BRITAIN’S golfers could find themselves in the red, as well as in the rough, unless they are adequately covered on the golf course.
Industry experts are recommending that golfers should have up to £2 million of cover before they even set foot on the fairway as the blame-and-claim culture begins to invade the game.
More than 12,000 golf injuries a year require a hospital trip, according to Opus, the insurance broker, and the number of claims against golfers has tripled over the past five years.
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Insurers are facing an increasing number of claims for compensation after incidents on Britain’s busy fairways. Recent claims include injuries caused by runaway buggies and a claim from a farmer who sued a golf club because stray balls were injuring his livestock.
A High Court case in 1998 opened the way for personal liability claims against golfers after a lorry driver who was hit in the eye by a golf ball and subsequently lost his licence successfully sued for damages. The High Court ruled that “golfers are liable for shots that cause injury, no matter how slight the risk”.
Ian Brice, chief executive of Opus, said: “The responsibility lies with the golfer and if they hurt someone they will almost certainly be sued.”
Many people believe that they are adequately covered by their household insurance but that is rarely the case.
Insurers are facing rising claims from golfers, with Opus understood to have paid out several hundred thousand pounds last year. However, insurers reckon that only about 150,000 of Britain’s estimated four million golfers have specialist policies.
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The policies offer members cover for public and personal liability, property and equipment and serious injury.
They even pick up the bar bill after the celebration for a hole in one — buying everyone in the clubhouse a drink.
WORST GOLF INJURIES
1 Being hit by a ball
2 Being hit by a fellow golfer taking a shot
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3 Ball rebounds off tree
4 Heart attack on the green
5 Struck in the face by branches