Airsofting on Private Land

[RAFsch]

Re: Airsofting on Private Land

Great stuff, so seriously need to look at getting insurance.

Hypothetically IF I didn't have insurance, but say asked all to sign a disclaimer sheet, what would be the issue there?

[Pasty]

Re: Airsofting on Private Land

It wouldn't be worth the paper it's written on as is civil law

[Skolob]

Re: Airsofting on Private Land

I wouldn't trust a disclaimer either. Its more about plsyers understanding the terms of insurance rather than no insurance. I would also recomend that you make sure you have WRITTEN permission to use the land as its just less hassle if the police do turn up. They just want to make sure everything is legit and move on to something more important, so having the written permission just speeds things up.
If there are any areas whene a round could ricochet or just normally fly outside the game boundary, builders netting is very useful as a trap.

[slick63]

Re: Airsofting on Private Land

Seriously hate to dig up an old thread! - I am looking at starting a site properly now, and really need to be briefed on the rules and regs.

Obviously you CAN airsoft without public liability insurance, because its on private land, but if I was to get some insurance I'd have to charge a site fee.

Is that illegal? To charge for someone to use the site?

We've been given permission to use the land by landowner, etc... So what possible things could be illegal?

Thanks

Common sense rules the day, as others have said let the local police know where and what you are doing. Put signs up at any entrances, something like 'no entry, combat games in progress'. You mentioned in an earlier post that you were using a field, if so you may have problems attracting enough players to just a plain field to warrant paying out for site insurance.
Last time I looked site insurance was around £750 upwards, a lot to pay out if it`s just a few 'mates'. If it is just a bunch of mates you game with, but are worried about insurance, you can get individual liability insurance for airsoft at about £40 a year each just in case one of the 'mates' turns out to be a dick.
Running a site on a commercial basis is not something to be taken lightly, it takes a helluva lot of hard work thinking up games to keep players interested, plus all the health and safety requirements which most insurers need.

[Tom Andrews]

Re: Airsofting on Private Land

The insurance is for public liability, not players. If a player shoots a member of the public hopefully you are covered.

The standard type waiver shows (if there should be a court case) that the player had known of the risks and therefore had to take some responsibility for his injuries. Its worth repeating the waiver terms at the safety brief so that no one can say they weren't aware.

Even with insurancein place don't expect to have an easy ride. We have had two (one ongoing) insurance claims. Both of which were turned down by the insurance company as (not unreasonably) minor injuries that would be expected. As a result, the charlatarn 'no win, no fee' lawyers have gone after the directors personally.
After a lot of legal expense going over several years one claiment pulled out days before the court case, then went back on their promise to pay our costs. The second is trying to sue for two scratches.......

[madwelshman]

Re: Airsofting on Private Land

The most worrying issue here is your asking complete strangers, most with actually no knowledge whatsoever of the topic, other than they "play" airsoft.... Guessing by the "hypothetical" question, that your either extremely naive, or blissfully unaware of the suing culture we live in.

I can tell you, fact, that a "disclaimer" means absolutely NOTHING in court, WHATSOEVER.... doesn't matter what you have in writing, how old the person who signs it is, what "reasonable steps taken" you made to making something safe ect, it WILL NOT HOLD UP IN COURT! I used to work for the biggest paintball company in the Uk, who were constantly in court, on the "no win no fee" tidal wave.... I can't remember of a single case that we as managers heard of (there were many many more) that wasn't settled out of court....

Win or loose, you will end up loosing, in fees, time and stress, and thats WITH insurance.... without, your going to loose a lot more than sleep....

[Figjam]

Re: Airsofting on Private Land

With regard to starting your own site. No-one has mentioned planning permission.

AFAIK if you skirmish no more than once every two weeks its fine, but any more than that and you need to apply for "change of use". Before investing any money in your site, I would get confirmation of this from a professional.

Obviously any structure that can't be knocked down by a couple of blokes in half an hour (perhaps not the strict definition, I think its something to do with footings/foundations) also needs planning permission. The rules are stricter if you are within a conservation area or area of outstanding natural beauty.