Injured during sporting activity

assault is a criminal offence, if it's a sporting injury you may apply for expenses or if you're not very sporting I'm sure you can take it further down the legal route

Most insurance policies carry a participation exclusion nowadays

OP when you describe an "informal friendly" does that mean that it was not a formal fixture organised by the respective clubs ?

If the fixture was not a formal one I wonder if the public liability policy of the negligent player's club would operate. The insurance underwriters might argue that such an activity was outside the scope of club activities which the policy covered e.g. a liability incurred in an unofficial game might be seen, in principle, as being like to hurting someone in a kick about on the beach.

BTW I assume that the policy gives a personal indemnity to each club member for their individual negligence in the course of a club activity. This would be important as the primary liability for the injury rests with the player who caused it. That player's club would not be expected to have a vicarious liability for his actions.

That being the case I would expect the negligent player's liability to fall within the scope of his club's PL policy. However, I am at a disadvantage in that I don't know how the club's PL policy is written - that would determine if it actually applies. To repeat an earlier point, much would depend on whether or not the policy provides individual indemnity to each club member.

BTW it is assumed that the negligent player and the injured player were not on the same team. If they were on the same team there might be a few insurance gymnastics involved to sort that out.

Side bar point on the issue of assault. Some clashes on the field of play are assaults that are not excusable on the basis of volenti non fit injuria. Assault can also form the basis of a personal injuries action in tort. If the injured party in this case took the assault line the defendant's insurance underwriters might not grant an indemnity to the player causing the injury on the basis that most PL insurance contracts are written on the basis of indemnity in respect of accidental injury. Hint - sue in negligence only 😉.

Got it.

I was thinking in terms of public liability type insurance but I see your point in relation to other types of insurance policies.

Just as an fyi most most club policies will have a liability section which covers the clubs negligence.

There will also be a benefit section, if a happens, then b gets paid out - ie if you suffer a broken leg, an agreed benefit is paid out - this is a benefit policy thereby paying out regardless of negligence.

It's a mistake to think that a policy that covers liability for negligence will not cover liablity for an intentionally-inflicted injury. It will.

We need to distinguish between two different kinds of insurance here.

I can take out insurance for myself, to provide me with cover if I am injured. (Or a group of people - like a sports club - can take out such insurance together.) That might well cover accidental injury, but contain an exclusion for injury resulting from unusual dangers that I deliberately expose myself to.

Or, I can take out liability insurance, which will compensate someone else if I injure him, and he sues me because his injury is my fault. This will not contain an exemption if I injure him not merely negligently, but recklessly or intentionally; the whole point of the insurance is that he should be compensated for injuries that are my fault, and it makes no sense at all to effect insurance which compensates him if my fault is negligence, but not if it is recklessness or malice.

The OP specifies that he was injured through the negligence of another player, so I think the kind of insurance we are looking at here is liability insurance, not accident insurance.

It's things like this where I (have said before here numerous times) that ALL matches should have video footage. Intercounty boards should be providing all teams with a camera etc.

That at least then allows for accountability of events rather than relying on referee reports etc.