Important changes to Club Affiliation for 2024-2025
British Rowing announces the 2024-25 prices for Club Affiliation (due by 31 March 2024), a new Affiliation Plus option, and changes to the affiliation renewal process
We want to thank all those clubs who have engaged with us in different ways throughout 2023 to help us understand more about how we can better support clubs, who are at the heart of the rowing community.
What’s changing?
Price increase
From 1 April 2024 the base price of Club Affiliation will go from £97 to £110 for the first 10 club members or fewer, with the per member fee thereafter increasing from £7.90 to £10.00.
This is the first price increase since April 2019.
New Club Affiliation option
We are delighted to announce that we are launching a new Club Affiliation product – Club Affiliation Plus. This gives clubs bespoke liability insurance cover for clubs and enhanced fundraising support in addition to everything they get with standard Affiliation.
Full details about Club Affiliation Plus are set out below.
Updated affiliation renewal process
We have also updated the renewal process for Club Affiliation in ClubHub. We have redesigned the affiliation form to make it easier to fill in. We have also added up to seven additional questions to capture information better so we can communicate with you and understand the services you offer the rowing community more effectively.
We are also upgrading some of the technical systems behind the affiliation form, so it will look different and should make it easier for clubs to update this information each year. Keeping us up to date with the latest information about your club will help us to support you better, and allow us to keep developing our Club Affiliation products.
An overview of the new questions you will be asked during the renewal process this year is set out below to allow you to gather this information from relevant members of the club committee before starting the Club Affiliation renewal process in ClubHub.
What is Club Affiliation Plus?
Club Affiliation Plus includes even more benefits than standard Club Affiliation; specifically bespoke club liability insurance cover and enhanced fundraising support.
This product is designed predominantly for clubs who want to receive all the same affiliation benefits as before but also raise the standard and quality of their club insurance cover, and save their officers time by not having to purchase and administer a separate liability policy.
Affiliation Plus club insurance cover
This includes:
- Public and Products Liability: £10,000,000 limit of indemnity*.
- Extended cover to include Hirers Liability for an indemnity limit of £1,000,000**.
- Employers Liability: £10,000,000 limit of indemnity, extended to include all clubs in respect of volunteers.
- Professional Indemnity: £5,000,000 limit of indemnity.
- Management Liability Extension (Directors and Officers): £250,000***.
- Abuse Extension: £2,000,000 limit of indemnity****.
- Cyber Liability Extension: £25,000 limit of indemnity.
The annual base cost of the product will be £600 for the first 10 members plus the standard £10.00 per member fee. The £600 fee includes the base membership fee of £110 so the cost to you of the additional liability insurance and fundraising application support you receive is £490.
Our insurance broker, Marsh Sport, held a webinar for clubs to explain more about the Club Affiliation Plus liability insurance. You can watch this here:
Watch the Club Insurance webinar
*subject to an excess of £250 in respect of Third Party Property Damage.
**in respect of any one claim and in respect of all claims arising out of one occurrence.
***per claim, per club subject to an excess of £500.
****subject to scaled back cover with reduced limits to cater for retrospective historic incidents which may not be picked up under any previous coverage for abuse.
Affiliation Plus fundraising support
Clubs who take out Club Affiliation Plus will also be able to ask questions and join webinars with our new Fundraising Officer. She is now available to help clubs identify funding streams by reviewing all potential national and local sources. She will also be on hand to review clubs’ bids for grants and provide guidance and support on how to optimise applications.
New questions clubs will be asked in club affiliation renewal this year
In addition to details we already request, clubs will also now be asked to:
- Break down their total membership numbers by adults vs juniors and male vs female, plus how many members have a disability or long term health condition
- Declare their club member numbers as at 31 December preceding affiliation (schools should declare the total club members they had during the last academic year)
- Declare club welfare details – Club Welfare Officer (CWO) and any Assistant CWOs’ contact details
- Declare the names of the club’s coaches
- Declare any other club or association of which the club is a member
- Update what rowing facilities the club has and types of rowing the club offers
- (Optional) Update what the club’s interests are or what development plans the club has
- (Optional) Update the club’s main source of income.
Clubs based on Environment Agency waters will also be asked to upload their Boat Safety Scheme Certificate for any powered boats.
FAQs
How do we define a club member?
A club member is anyone whose membership application to your club has been accepted and has paid any membership fee due. This does not include individuals participating in taster sessions or Learn to Row courses but it does include social/bar members
For school clubs, a club member is anyone who has opted to be part of the club, including as a games option for more than one term. Again, this does not include those who are only participating in taster sessions or try rowing as a PE activity.
What if our club insurance doesn’t run out straight away, can we upgrade to Club Affiliation Plus later in the year?
Clubs who select Affiliation Plus must take this at the point of renewal and the club insurance cover you receive via Affiliation Plus will be valid from 1 April. From 1 April clubs must submit any claims that arise to our insurers (Marsh Sport). We therefore encourage you to cancel your existing liability insurance policy with effect from 1 April as soon as possible and request a pro rata refund on the remaining policy.
We are instructing our insurers to provide cover for all clubs who purchase Club Affiliation Plus from 1 April and can’t add existing clubs onto the policy sporadically throughout the year. This will only be done on an annual basis with insurers, so we need to know which clubs will be taking this up straight away.
Where can I find out more about the club insurance policy?
For further written information about the club policy, please visit our dedicated Insurance Hub by Marsh Sport where you will be able to find a Summary of Cover document and Approved Club Activity details.
Clubs will have the opportunity to ask direct questions to our insurance broker, Marsh Sport, via a webinar on Monday, 4 March 2024 at 6.30pm. For those clubs that can’t make the webinar, a recording will be available on our website.
Does the club insurance include buildings or equipment cover?
The policy provided via Club Affiliation Plus is exclusively a liability policy and does not include buildings or equipment cover. Additional information about further cover Marsh Sport provides can be found on our dedicated Insurance Hub.
