A common belief when it comes to the subject of insurance and golf is that a combination of a golfer’s existing home insurance and/or car and/or travel insurance policies cover everything that’s needed when it comes to golf. However as anyone reading this who has ever made an insurance claim will know it’s an absolute must to check the fine print of any of your existing insurance policies to confirm that is correct.
Some home insurance policies for example specifically exclude specialist sporting equipment, such as golf clubs, from the definition of ‘personal possessions’ covered. And even when policies do cover golf clubs the protection it affords against loss or theft sometimes only applies when your golf equipment is at home and not when you take your gear away – for example to the golf course to play.
Other home and car policies can also exclude coverage if your clubs are left in cars sitting in garages which are not ‘integrated with the house’ or driveways, even if they are still technically within your home’s boundary.
In recent years also many insurers have stripped out ‘extras’ like ‘personal injury’ and ‘public liability’ cover from their home insurance policies to keep premiums down. Or it may turn out ‘public liability’ protection is attached to the buildings element of an insurance policy so a person who rents and therefore only has contents insurance, may not be covered.
Even so it is highly unlikely this type of protection will extend to when you are playing golf. Meanwhile, travel insurance covering playing golf clearly only covers you while you are on your golf trip and does not apply while you are regularly playing on your home course.
If you don’t have bespoke golf insurance therefore it’s worth double checking what your existing insurance policies do cover you for to ensure there are not gaps which expose you to risks you are not happy with. And rather than adding ‘extras’ to the existing home or car or travel cover you already have it’s worth checking the cost of this against the cost of a specific golfing policy to make sure it’s not more expensive.
Be careful also about the myth that a golf club will have its own insurance policy that will cover all those who play the course. That’s not completely true.
Any insurance the club has is there to protect it’s own interests, if it’s negligence was to blame for an injury but if a problem arises because of your own negligent conduct it’s very likely you’ll be on your own. And finally, if you are unfortunate enough to need to make a claim with regard to a golf-related incident remember you can’t claim for a full amount from multiple insurers as that’s fraud!