The Fly Dressers’ Guild has an insurance policy which provides up to £5 Million of cover for third party civil liability arising out of Guild activities.

Who is covered?

This cover extends to The Executive Committee, duly appointed committee members of branches which have expressed a wish to be covered by the scheme and individual members engaged on Guild business or Guild and branch organised events.

Many organisations require proof of insurance when booking rooms or attending shows . A copy of the current covering letter can be found here.

What is covered?

  • In short, the policy covers any claims for injury, damage to property not owned by the Guild and breaches of Data Protection arising from Guild activities
  • This means that should a member of the public be injured by an FDG member during an organised event, the individual would be covered by insurance for any compensation pay out awarded.
  • Likewise, should property be damaged by our members during an organised event, the organisers would be covered. For example, accidentally damaging furniture at a meeting or a member leaving a fishery gate open and livestock escaping.

What is not covered?

  • Loss or damage to Guild or individual property whilst in possession of the Guild organisers or individual members.
  • The policy does not cover loss or damage to items of fishing tackle or equipment
  • Claims against individual members not involved in guild activities, for example causing an injury to someone while pleasure fishing alone.
  • Claims arising out of criminal activity or deliberate acts of negligence or recklessness.

Action to take in event of a possible claim

  1. Do not admit liability
  2. Inform the General secretary in writing as soon as possible. If appropriate the local Health and safety executive must be informed and the overall organisers of any large event. Any on site accident book should be completed if practicable.
  3. Branches relying on the Guild insurance must be aware that the insurers require a few administrative details to be completed for the insurance to be effective. These are outlined below

Branches wishing to take advantage of the Guild insurance for branches

Branches (referred to as “affiliated clubs” in the insurance policy) that wish to take advantage of the Guild insurance must inform the General Secretary by the end of January each year, to allow for a smooth and accurate policy renewal process.

Thereafter, Branch officers must read and comply with the mitigating actions in the templates below as well as taking appropriate action to mitigate any other risks that are identified as pertinent to their particular event or circumstances.

Before any event organised by the branch, the Branch officers must inform the General Secretary of the event and that they have read the risk assessment and tailored it to the relevant activity and will comply with any mitigations identified. (For a series of regular branch meetings, it will be sufficient to inform the General Secretary once, before the first meeting).

In addition, Branch officers should note that to be considered a branch of The Fly Dressers’ Guild or “affiliated club” by the insurance company, a branch must comply with the following sections of the FDG constitution:

72.  The Branch Committee shall comprise a Chair, Secretary, Treasurer (officers) plus a number of other elected members deemed necessary for the management of the branch. One or more of these roles may be combined if approved by Branch members.

73.  All Officers and Committee members of a Branch shall stand for election annually at the Branch AGM. The business of the branch shall be conducted by the Branch Committee in accordance with the wishes of the Branch AGM, which shall be held at least once each calendar year but not later than 15 months after the date of the last Branch AGM. All changes in branch officers must be notified to the Guild General Secretary immediately after the Branch AGM.

74.  A branch may levy its own local subscription or fee to enable it to become financially independent. All members of the branch are required to pay the Guild annual subscription in order for the Branch to retain its affiliation to the Guild.

Template risk assessments

The template risk assessments are NOT comprehensive although they are updated regularly. They should be used as the basis for an individual risk assessment tailored to the particular event in question. Branches wishing to make use of the Guild insurance must inform the General secretary in writing of the event, that they have read the risk assessment and tailored it to the relevant activity and comply with any mitigation identified.

The risk templates are set out below in both PDF and Word versions.

Risk template – shows:
Risk template – meetings:
Risk template – fishing: