Player Injury Fund

The playing of sports brings rewards of many kinds but is also associated with risk of injury, particularly in relation to participation in contact sports. The below provides a summary of the three schemes which provide benefit to club members who participate in Gaelic Football, Hurling, Ladies Football and Camogie. It is not intended to be a full guide. Further information is available via the following links and members are encouraged to familiarise themselves with the terms and conditions of the schemes relevant to themselves

Click the link to access the specifics for each association:

GAA: 2023 GAA Injury Benefit Fund Summary Document

Camogie: Camogie Player Insurance

Ladies Football: LGFA Injury Fund

GAA INJURY BENEFIT FUND

The GAA Injury Benefit Fund provides benefits to registered members playing Hurling, Gaelic Football, Handball and Rounders whose clubs are registered with the scheme. It is funded entirely from GAA funds and therefore contributed to by the mandatory injury fund contributions paid when Skerries Harps playing membership is paid for.

The Fund is not an insurance scheme and it does not compensate fully for injury; its purpose is to supplement other Schemes such as Personal Accident, Private Health Insurance, Income Protection or Schools insurance for example. In other words, the Fund is in place to cover benefits that cannot be claimed elsewhere and benefits are subject to upper limits and certain excess sums, and also to specific time limits.

The fund provides cover for medical expenses, dental expenses, supplementary hospital benefit and loss of wages. It is the responsibility of each member to ensure that they have adequate cover to meet their specific needs.

Players who wish to make a claim to the GAA Injury Benefit Fund must be a registered member of the GAA on Foireann at the time of the injury occurrence.

Medical and Dental Expenses

The upper limit for otherwise unrecoverable expenses is currently €5,200 and subject to an excess of €100 for each claim except when benefit has been received via private medical insurance. For members with private medical insurance claims must first be made to the provider of that insurance. It should be noted that physiotherapy or other treatments are covered only when medically prescribed and post-operative in nature, and cover is limited to €320.

How To Make a Claim

here is no claim form- claims are opened online by the Skerries Harps Injury Fund Officer. Accordingly, a claimant must contact that officer at the following email address for further advice: injuryfund.skerriesharps.dublin@gaa.ie

All relevant supporting documentation should be retained by the claimant. Claims are to be reported within 60 days of the incident; therefore, it is recommended to report incidents as soon as possible after they occur in order to ensure this deadline can be met by the Injury Fund Officer. The date of the injury is day 1.

LGFA INJURY FUND

The LGFA Injury Fund is not an insurance scheme; it is an injury fund which assists playing members, as well as certain other defined persons, with some reimbursement for medical expenses incurred due to injury sustained during ladies gaelic football.

The Fund also covers claims for loss of wages from adult members. The Injury Fund is completely funded by the registration fees paid by all playing members and some non-playing members. It is the responsibility of all members to ensure that they have sufficient financial resources for any treatment they wish to pursue due to an injury. Players who are covered by other schemes such as private medical insurance or School Insurance must claim through that source first.

Medical and Dental Expenses

The LGFA Injury Fund covers medical expenses up to a maximum of €5,500 and for dental expenses up to a maximum of €3,000 subject to the terms and conditions of the Injury Fund. 90% of the first six physiotherapy sessions after injury may be paid.

How to Make a Claim

All claims must be reported to the LGFA Injury Fund Coordinator within 8 weeks of the date of injury. Please notify the Skerries Harps Injury Fund Officer (injuryfund.skerriesharps.dublin@gaa.ie) as soon as possible of any injury in order to receive advice regarding claim requirements given that there are two different claim forms and that treatments may or may not require prior approval from the Injury Fund. Furthermore, claims require signatures at Club and County Board level prior to forwarding to the Injury Fund which may take some to time to complete and this should be borne in mind by claimants. Original medical receipts are required.

CAMOGIE INJURY SCHEME

The Camogie Association does not administer its own injury scheme. This means that injury cover/insurance must be purchased from insurance providers, operating independently in the private sector (click here to read more). Skerries Harps GAA and Camogie Club have Camogie insurance cover provided by Gogans Insurance.

How to Make a Claim

Please notify the Skerries Harps Injury Fund Officer (injuryfund.skerriesharps.dublin@gaa.ie) as soon as possible of any injury in order to receive advice regarding claim requirements. Claims must be notified to Gogans within 60 days of the date of injury by the Injury Fund Officer, therefore it is recommended to report incidents as soon as possible after they occur to ensure this deadline can be met. Players who have medical insurance must claim from their policy first before the claim to Gogans can be completed by the Injury Fund Officer and claimants should retain all relevant documentation such as medical receipts. All benefits will be halved in the event that protective head gear is not worn.

The Fund also covers claims for loss of wages and permanent disability. Please note that the policy excess is €125 per claim and this amount will be deducted from the final settlement figure.

CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION IF YOU DO SUFFER AN INJURY WHEN PARTICIPATING IN CLUB ACTIVITY

injuryfund.skerriesharps.dublin@gaa.ie