The good, the bad and the insurance jargon

Many organisations offer insurance products but the nuances we face in our sport make these policies difficult to compare. This challenge is compounded by the creative marketing used by some organisations who aren’t regulated by the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority), making this a confusing experience for consumers.

Assessing what you are and aren’t covered for may be a chore, but we all know why it’s so important. Hopefully, the worst never happens, but insurance is there for you if it does. You might be someone who errs on the side of caution or someone who believes ignorance is bliss. Either way, it’s crucial to understand what your insurance covers and why.

Here are some of the recent questions we’ve been asked and we hope the answers will help you, too.

Do guest Guns need insurance?

We recommend that any guest Gun has adequate insurance cover. However, we understand that looking at insurance documents or taking photos of membership numbers for occasional guests can be time-consuming.

If you become a BASC syndicate shoot, your occasional and official guests can also be included temporarily as insured persons, provided their full names and addresses are recorded before commencement of any insured activity. This is subject to a maximum of 50% of the party being guest Guns on any one day.

Does the BASC insurance cover the transportation of beaters?

Yes, it does if they are being driven off-road by a vehicle not registered for road use, or in a situation where the Road Traffic Act does not mandate motor insurance being in place. If you would like more information about transporting beaters, please click here.

Am I still insured if I take payment for loading, beating or picking up?

Yes, provided it is not your primary source of income. There is no specific amount you can earn; it is based on your personal circumstances.

My gundog ran into some discarded barbed wire on a shoot, can I claim?

Yes, cover for dogs injured on shoots from affiliated clubs will automatically apply where there has been some negligence by members. The cover will be limited to £2,500 per incident. There is no limit to the number of claims per shoot. This cover will make that dreaded trip to the vet far easier should the worst happen.

What does BASC insurance cover beyond just game shooting?

Our covered activities include: recreational wildfowling, stalking, the shooting of game, deer, vermin and any other lawful quarry, target shooting (including clay shooting), air gunning, hawking, archery, angling and ferreting, gundog working and training. 

We also include conservation activities such as woodland management, pen building and cover crop sowing. If you are legally and recreationally undertaking any of the above activities, you are covered for claims made against you.

I have found a cheaper standalone insurance policy, is it the same level of cover as BASC?

It can’t be the same policy, as the BASC cover is bespoke to our members. It is important to read the small print when comparing policies, and providers should transparently tell you what is covered. You can see the detail of our policies here.

Many of the cheaper membership insurance products out there are policies of ‘last resort’, which means if you make a claim on one of them, the policy will not respond until you can prove that you have no other insurance in place that could cover the claim. For example, if you hold household contents insurance, this will almost certainly cover your personal liabilities and would be required to respond to the claim before your membership cover.

Our policy is of ‘first resort’, which means in the event of a claim, the BASC insurance claims team will take on the claim and deal with it, regardless of what other policies you may have in place. We will only seek a contribution from other policies as part of our process in the background, without any delay to the settlement.

We hope the above will be a helpful reminder ahead of the shooting season to ensure you know what you are covered for and, if not, to ask these same questions of your insurance provider.

BASC is a trading name of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under firm reference number 311937