No legal case for being hit by a ball on the course

[Five&One]

This is an interesting point though...

a. Theoretically, an individual should only be sued if reckless conduct can be proven.
b. Theoretically, I would assume golf insurance T&Cs stipulate they do not cover acts of reckless conduct.

Ergo, insurance is pointless.

(Please do not base your insurance purchasing decisions based on the above )

Maybe someone who has it could reveal what it actually covers, both in regard to hitting someone and in regard to being hit ?

 

[timchump]

If they call you through they know there is somebody in the close vicinity about to hit a shot and they should take necessary precaution etc. It would be impossible for them to prove negligence on your part if they had called you through as they cant exactly say they had no warning etc can they.

your right, what i was concerned about was in an article on the fist page of this thread where it said something along the lines of defendent should have considered he could have hit somebody, he was over confident in his ability to hit a good shot.

i am not condient in my ability to miss somebody standing in the position i mentioned, even though they are inviting me to do so and can see me taking aim at them with my driver

 

[mab]

your right, what i was concerned about was in an article on the fist page of this thread where it said something along the lines of defendent should have considered he could have hit somebody, he was over confident in his ability to hit a good shot.

i am not condient in my ability to miss somebody standing in the position i mentioned, even though they are inviting me to do so and can see me taking aim at them with my driver

You raise a really good question here.

Personally, I would hope that common sense prevails and the fact that someone called you through, it is they who have accepted the risk of a potentially terrible golfer (not you ) teeing off only 20 yards away from them. Unfotunately, common sense does not always prevail...

 

[timchump]

You raise a really good question here.

Personally, I would hope that common sense prevails and the fact that someone called you through, it is they who have accepted the risk of a potentially terrible golfer (not you ) teeing off only 20 yards away from them. Unfotunately, common sense does not always prevail...

yep exactly what im thinking, it's also really difficult to tell them to play on, as it normally happens saturday morning, medal day, with lots of people hanging about, so you wil be causing slow play, especially if your playing partners have already played

 

[PPE]

Just thought I'd throw my experience of being hit by a golf ball in here.

Two years ago I was waiting to tee off on a Par 4 after completing the preceeding Par 3 at a course local to me. Playing with my two friends we heard a shout of FORE very very late and as I was on my way down to curl into a ball, the golf ball hit me in the mouth and smashed my four veneers and cut my bottom lip all the way across.

I took the gents details and contacted a 'no win no fee' solictor and took them for everything I could!.........only joking, I claimed for the cost to replace the veneers which was £2900, as the guy had insurance. Subsequently 12mths after this I have had many problems and I have now had to have an implant as the one tooth went into trauma and broke completely, this has now cost me another £2500 as I could not re-open the case.

My opinion was that I only wanted to claim for my costs and thats it which I did do, however this nobility has now cost me £2500! If I wanted to claim for inconvenience, time of work (for dentist appointments) etc I would have doubled my £2900.

From that moment I have ensured that I also have golf insurance.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Really sorry to hear your story PPE, it's stories like yours that i'm sure all people who think that "you accept the risks by walking on the golf course" may now be having second thoughts.

I've seriously been thinking of getting insurance just lately but never got round to it, but £25 or whatever it is and you get 3 rounds of golf thrown in, who can complain at that ?

 

[m1975]

I work in insurance & have also worked with 3rd party liability claims and been involved in defending these with solicitors.
Negligence must be proven in order for a case to be successful.
There must be a breach of a normal duty of care for negligence to be proven.

If I hit a bad shot on a golf course that causes damage I am not negligent, (although it could be argued that I must shout FORE if I thought my bad shot might cause injury - it would be difficult to prove either way)
If I stand on a course firing balls at property or people then I am negligent.

Further, one of the few defences to negligence is "volenti non fit injuria" (voluntary assumption of the risk)
If you are on a golf course you run the risk of being hit, same as if you are watching a game of football and get by a ball, same if you are a boxer and get injured.

There is a well known case in motor racing, I forget the name of the case law now but a spectator was tragically killed watching motor racing, the track owners were found to have taken all necessary precautions, the spectator's family were not entitled to compensation (I am not saying this is right or wrong - the courts decided this)

In summary if - as I am sure most of us on here play the game without the intention of causing any damage we would not be held liable for damages if we hit a wayward shot ...... who could predict or forsee a shank or the damage it may cause.

For those with Insurance, fine, I am glad you have peace of mind, for those without - I wouldn't worry about it - if the law (or golf clubs) thought it was an issue then Insurance would be compulsory - like motor insurance

 

[Jay Gee]

If they call you through they know there is somebody in the close vicinity about to hit a shot and they should take necessary precaution etc. It would be impossible for them to prove negligence on your part if they had called you through as they cant exactly say they had no warning etc can they.

I don't think you're in the clear just because someone calls you through. As the person playing the shot, I would think it's solely your responsibility to ensure that you aren't potentially endangering anyone else. I wouldn't play a shot in those circumstances, but then I have quite a wide range of misses

 

[SwingsitlikeHogan]

I think the reason my club now includes insurance cover in our membership subs (you can opt out I think) is as a risk mitigation against personal injury claims against the club.

A few years ago we felled a lot of mature trees (about 500!) in one area of our course. This has inevitably exposed players to increased risk of being hit by wayward shots - especially on a couple of holes and on one tee in particular - and for wayward shots entering adjacent gardens or clearing the course boundary onto a road. Were Health and Safety to get involved in the case of a personal injury claim, they could well say that the club had not taken sufficient measures to protect players from being hit by wayward shots and to prevent shots clearing the course boundary. Of course the measures would inevitably have to be high fences - and no club really wants to have to put these up - especially internal to the course - never mind the expense.

So insurance - inexpensive and necessary (now that I think of it)