Adventure centre owner removes ‘anything that causes injury’ as insurance costs spiral

Two years ago, despite running a popular adventure centre in Cork, Derek Binchy came close to winding things up as his insurance costs spiralled out of control.

The price of covering his Fota Island Adventure centre, which spans 25 mainly forested acres with eight full-time and 14 part-time staff, had reached €25,550.

That has fallen slightly since to €19,595 but remains far higher than the €2,500 he was paying a decade ago. His experience is indicative of the unpredictable, seesaw-like insurance environment encountered in his industry, which many feel bears little relationship to the actual risk posed to customers.

Still, in recent years, the nature of his business has changed by necessity, cutting back sharply on anything perceived likely to cause injuries, or spike his policy costs.

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Hatchet throwing is gone, as is the Battle Run where a team carries an “injured comrade” on a stretcher through the forest. Just in case they fall off.

[ Tackling insurance fraud and other factors driving up the price of premiums in Ireland ]

Body armour and helmets

Speed and racing competitions were removed from the quarter-mile-long obstacle course. Archery was recently introduced, but the archers are heavily clad in body armour and helmets.

“We have just taken out anything that causes injury, even if it’s scratches and scrapes,” says Binchy, who explains that, with a €10,000 excess on his policy, all minor injuries and costs are dealt with by staff. Claims are virtually non-existent, he says.

“[Insurance costs] got really, really bad. It jumped from nothing to unaffordable [and] back down to a little less than unaffordable. But it’s going back up again because last year’s was up 7 per cent on the previous year with no claims,” he says.

‘Insane’ Irish market

Binchy has compared his costs to a similar forest-based UK adventure company which he says, calculated on a pro-rata basis, pays €5,415, or 362 per cent less for cover.

“And they find that expensive,” he says, describing their view of the Irish market as “insane”.

Compounding the frustration for Binchy though is what he could be spending the money on — given his insurance is not actually delivering him any value, he says, the same €20,000 would cover a base salary for an employee.

“What I have is a document instead of a member of staff,” he says. “I can tell you a member of staff is much safer than a document.”