French Sports Code
In forceCIVIL LIABILITY INSURANCE POLICY
FOR PUBLIC SPORTS EVENTS
(art. A. 331-24 and A. 331-25)
General terms and conditions
This contract is governed by the French Insurance Code and by the general and special conditions set out below.
Object and scope of the insurance
Article 1
The purpose of this policy is to cover, in accordance with the provisions of articles
R. 331-6to R. 331-17 of the French Sports Code, in the event of accident, fire or explosion occurring during any sporting event designated in the special conditions or during the trials scheduled in the official programme for that event:
1° The pecuniary consequences of any civil liability which may be incurred by the organiser or the competitors as a result of personal injury or damage to property caused to spectators, third parties or competitors, but only in respect of the latter in the case of events which do not involve the private use of the public highway over the whole of their course;
2° The pecuniary consequences of any civil liability that the organiser or competitors may incur towards agents of the State or any other public body involved in the policing, organisation or control of the sporting event, or towards their beneficiaries as a result of personal injury or damage to property caused to the said agents;
3° The pecuniary consequences of the civil liability that may fall on the State, the départements and the communes for any damage caused to third parties or to the organiser by civil servants or military personnel made available to the latter or their equipment.
Article 2
Exclusions
This contract does not cover
1° Accidents caused by strikes, riots or civil commotion, or by civil or foreign war, or by the disintegration of the atomic nucleus;
2° The liability of an insured for an accident resulting from his intentional or reckless misconduct;
3° The liability of the organiser or a competitor in respect of the persons referred to in paragraph a of article 18 relating to the definition of the organiser;
4° The liability of the organiser or of a competitor in respect of an accident caused to employees, servants or auxiliaries, where such employees, servants or auxiliaries are covered by the legislation on accidents at work;
5° Financial penalties.
Article 3
Limit of cover
Cover under this contract is granted without limit as regards personal injury and, as regards damage to property, up to the sum stated in the Declarations for each claim during a sporting event. An excess for damage to property may be specified in the Declarations Page.
The costs of legal proceedings, releases and other settlement costs will not be deducted from the sum insured. However, in the event of a judgement exceeding this sum, they shall be borne by the insurer and the insured in the proportion of their respective shares in the judgement.
Formation and duration of the contract
Article 4
This contract is taken out for the period specified in the Policy Schedule.
The Insurer may proceed with its execution from that moment, but it only takes effect on the date indicated in the Declarations.
Cross-references and overwrites to the Declarations are valid only if they have been validated by the signatures of the parties.
When it is stipulated in the Declarations that the policy covers all or some of the sporting events organised during a given period by the policyholder or by the organisations referred to in Articles R. 331-7 and R. 331-17 of the French Sports Code, it takes effect, for each event, in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the Declarations; the insurer must provide the policyholder or the organisation concerned, at its request, with a statement attesting to the existence of this cover.
Article 5
Cancellation
The contract may be cancelled before its normal expiry date:
a) In the event of worsening of the risk ;
b) In the event of an omission or inaccuracy in the declaration of the risk;
c) In the event of total withdrawal of authorisation;
And, in addition, if the special terms and conditions contain the stipulation referred to in the last paragraph of Article 4:
d) In the event of non-payment of premiums due;
e) After a claim.
Any cancellation of the contract by the insurer must, in order to be valid, be notified by registered letter simultaneously to the policyholder and to the administrative authority empowered to authorise any sporting event provided for in the special conditions or, in the case referred to in the second paragraph of Article 4, any sporting event which has not been completed or which has been cancelled and which has given rise to the issue of the certificate provided for in the same paragraph.
Article 6
Declaration of risk
This contract is drawn up on the basis of the declarations made by the policyholder, who must, in accordance with the provisions of the Insurance Code, declare all the elements known to him/her for assessing the risk.
In the case of the multiple-application contract referred to in the last paragraph of Article 4, the policyholder must also provide the insurer with any information requested by the latter.
When the circumstances whose declaration is provided for in the preceding paragraph or in the Special Conditions are modified through the fault of the insured or the sports federations, the policyholder must declare this immediately to the insurer.
When the change constitutes an aggravation such that, if the new condition had existed when the policy was taken out, the insurer would not have taken out the contract or would have done so only at a higher premium, the declaration must be made, subject to the conditions laid down in the Insurance Code, either to terminate the contract by registered letter, or to propose a new premium rate; if the policyholder does not accept this new rate, the insurer may terminate the contract.
Article 7
Premium
The premium is fixed or adjustable, depending on what is stated in the Declarations.
The policyholder shall bear the ancillary costs, the amount of which is set out in the Declarations, as well as all taxes and levies which exist or which may be levied either on the premium or on the sums insured, the recovery of which is not prohibited.
In the case of the multiple-application contract referred to in the last paragraph of Article 4, in the event of non-payment of a premium due, the insurer may, subject to twenty days' notice, sent by registered letter simultaneously to the policyholder and to the administrative authority referred to in Article 5 (last paragraph), suspend cover, without prejudice to its right to terminate the contract ten days after the suspension takes effect or to take legal action to enforce it.
Article 8
Adjustable premium
If the premium is stipulated to be adjustable according to variable elements, it is determined by applying to these elements the rate specified in the Declarations; it is payable within eight days of the date on which the policyholder is informed of its amount.
The policyholder must declare to the insurer within eight days of the last day of the event the variable elements for which declaration is provided for in the Declarations.
In the event of an error or omission in this declaration, the penalties provided for in the Insurance Code may be applied, and the policyholder must, in particular, cover the shortfall in premium established and pay compensation equal to half of this shortfall.
Article 9
If a sporting event cannot take place, the policyholder may obtain either the cancellation of the effects of the contract with regard to this event (the lump-sum or provisional premium being reimbursed after deduction of the minimum costs stipulated in the Special Conditions), or the postponement of these effects to a later date.
Article 10
The insurer may have delegates of its choice verify the policyholder's declarations and inspect the objects directly or indirectly constituting the risks covered by this contract; the policyholder must facilitate the insurer's exercise of its right of inspection.
Claims
Article 11
Notification of claim
The policyholder must, on pain of forfeiture, and except in the case of unforeseen circumstances or force majeure, declare claims to the insurer within a maximum of five days of becoming aware of them.
He must also inform the insurer of the circumstances, the known or presumed causes of the loss, the nature and extent of the damage as well as the names and addresses of the injured parties and, if possible, witnesses.
In the event of a false declaration knowingly made concerning the date, circumstances and apparent consequences of the claim, the policyholder shall forfeit his right to cover for this claim.
Article 12
Summons, settlement
The insured whose liability is engaged by a claim must transmit to the insurer all notices, letters, summonses, writs of summons, extra-judicial documents and pleadings served on him/her at any request whatsoever so that the insurer can respond in good time, failing which the insured, in the event of delay, will owe the insurer compensation proportionate to the loss which may result for him/her.
Within the limits of its cover, the insurer has the right to settle with injured third parties and, to this end, receives from the insured all necessary powers to represent the latter in dealings with these third parties.
No acknowledgement of liability or settlement made outside the insurer shall be enforceable against it. However, an admission of liability shall not be deemed to be an admission of a material fact, nor the mere fact of having provided urgent assistance to a victim when this is an act of assistance which every person has a moral duty to perform.
Article 13
Proceedings
In the event of an action brought before the civil, commercial or administrative courts against the insured, the insurer shall, within the limits of its cover, defend the insured and conduct the proceedings.
In the event of an action brought before the criminal courts, if the victim or victims have not been compensated, the insurer reserves the right, within the limits of its cover, to lead the defence or to join in it.
With regard to legal remedies :
a) Before the civil, commercial or administrative courts, the insurer is free to exercise these rights;
b) Before the criminal courts, the insurer may always, on behalf of the civilly liable insured, exercise all means of recourse within the limits of its cover. However, if the insured has been summoned as defendant, the insurer may only exercise the aforementioned remedies with the insured's agreement, with the exception of an appeal to the Court of Cassation where this is limited to civil matters.
In the case of liability as referred to in paragraph 3 of Article 1, the insurer must, if the administrative authority concerned so requests, decline the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts and accept the intervention of the competent administrative authorities in the conduct of the proceedings whenever such intervention is necessary under the terms of the legislation in force.
Determination and payment of compensation
Article 14
Payment of compensation
Any compensation due shall be payable within fifteen days of the agreement of the parties or the final decision.
If the compensation awarded to a victim or his rightful claimants consists of an annuity and if a purchase of securities is ordered as security for its payment, the insurer shall set up this security. If no special security is ordered by a court decision, the value of the capital annuity is calculated in accordance with the rules applicable to the calculation of the mathematical reserve of this annuity.
Article 15
Forfeiture and clauses not enforceable
The following clauses may not be invoked against the victims or their beneficiaries:
a) Forfeiture of rights ;
b) Any reduction in compensation resulting from failure to declare one of the increases in risk provided for in Article 6.
In the cases referred to in the previous paragraph, the insurer will be entitled to reimbursement, by the policyholder or insured whose failure has caused the lapse or reduction, of the sums which it has had to pay or reserve.
Any clause added which has the effect of restricting the cover provided by these general terms and conditions shall be null and void.
Miscellaneous provisions
Article 16
Subrogation
The insurer is subrogated to the extent of the compensation paid by it in the rights and actions which may belong to the insured against third parties responsible for the loss.
If the subrogation can no longer be exercised in favour of the insurer because of the insured, the insurer shall have a right of recourse against the insured to the same extent as the subrogation could have been exercised.
Except in the case provided for in the above paragraph, the insurer waives, in the event of a claim, any recourse that it may be entitled to exercise against the State and the municipal or departmental authorities, as well as against any person or department reporting to the said authorities in any capacity whatsoever.
Under the same exception, it waives any recourse, as a result of an event covered by this contract, against a person whose liability is insured by this contract.
Article 17
Any action deriving from this contract is subject to a limitation period of two years from the event giving rise to it, in accordance with the conditions laid down in the Insurance Code.
Article 18
Definitions
For the purposes of this contract, the following definitions shall apply:
Organiser.
a) The legal entities referred to in articles R. 331-7 and R. 331-17 of the French Sports Code;
b) Statutory directors of the bodies referred to in a) when these directors are entrusted with any task during the sporting event or the preliminary tests;
c) During the course of their duties, the agents or employees of the persons referred to in paragraphs a and b above and all the assistants, in any capacity whatsoever, of these persons.
Competitors. Riders or participants validly engaged to take part in competitions in sporting events, as well as persons normally providing them with assistance during these events.
Insured: The organiser, competitors, the State, departments and municipalities insofar as the latter are involved in the policing, organisation or control of the sporting event.
Civil servants, agents and military personnel. All civil servants of the State, départements or communes, appointed by the administrations to which they report to carry out a function during and on the occasion of the sporting event, and all agents or military personnel making up the public order service.
Equipment. The equipment used by the civil servants, agents and military personnel of the security service - including in particular vehicles of all kinds and aerial surveillance vehicles - made available to the organiser.
