is fresh in the memory EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA

Preventing Accidents Coaches should be aware of the State laws regarding occupational health and safety and comply with them. It is the Coach s responsibility to maintain their property to a standard accepted by the industry and to conduct their lessons in accordance with safe, industry-accepted practices. EA has developed a checklist to assist EA Coaches with regard to Safety and Risk Management see your annual renewal pack and 2d.6 Risk Management EQUESTRIAN AUSTRALIA