For many years the ACU has provided Road Traffic Act insurance cover for riders in events that have included the use of the public highway. With this, until now the Organisers have had to collect premiums from Riders during the Signing On process and the Competitors have been asked to complete and sign additional forms and declarations – this was a necessary evil to ensure the RTA cover was in place and applicable to that event.
We say ‘until now’ but not anymore! – this has now all changed. The RTA cover is still in place but following discussions with our Insurers, the ACU have arranged third party RTA Insurance as a blanket cover across the whole Membership to cover any competitor, marshal or Official signed on for an ACU permitted event which will allow them to use any motor vehicle in connection with the event in areas of the event where the Road Traffic Act is deemed to be applicable.
So what does all this mean? Well, in layman’s terms with effect 1st January 2016, the RTA cover will be provided in the same way as our Public Liability and other insurance covers. That is to say that the Rider, Marshal or Official signs on at an event and the cover is automatically in place. Furthermore, the RTA cover comes at no extra cost to the Organiser – this cover is provided free of charge as the ACU has decided to cover the annual premium for this cover at no extra cost to the Organiser or the competitor.
ACU Chairman Brian Higgins commented, “The ACU has provided RTA cover for a number of years, but we were mindful of the additional work this placed on Event Secretaries during Signing On and whilst this was a necessity, the method of providing RTA insurance to our Organisers was cumbersome. We also felt that by having to declare the need to buy cover, some riders were not adequately covered for third party risk. The blanket cover we now provide will ensure that every person at an event, ie. the rider, the marshal, the Official has the RTA cover in place automatically. This measure will again allow our Clubs and Promoters to have a better night’s sleep knowing the cover is in place as a matter of course”.