1. Summary of Insurance
Q: Why is BCDGA’s insurance essential for the growth of disc golf in BC?
A: BCDGA insurance isn’t just about providing financial protection; it’s about fostering a safe and sustainable environment for the disc golf community to thrive.
- Peace of Mind: Our coverage goes beyond individual events, offering peace of mind to club organizers and volunteers by protecting them from liability, and ensuring that our sport can grow without exposing our members to undue financial risk.
It enables clubs to host a variety of events, from tournaments to leagues and even glow rounds, without the daunting fear of liability for accidents or injuries.
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Non-PDGA Events: Without the broad coverage we provide, many non-PDGA events (club tournaments, leagues, clinics, etc) would simply not be feasible, as individual insurance policies cannot offer the same level of protection or cost efficiency.
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Requirement From Cities: Most municipalities mandate such insurance for all events, including those sanctioned by the PDGA, and often before even constructing a new course.
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Mutual Benefit to BC: By centralizing our insurance efforts, we offer a cost-effective solution that individual policies can’t match, allowing funds to be channeled back into the sport for development and growth initiatives.
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Q: What is the club liability insurance and competitive membership additional player insurance coverage?
In layman’s terms, what would this cover?
A: The simplest way to explain this is that the club organizers and volunteers are covered from a liability perspective. Players are still playing at their own risk and if a players actions cause damage or injury they could still be held responsible.
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Q: What insurance coverage do I get with the Club Affiliate Membership?
A: This membership gives insurance peace of mind to clubs. It is priced at $50 per year.
It’s perfect for clubs looking to host tournaments, run leagues, or ensure comprehensive coverage for their activities.
Key Insurance Benefits:
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Comprehensive Insurance Coverage: Provides up to $5 million in liability insurance for club events.
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Event-Specific Coverage: Includes coverage for various club-run events such as leagues, tags, doubles, and members-only events.
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Coverage for Multiple Events: Supports a range of activities including tournaments, league nights, and putting leagues.
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Basic Course Maintenance Coverage: Insurance includes coverage for course maintenance and work parties (extensive building work, especially with heavy equipment, need detailed review for adequate coverage)
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Streamlined Membership Management: We offer an online solution for submitting and updating club member lists. Makes it easy for your club members to sign up too.
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Q: What is the necessity of the BCDGA’s insurance? Can’t we just obtain our own insurance for events?
A: While it is possible for individuals to seek out their own event insurance, we are confident that finding a policy offering the same level of coverage at a cost as economical as what the BCDGA provides would be challenging.
$50 a year is an incredible value for the support clubs receive.
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Q: What difference does it make that there is a members list? Players aren’t covered for individual liability. How does a club get you a list?
BCDGA’s insurance premiums are based on the number of members of all clubs that we cover. We need to report the number of members that each club is running events for.
In addition to this, we need to report as the provincial governing body the number of players that are actively involved in clubs to help justify funding that we may eventually gain access to.
To get us this member list, you will either have to manually submit it every year (which is a lot of work) or use our free club management software to have club members enter info themselves and have it auto-upload to us.
https://bcdiscgolf.ca/blog/make-managing-your-club-easier-with-our-new-software-join-the-bcdga/
2. Insurance Coverage Details
Q: For affiliate clubs, does BCDGA insurance cover all types of events and participants?
A: BCDGA insurance covers various events for affiliate clubs, but there are exclusions.
While affiliate clubs can access BCDGA insurance for multiple events, it’s important to note:
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Member-Only Coverage: The insurance primarily covers events involving registered club members.
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Coverage for Non-Members: If the event includes non-club participants, they must be BCDGA competitive members for coverage.
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Event Publication: Events must be published in advance as BCDGA-covered.
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IMPORTANT Exclusions: The insurance does not cover individuals for personal liability; it’s designed to protect property owners and club event organisers.
The $50 club fee covers these aspects, and BCDGA can assist with membership verification for events involving non-club members.
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Q: Does the BCDGA insurance policy cover event participants for injuries or liability during events?
A: The insurance primarily protects property owners and event organizers, not individual player actions.
The BCDGA insurance is designed to safeguard property owners and event organizers, ensuring they are not personally liable for incidents occurring on their property or during the event. It does not extend to player liability.
Players are responsible for their own actions, including any injuries they might cause to others or themselves.
We recommend that all clubs implement waivers for club members. These waivers should be tailored to each club’s needs.
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Q: Is player injury covered under BCDGA insurance?
A: Currently, BCDGA does not offer individual player injury coverage. After thorough consideration, we’ve determined that the available options for such coverage do not present a practical or cost-effective solution at this time.
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Q: PDGA offers insurance included with sanctioned events, why do I need anything more?
A: If you need your insurance to list any property owner the PDGA charges $50 per event for the paperwork to be sent to you. We cannot comment on what the PDGA officially covers or how it is set up.
We charge $50 a year and your funds help support other BC disc golf growth initiatives.
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Q: If a player damages private property or injures another player, spectator or passerby are they covered?
A: No, our insurance coverage does not protect them.
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Q: Does the BCDGA insurance cover PDGA sanctioned events and provide a COI for municipalities?
A: Affiliate clubs are covered and can request a COI at no extra cost.
As an Affiliate Club of the BCDGA, your club is covered under our $5M liability insurance policy for various events, including tournaments, league nights, and putting leagues.
If you’re running a PDGA sanctioned event and require a Certificate of Insurance (COI) for the hosting municipality, this is included in your coverage without additional charges.
The municipality can also be listed as an additionally-insured party on the COI.
If your club operates in multiple locations, we’ll need to discuss the need for separate COIs for each venue.
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Q: Does our club’s insurance coverage under BCDGA apply per course?
A: Yes, club insurance coverage with BCDGA is generally specific to each course.
When your club affiliates with BCDGA, the insurance typically covers the main course used for events.
If your club operates on multiple courses, each may require separate affiliation and insurance coverage, assessed on an individual basis depending on the number and types of events at each course.
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Q: Do we currently have BCDGA insurance coverage any time of the year while playing.
A: Yes your club coverage runs from the date that your club joins the BCDGA until Dec 31 of that year however only events that are listed on your club calendar are covered
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Q: How can we add our city as covered on our insurance COI, are we able to add them? If so, what do we need to do to add them and the cost?
A: The only cost to your club is the affiliate membership fee of $50. Email us at info@bcdiscgolf.ca with your COI requests.
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3. Event Specific Inquiries
Q: For the liability insurance for club affiliate, what determines a club event?
A: Generally all CLUB ONLY events are covered if they are specific to disc golf and the event is listed on your club calendar.
All participants need to be members of the club and their names submitted to the BCDGA before the event starts.
Important: For tournaments if any player that is not a member of your club is playing then all attendees need to be a BC Disc golf Association competitive member as the tournament is no longer considered a club event.
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Q: We are hoping to host a tournament that is open to players from outside our club. How does BCDGA’s insurance work?
A: Since players from different clubs would be playing this event, all players would need to be BCDGA competitive members.
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Q: Will BCDGA insurance cover a Glow league event?
A: BCDGA insurance will cover a Glow league event if it is approved by the municipality.
The insurance is effective for events that have received official sanction or permits from local authorities.
For events like a Glow league at night, obtaining municipal approval is key for the insurance to be applicable.
Additionally, it’s highly recommended to have a liability waiver for participants in such events.
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Q: What is included in the coverage for course maintenance and work parties?
A: Our insurance covers organizers and volunteers as long as the volunteers do not commit gross negligence they are covered while doing their volunteer work.
For example if a volunteer takes a whipper snipper and uses it to injure a person on purpose that would not be covered but if a mower shot a rock out and hit a car that would be covered.
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Q: Our club mainly holds events at our local course that is owned by the city. Can we also be covered at other locations?
A: Yes club organizers and volunteers are covered as long as your event is listed on your events calendar and the property owner has given you permission to use the property.
Events, including tags and doubles, should be updated on the BCDGA upcoming calender feature. Which is in the works.
4. Registration & Affiliation
Q: What are the specific requirements for a club to affiliate with BCDGA?
A: Clubs need to identify their location and main course, and submit a member list to BCDGA.
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Affiliation Requirements: Clubs affiliating with BCDGA are asked to specify their location and the primary course used for events.
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Member List Submission: Affiliated clubs must provide a current list of their club members to BCDGA and keep this information updated on an annual basis.
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Teamlinkt Integration: We make it easier to manage members. It’s possible for clubs to manage their memberships online through our advanced membership software- Teamlinkt.
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5. Miscellaneous Queries
Q: What is your stance on drugs and alcohol and how does that impact our insurance?
A: BCDGA does not condone the use of drugs or alcohol at any insured BCDGA event.
If it is found that drugs or alcohol are involved, insurance coverage will be void.
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Q: Can BCDGA act as the legal insurance and liability holder for new courses, and will they handle maintenance for such courses?
A: BCDGA offers insurance support but currently cannot undertake maintenance responsibilities.
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BCDGA’s current capacity limits them to providing insurance and guidance only; they are not responsible for course maintenance.
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Responsibility for maintenance falls to the landowner or the group/club that builds the course
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Q: What is our insurance policy regarding minors, especially for a new Juniors division?
A: Coverage is the same for juniors as long as they are club members, but additional guidelines should be followed.
Our current insurance policy does not differentiate based on age. Therefore, as long as juniors are registered members of your affiliated club, they should be covered similarly to adults.
From a PDGA perspective, players under 13 must have a chaperone. We recommend adhering to this guideline for all junior divisions, whether or not your league is PDGA sanctioned, as it ensures the safety of the minors and protects your club organizers and volunteers.
Additionally, for clubs involving children, we suggest that coaches, chaperones, and volunteers undergo criminal record checks. BCDGA has a program for these checks that is ready but not officially launched yet. We can provide more information upon request.
If you’re considering a league without parent supervision, it’s crucial that organizers understand regional and provincial rules regarding child supervision. At the moment, BCDGA does not have detailed information for implementing such programs, but our upcoming PSO status application may offer more clarity.