GAA paid out €15m to insurance claims over past five years

LIABILITY: Young supporters take a chance with a risky view of the Munster MFC clash between Kerry and Cork at Austin Stack Park in Tralee. Pic: James Crombie, Inpho

GAA units are “completely failing” to control use of their property, resulting in €15m worth of personal injury claims being taken against the association over the past five years.

The warning from Connacht GAA operations manager Adrian Hassett is that unless there is a drastic improvement in the management of GAA property and the provision of facilities for non-GAA activity, the association will not be able to continue to secure insurance cover.

Hassett has revealed that personal injury claims taken against the GAA have cost the association €15 million over the past five years. 

€10m of that figure relates to non-GAA activity, with the remaining €5m tied to GAA activity such as a claimant suffering a slip or trip while attending a GAA fixture.

He added that the highest number of personal injury claims pursued continue to arise from claims which could have been avoided or minimised if clubs and counties had adopted very basic risk management and controls.

“Many GAA units have undertaken a much more proactive approach to risk-management and control of activities and proactively report activities and maintain records. Unfortunately, many units are completely failing to address control over activities and use of property,” he wrote in his report to Connacht convention.

“Little or no documentation is in place to assist in investigation and to support defence of claims. Clubs who cannot demonstrate that they took all reasonable precautions to manage activities may be refused indemnity or face a significantly increased claim excess.” 

With the €10m payout over the past five years for claims relating to non-GAA activity, securing annual renewal with existing insurers has been “very challenging”.

This difficulty in maintaining current levels of insurance cover comes at a time when GAA units continue to move towards community-based organisations. 

The development of walkways around GAA pitches encourages more members of the public onto their grounds, thus increasing the likelihood of a slip, trip, or fall on GAA property.

“Members will be aware of the extensive media coverage in relation to insurers who are withdrawing from providing cover in Ireland and to sports, community and leisure activities. Many businesses have ceased operating and community festivals and events have been cancelled due to the unavailability of insurance cover for such events/activities.

“Affiliated units have so far been largely protected due to the arrangement of the central cover. However, the number of insurers who can offer cover to the Association continues to decrease annually and as the cost of claims continues to increase the challenge to secure continuation of this cover will continue,” Hassett remarked.

The Connacht operations manager reminded clubs and units that if they allow their facilities to be hired out, they must first request a copy of insurance cover from the group requesting use of their facilities.

Clubs/units, in this instance, must still remain cognisant of the fact that they are the property owner and so have a legal responsibility to maintain and upkeep their facilities for all visitors coming onto their property.

“The GAA plays an important role in the communities of Ireland, but this provision of facilities can only be undertaken in the context of a well-managed and well laid out process, operating to a clear set of standards. 

"Unfortunately, the claims trend highlights that this has not been adhered to in recent years and the average slip, trip and fall claim is costing the Association €1.2million a year.

“Upon investigation of these incidents, it has been established that many of these could have been prevented in the first place.” 

Along with the absence in many cases of basic risk-management and controls, the reporting of incidents by GAA units is another area driving up the cost of claims.

Instead of notifying any incident that may give rise to a claim when first becoming aware of said incident, the Connacht operations manager said 90% of legal actions pursued against GAA units are first notified following receipt of a solicitor’s letter initiating a claim on behalf of an injured party.

“Most units simply forward the correspondence without reviewing same or completing any local investigations to establish any information on the alleged incident. This delay to the claims investigation process can lead to increased claims costs when claims time out of the Injuries Resolution Board process due to the delay in reporting.

“Our ability to defend claims remains poor due to the lack of record keeping and notification by our clubs/counties.”