RUGBY INSURANCE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIX, Issue 5302, 20 July 1928, Page 3

RUGBY INSURANCE.

PLAINS UNION’S SCHEME.

ADMINISTERING THE FUND.

The difficulties of managing an insurance' business and the reason fob the m;a,ny protecting, clauses on policies have been demonstrated to the Hauraki Plains Rugby Union’s Insurance Committee, which reported at. length to this| week’s meeting. The committee had considered a la'ge number of claims on the fund, and reported that it regretted that, several 'of these could not bo allowed while others required further investigation before confsi deration. The basic principle underlying the .S/cherne was relief to players wholly incapacitated on the playing field —that is, unable to follow their usual employment. The committee had found that a .number of players had obtained a doctor’s certificate of unfitness afidi had carried on with their work, expecting at the same time to receive insurance'• ben'efit. In other cases the clause in the regulations stipulating that injuries must be reported by 6 p.m. on tihe Tuesday following the Saturday on which the: accident occurred had been ignored. In some cases ; it was several days after the stipulated time before injured players visited the. doctor.. The committee; could not entertain any such claims, as much might have happened in the interim. Some players had visited doctor's other tha,n the union’s doctor, and in one case a player, had ■not revisited His doctor for five weeks. On the latter visit be obtained a certificate of unfitness antedated five weeks ajida certificate of fitness at date, both on the same piece of paper, Ita another case a player had been on and off the fund ever since its inception, and was now claiming his third lengthy of benefit, while hijsj' claims were quite genuine, the doctor was of the opinion that tine player was unfit to play football, and the, committee considered that in fairness to bona, fide cases it could not accept this player’s premium in future.

Possibly, some' of the breaches ihad arisen through ignorance, and the committee agajn urged club officials to see; that, all players were made aware of the regulations. The committee also urged tihat club officials should keep a strict, supervision over cases so that a . worthy movement should be protected from abuse. The report concluded with the observation that, given a fair spin, the' committee could see its way to building up a substantial fund, and at the same time provide additional benefit for,such serious cases as occurred last seasjon. . It asked that the union endorse its policy of adhering strictly to the regulations governing the scheme. This endorsement .was given by the management committee' of thej unjton at Monday’s meeting.