With bookings for game shooting having reached new highs for the shoot season, many teams of guns and shoot owners are very concerned about shooting being cancelled due to outbreaks of bird flu.
The liability for any cancellation typically falls upon those buying the shoot day and whilst many shoots have, in the past, been able to be flexible around offering alternative days, in the event that a booked shoot day needs to be cancelled or curtailed the financial dynamics resulting from an outbreak of bird flu would make this impossible. Indeed, any shoot affected by a local outbreak of bird flu could face financial ruin.
The policy of DEFRA, which is likely to be followed by the devolved national Governments, is to put in place a restriction zone of up to 10Km from the centre of any outbreak. Shooting is likely to be banned in those zones so no matter how good the bio-security measures operated by a shoot they could still be unable to function for long periods, typically up to 90 days, which could encompass most of the shoot season.
Charles Owen, a Director of the Mornacott Sporting Club and runs the Mornacott Shoot in Devon, has spent several months scouring the market to find a sensibly priced insurance that would provide cover for shoots to protect them from AI. Charles stated “The impact of an outbreak of AI could be absolutely devastating to a game shoot resulting in financial ruin. Running a shoot has always involved big financial inputs and has never been a very profitable undertaking and being able to obtain cover against bird flu has to make sense.”
Shoot Protect is able to offer cover for estates including their financial loss for shoot days cancelled as the result of Avian Influenza (including non-delivery of birds) and cover for costs and expenses for secondary cleaning and disinfection, as instructed by DEFRA, is available at an additional premium.
Insurance for teams of guns is available with rates starting at 2.5% of the cost of the shoot day. This Insurance will cover teams if they are unable to shoot in the event that the shoot is closed as a result of an infection of Avian Influenza. This insurance also covers additional irrecoverable travel and accommodation expenses associated with the shoot day and if the team are unable to attend if they are located within an infected area.
For more details visit www.shootprotect.co.uk or call 03303 211254.
