You will have heard and read a lot about the BHRC “dictating” to licence holders on which events insurance is used on race days, so we would like to try and explain why we have had to insist that our policy is in place at all tracks.

We have previously given some of the history behind the company we use, and why we use them but following a fatal accident case which has now come to a conclusion we as a Board realised that we needed to re-examine the insurance provision for all meetings.

Wales and West quite understandably obtained their own events insurance quotation (planning that the BHRC continue to cover individual drivers etc). When we realised how cheap it was compared with our own, it did cause concern, and we therefore looked in some detail at the cover provision.  We are genuinely concerned that in some areas the W and W cover is not sufficient. It was because of this concern that we changed one rule in the rule book this year to insist that all promoters use our insurance.  It’s not about “dictating”, it’s about trying to keep everybody safe.

We are concerned and have made the changes for 2 reasons:

The first is because of our duty of care to you, as licence holders and to all the other people who help out and volunteer at race meetings and in the preparation and conclusion of race meetings – it isn’t all about what happens on the day, it also involves preparation and demolition afterwards. Below are two examples of uncertainties that we found:

 A volunteer sets up a track on the Wednesday before Sunday racing and he injures himself.  He would not be covered under the Wales and West insurance policy but would be covered under the BHRC policy.

A horse breaks free following a racing incident and charges through the ropes separating the crowd from the track.  The ropes may not be adequate and a member of the public is injured.  Which insurance company will accept liability?

The second reason is because we, as Directors, have a duty of care to ensure that we have made all reasonable efforts to check that ALL insurance is up to scratch.  We now think that there are some gaps (see the examples above) and we could be found personally negligent if we do not address this fact. We have discussed our concerns with the Company Solicitor who has confirmed our concerns, and that the actions that we are taking are within both our Constitution and Rule Book.

If anybody would like to discuss queries with a director then please ring one of us, or call the office and ask for one of us to ring you. The BHRC will continue to work towards an agreement with Wales and West to get racing going and we hope that you understand and support our decision; – that is that we cannot risk licence holders, officials or members of the public not being adequately insured.

An unsettled claim could be the end of racing.