John Murdoch writes…
You will recall that there was some discussion at the recent AGM regarding insurance cover, and I thought that it would be useful to set out the position insofar as you, as ride leaders, are concerned.
The basic position is that you, as ride leader, are covered on rides against any claim made against you or the Member group (West Surrey) for injury or damage caused to a third party (e.g. any other rider, any other road user, pedestrian etc). I think that we can agree that it is essential that this cover is in place.
The conditions for it to be in place are:-
1. You are a fully paid up member of CTC
2. You have been registered by your Member Group as a volunteer ride leader
3. The ride is run in accordance with any guidance issued by CTC, and in particular that you are aware of all participants on the ride, either through collection of name and CTC membership number or by completion of an entry form.
For riders, CTC members are covered by their standard third party cover, and legal claims advice.
Provided they have filled in a CTC Guest Registration Form for CTC Rides, non CTC members are also covered purely for the duration of the ride and also only against claims made against them by a CTC member on the ride (interestingly, our subs pay for this cover!). In all cases, non CTC members are not covered for their own injuries nor for any damages they may inflict to a third party other than another club member (car, pedestrian, etc.) whilst on a ride; this is why the CTC form requests them to obtain their own insurance.
It is essential that ride leaders know their riders and request every non CTC member (including former members with lapsed membership) to fill in the CTC form prior to the start of a ride. This is to protect our members who have duly paid their memberships; in the event of an accident where the non CTC member is responsible and this latter is not known to us then our injured member will almost certainly have no recourse by a successful claim (the non member would have to be traced, and would have to have funds or their own insurance; very unlikely).
CTC’s “guideline” is therefore that there should not be more than 10 non members on any one ride, nor should a non member participate in a CTC ride more than 3 times. Although this is expressed as a “guideline”, in view of the conditions above for ride leaders, and the need to run any ride in accordance with CTC “guidance”, I consider that it is essential for it to be followed, in order that your own cover remains in place.
From this, there are simple things that we as a club, and you as ride leaders, must do.
1. The club (Secretary) must ensure that all ride leaders are current CTC members and registered as ride leaders; I can assure you that this is being done. There is no specific requirement for training to be provided, but we feel that the manner in which we consider those who we put forward to be ride leaders, and the workshop planned for the New Year, are sensible arrangements, and fully cover us in any event.
2. You, as ride leader, must collect names and CTC membership numbers for all riders and forward your list on a monthly basis to the club secretary who will spot check membership (this protects you, as simply the existence of a CTC card does not guarantee current paid up membership; cards are sent out upon renewal before any payment is made, and if payment is not made, those cards will be kept by the non member for a year)
3. If any rider is a non member, then they must complete an entry form (basic form attached, there are further ones on the CTC website if parental consent is required) at the start of a ride. As a ride leader, you should always carry blank registration forms. Completed forms should be sent to the club secretary together with your ride lists (see 2. above)
4. You should not permit any non member to take part in a ride more than 3 times. I acknowledge that there is a problem here insofar as you may not know if they have previously ridden with other groups in the Club, but sending forms to the club secretary (see 3. above) should solve this one. In any event you should be encouraging them to join well before they get to ride number 3.
5. You should not lead a ride with more than 10 non members taking part (bearing in mind the need to follow point 4 above, this is unlikely to happen, but is still important).
