Player Injury Fund
INTRODUCTION
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. This document 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:
GAA: GAA 2025 Injury Benefit Fund Summary Document
Camogie: Camogie Player Insurance
Ladies Football: LGFA Injury Fund
Skerries Harps is a club with an Injury Fund Officer whose role is to provide advice and assistance to members with the claims processes and can be contacted by email at the following address: injuryfund.skerriesharps.dublin@gaa.ie
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 (medical, dental, supplementary hospital benefit and loss of wages) that cannot be claimed elsewhere and benefits are subject to upper limits and certain excessses, and also to specific time limits. Each member should 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.
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How To Make a Claim
Claims arising from injuries sustained from June 1st 2025 must be notified on Foireann by the player, or in the case of a youth that player’s parent or guardian. If the player has no active Foireann account, please contact the club registrar. Claims are to be reported within 60 days of the injury, and the date of the injury is day 1. Guidance on the notification process for adult players and youth players is provided on the Foireann Help Portal and includes a helpful “How To” video.
Allianz are the appointed claims handlers and will contact the injured player (or youth’s parent or guardian) regarding the documentation to be provided. For injuries which occurred prior to June 1st 2025, please contact the Skerries Harps Injury Fund Officer as soon as possible for guidance regarding the claims process.
LGFA INJURY FUND
The LGFA Injury Fund is not an insurance scheme; it is an injury fund which assists registered playing members, as well as certain other defined persons, with some reimbursement for medical expenses incurred due to injury sustained during ladies gaelic football activity; the injury fund is completely funded by the registration fees paid by all playing members and some non-playing members.
The Fund also covers claims for loss of wages. It is the responsibility of all members to ensure that they have sufficient financial resources for any private treatment they wish to pursue after an injury and they must not rely just upon the LGFA Injury Fund for reimbursement. Players who are covered by other schemes such as private medical insurance or School Insurance must claim through that source first.
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 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 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.
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. Skerries Harps GAA and Camogie Club has such insurance which provides assistance, within limits, with medical and dental claims and with loss of wages. For example, this insurance assists with costs not recoverable from private health insurers.
How to Make a Claim
Claims must be notified to our insurance broker within 60 days of the date of injury by the Skerries Harps Injury Fund Officer, therefore it is recommended to report incidents as soon as possible to the Injury Fund Officer to ensure that this deadline can be met and to receive advice from them regarding the claims process.
AND FINALLY
Your club Injury Fund Officer is available to help with the claims processes and can be reached at the following email address: injuryfund.skerriesharps.dublin@gaa.ie