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BMFA Chairman’s Conference (plus one Lady) 9th March 2008.
I spent Saturday at Leicester Gliding Club where the BMFA conference was held.
It is amazing who you meet so far away from home. First I fell over Alastair Birks who was representing Windermere MFC, then I was accosted by a youth (about the only person in the room under fifty five), who wanted to be remembered to the Huddersfield Mafia. It was him who did most of the fetching and carrying at last years EPP60 event on Holme Moss.
This gathering was attended by 144 delegates and represented about ninety clubs. There were four speakers during the day, the topics being Insurance, planning issues, the BMFA office and what it can do for us and finally a general discussion. The most interesting topic, and the best speaker, was undoubtedly Richard Doubleday from Perkins Slade our insurance brokers.
Some Facts about our insurance: -
Perkins Slade specialise in sporting insurance and what I found quite surprising is we as model flyers have the best record of all the sports people they get cover for and consequently our premiums are the lowest.
From the purposes of our insurance a model becomes a full size aircraft when it weighs more than 150Kg and is then not insured. I can’t see this being a problem for us.
Our insurance is split into two sections the first being Civil Liability and costing £6.96 a member and then there is some Personal Accident cover that costs £1.54 bringing the total up to £8.50 for every member of the BMFA
Civil Liability:
This covers us as flyers and also the committee and trustees of the club for any claim brought against them for any activity that we are lawfully able to carry out in the pursuance of our sport.
We, as trustees or a committee are covered for Employers Liability even if the employees are volunteers. Something that took me a bit by surprise however is that we are expected to keep records of our “employees” for FORTY years in case there is a claim for an illness that has a long incubation time.
If a claim is brought against a member the Royal Sun Alliance, the policy provider, will ask a number of questions relating to the incident and depending on the answers will take one of two courses of action.
• If they are satisfied that we have been operating in a correct manner they will fight the case on our behalf.
• If they think that there is negligence on our part they will seek to pay the claim as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
In both the above cases we are still insured and covered up to £5,000,000 of a claim. It was pleasing to note that the £5,000,000 is only the maximum for the claim. We are covered for legal costs above and beyond this amount.
Richard Doubleday did issue a warning that, probably next year; they would be recommending that our cover be increased to TEN MILLION because, in a different sport that they also cover, there has been a claim this year for £7,500,000 pounds.
Personal Accident Insurance: (Age 3 to 80)
If you are a modeller and fall in the above age range you are covered for the following over and above any claim you may care to make against whoever caused the accident.
• Death £5,000
• Permanent Disablement £25,000
• Blind £25,000
• Sight of one eye £12,500
• Down to small amounts for fingers and other bits.
Our 2007 Record: -
Payouts were made for 3 fingers lost and 1 elbow damaged.
Civil Liability claims were paid out for 10 cars, 3 buildings, 6 people and 2 model aircraft.
NO our models are not insured for crash damage! The two models were damaged when a marquee blew onto them.
Planning Issues, Roger Bellingham Flying Site Advisor
I was not too impressed with this part of the day because I didn’t believe Mr Bellingham covered the topic adequately and some of his statements were at odds with what I understand about planning. There was no mention of lobbying the elected members of the council or getting local people and club members to write in support of an application. I did learn that while a model aircraft is on the ground then it comes under the jurisdiction of the local authority but once airborne the CAA are the body that is referred to in the event of a problem.
I also learned that the BMFA’s accepted minimum for flying sites operating on the same frequency is two miles.
BMFA’s Office and the Members, David Phipps
This was a bit dry but well presented a few of the facts to immerge that were new to me are listed below.
• The BMFA produce a guide on the correct procedure for removing a troublesome member from a club.
• They also produce a draft constitution, which incorporates the above, for clubs to modify to meet their particular needs.
• He confirmed that non members flying on a club site are covered by our insurance but for only for three days in any year.
• The Child Protection Policy. BMFA are going to shortly issue a simpler guide.
• They will issue confirmation of our sports status to any club who is applying for planning permission or for a Bingo Lotto grant which is money set aside for minority sports.
• The officers of the BMFA will give free club talks.
• They have masses of equipment that can be borrowed.
• There is an office typing and printing service
• The online shop you may already know about but next year country members will be able to rejoin online. It is hoped that probably by the next year that clubs will be able to submit their returns online and even pay through the internet. Sounds like we may need a club credit card!?
I am going to write for some of the leaflets and especially the document confirming our status as a sport.
It was confirmed that the BMFA Forum was to return, in a different format, sometime before the end of the year.
Our insurance excess is £50 on any claim
There 770 BMFA Clubs in the UK comprising 36,000 members
General Discussion, Manny Williamson.
Basically this was a general discussion on how to run a club efficiently for the benefit of the members.
His suggestion for the make up of the committee was for the following officers:
• Chairman
• Vice Chairman
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• Membership Secretary (for large clubs)
• Safety Officer (He thought that this post should be a shared responsibility of all committee members rather than one individual)
• Other committee members only as needed for competitions or magazine editors’ etc. dependant on the needs and wishes of the club.
He also said all members should sign to say they have read the flying site rules and that they agree to abide by them.
On the issue of field and flight safety he pointed out that just about everything in the BMFA Handbook are only recommendations and such things as separation of models from modellers is not binding and a club should work out it’s own best practice for it’s own field which may be completely different from that suggested by the BMFA.
He concluded that it is important for the members that the committee is seen to conduct the business of the club in a fair and transparent manner.
Condensed down to this it doesn’t appear we did a lot but I can assure you the debate was fast and furious throughout the day especially over the chilli and chat at the lunch break.
I hope a few of you think my time wasn’t wasted and that this summery has been of use to you.
Just one item I forgot! If you have designed a model which incorporates a video camera or a satalite navigation system that enables you to still fly it when it is out of site of it's opperator well done but DO NOT FLY IT you are NOT insured for this type of model.  T-A-M |
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