Clubs & Hospitality Insurance

Gaming rooms bring their own set of insurance considerations.

They’re busy spaces where patrons may spend long periods of time. Disputes can arise, while ordinary incidents such as slips and falls can happen alongside issues specific to gaming operations.

The important question is whether your insurance reflects what actually happens in that part of the venue.

War memorabilia and heritage items can be difficult to insure well.

Their historical or sentimental importance may bear little relationship to their ordinary market value. Some items may need specialist valuations or a different approach to the way they are insured.

For clubs with significant collections, it’s worth dealing with your approach before a loss rather than discovering the problem afterwards.

Being a volunteer committee member doesn’t automatically remove the responsibilities that come with the role. Employment matters, governance decisions and regulatory issues can lead to claims against the organisation or the people involved.

Management or association liability may provide protection in some circumstances. The important point is to check who the policy actually covers and how it responds.

Many clubs play a much bigger community role than their normal trading activities suggest.

ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day are obvious examples for RSL clubs. Fundraisers and other community events can also bring many more people onto the premises than usual.

Some policies contain conditions around certain events, so it’s worth checking the insurance before the event takes place.

Food service brings a different type of exposure into the venue. Food-borne illness is one example. Kitchen equipment and fire are another. Rather than treating the bistro as an add-on, we look at how it affects the venue’s overall insurance.

Private functions and live entertainment can change the way a venue is used. If you introduce regular entertainment or significantly increase patron numbers, tell your insurance adviser. Your existing insurance may need to be reviewed before you make the change.

Alcohol service creates additional legal and liability considerations for licensed venues.

In Queensland, licensees have responsibilities around responsible service and maintaining a safe environment in and around the venue. Requirements differ between States, so the insurance needs to be considered alongside the rules that apply where you operate.

The wording of your public liability policy matters too. Policies don’t all deal with liquor related incidents in exactly the same way.

Some clubs operate from buildings that have been extended or altered many times. Others occupy older or unusual premises that may be more expensive to rebuild than expected.

Property replacement values deserve regular attention, particularly where the building has features that would be difficult to replace.

Public liability can respond when someone alleges they were injured, or their property was damaged, because of your operations. For licensed venues, the way the policy deals with alcohol related incidents deserves attention.

Liquor liability is often dealt with within the public liability policy rather than a separate policy, but the terms vary. We review the wording, so you understand how the cover applies to your venue.

Property insurance can cover the physical assets your venue depends on. For an established club, the building is often the biggest consideration.

Older premises can be surprisingly expensive to rebuild. The cost of replacing specialist equipment or unusual features can also be much higher than their apparent value.

Keeping insurance values current helps reduce the risk of discovering a shortfall after a major loss.

A fire or other insured event can stop a venue trading even when the physical damage is repairable. Business interruption insurance may help replace lost income and meet certain continuing costs while the business recovers, subject to the policy terms.

For a club, it’s important that the figures reflect how the organisation earns its income.

The indemnity period matters too. A major rebuild can take much longer than expected, particularly where approvals, or specialised construction, are involved.

Management liability may provide protection for the organisation and the people involved in running it, depending on the policy.

Volunteer committees sometimes assume their unpaid status protects them personally. That shouldn’t be taken for granted.

One of the first things we look at is who the policy defines as an insured person and whether that reflects the way the club is governed.

Clubs often rely heavily on volunteers. Volunteer personal accident insurance may provide benefits if someone is injured while carrying out authorised activities for the club.

Whether the cover is appropriate will depend on the organisation and the circumstances in which volunteers work.

A cool room failure can be much more than an equipment problem. If critical machinery stops working, the consequences can quickly spread into food spoilage or interrupted trading.

Machinery breakdown insurance can provide protection for specified equipment failures, depending on the policy.

Clubs hold valuable information about their members and increasingly depend on technology to keep the venue operating. A cyber incident may affect far more than personal data. If payment facilities, or other important systems go offline, the disruption can quickly affect revenue as well.

The right cover depends on the systems you use and the consequences if you lose access to them. Read more about Cyber Insurance.

Clubs aren’t immune from fraud or theft.

Where several people have access to club funds, crime insurance may be worth considering.  Depending on the policy, it may respond to certain losses caused by employee dishonesty, theft or fraud.

We can review how the insurer treats those exposures and whether the policy limits or conditions reflect the way your venue operates.

Large windows and decorative glass can be expensive to replace. Depending on the venue, separate glass cover may be appropriate.

Some clubs operate courtesy buses or other vehicles as part of their services. The insurance should reflect who drives them and how they’re actually used.

If you employ staff, workers compensation requirements apply.

In Queensland, employers who employ workers must hold workers compensation insurance. The legal definition of a worker can be more complicated where contractors are involved, so it’s worth checking rather than assuming someone sits outside the scheme.

If you operate in more than one state or territory, the requirements should be considered for each location.

We’ve spent years working with RSL clubs and licensed venues. We understand that two clubs of similar size can have very different insurance needs because of the way they operate.

Insurance doesn’t sit separately from the regulatory environment.

We’re familiar with the issues that liquor licensing and gaming can create for venues. Where a matter requires specialist legal or compliance advice, we’ll make that distinction clear and signpost you to other appropriate service providers.

We’ll explain what you’re buying and where the limitations sit. If you are considering trade-offs between premium and cover, we’ll explain those too.

Clear Insurance is a member of the Steadfast network, Australasia’s largest general insurance broker network. That gives us access to broad insurance market and specialist resources who understand club and hospitality sector risks.

You’ll work with an adviser who gets to know your venue. That becomes particularly useful when something changes and you need to know whether the insurance needs to change as well.

We’ll ask how the venue works.

Gaming may be important to one club, while functions drive another. For an older venue, the property may be the biggest concern.

Understanding your operations and context helps us to understand what the insurance needs to do.

We review your existing insurance and risk-transfer arrangements to see where the cover may no longer reflect your operations. We’re looking for meaningful gaps or unnecessary duplication, not opportunities to add policies for the sake of it. Our advice relates to insurance and risk transfer. We do not provide risk management consulting services.

We provide clear recommendations on appropriate insurance options. We explain complex policy terms in straightforward language. This helps you make informed decisions.

We approach insurers that are appropriate for the type of venue you operate. The aim isn’t simply to find the cheapest quote. It’s to compare options that genuinely fit your needs.