1. What insurance cover do I get for my membership?
You are covered for Civil Liability and for Personal Accident.

2. What is Civil Liability and for what amount am I covered?
Civil Liability covers you for claims against you for injury or damage caused. It protects you ( and your assets ) if somebody takes you to court. The cover is stg£5 million for any one incident. Civil Liability covers public liability ( injury or damage to third party property or persons ), product liability ( goods supplied ), errors & omissions ( advice given or not given ), trepass, libel, slander and all other matters under Civil Law.

3. And what about Personal Accident Cover?
Personal Accident covers permanent disability and total loss of use of eyes, limbs, speech and hearing up to a benefit of stg£50,000. There is no Death Benefit. Permanent disability can be defined as “permanent total disablement leaving a person unable to carry out any gainful employment for which she / he is fitted by education, training or knowledge”. There is also stg£500 dental cover ( with stg£25 excess ).

4. Is there any age limit on these covers?
There is no age limit on Civil Liability cover. Personal Accident cover is only applicable to persons between 3 and 70 years old.

5. My sister would like to join the Club but she has a physical disability. Can she be insured?
There is no problem with either Civil Liability or Personal Accident insurance.

6. My membership insurance was due last Nov. but as I won’t be walking until Spring, can I pay then and get a reduced premium?
No. The insurance runs from 1st Nov. to 31st Oct. and there is no facility to obtain MCI insurance for less than a year. Although you can join at any time, you will have to pay the full cover and will be insured from the time you join to the following 31st Oct.

7. Do I become insured when I pay my membership or when the Club actually sends it off to the MCI?
Provided the MCI is satisfied that the Club has a good means of record keeping and the MCI Office is notified promptly, you become insured once you have paid your membership to the Club.

8. Is the Club itself insured or is it just the members. Why not just insure the Committee and walk leaders?
As the insurance scheme is on a compulsory basis, the Club must therefore pay a premium for each and every member which then covers each member and the Club itself. If the Club does not insist that all members need insurance, while those insured members are covered on an individual basis, the Club itself has no cover against liability. If only those likely to be sued were insured, their premiums would be much higher and an unfair burden would be placed on voluntary leaders. Besides, any member could cause an accident e.g. by leaving a gate open allowing animals to stray or by dislodging a rock causing injury to someone else.

9. My brother is visiting next week and would like to try out a walk with the club on Sunday. What is the insurance position with him and with the Club?
The MCI insurers accept that all Clubs will at times have a minority of non-insured persons out with them - either as visitors, potential members or just simply ex-members who haven’t got around to renewing membership. Such people are treated as third parties. Therefore, if they get injured as a result of negligence on the part of the Club or any of its members, they can sue and the Club ( or member ) is indemnified under Civil Liability cover. However, if they get injured through no fault or negligence of the Club or any member – for example, if they tripped over something, they are not covered under Personal Accident as they are non-members; neither are they covered under Civil Liability for injury or damage they may cause to persons or property ( which often then leads them to claim for negligence on the part of the Club! ).

10. My 14 year old son would like to join the Club. What is the position on insurance?
Children over the age of 3 years are covered for Personal Accident with the standard benefits. Children of all ages are covered by Civil Liability. Notwithstanding insurance cover, most Clubs have certain rules regarding youth membership.

11. Are disclaimers of any use?
Disclaimers are not worth the paper they are written on.

12. Does the insurance cover extend beyond the core activities of the Club.
Yes. Activities like fund-raising, annual club dinners, sponsored walks, training, social events, etc. are all covered by MCI insurance provided they are organised and endorsed by the Club.

13. So does my €35 membership all go on insurance?
No. €11.00 goes towards insurance, €11.50 MCI Membership, €3.50 Mountain Log p&p and the remainder goes towards the club itself.