Businesses pay thousands of euro a year to protect themselves against something that might but often never happens. It’s a necessary evil – you can’t operate a business without it.
We offered activities such as archery, zip lining, and laser combat. Ironically, to secure insurance we have to have our equipment tested and up to a certain standard. Our zip lines and all activities are supervised by qualified instructors, and the equipment is all top of the range in terms of safety.
Aside from running their annual fundraising challenge, Go Wild Wicklow would also host a day out for the children in the adventure centre. For one special day, they could experience zip lining, archery, laser combat and more. We have already seen Fort Lucan Adventureland in Dublin having to remove trampolines from its park because it can’t afford the insurance – we are talking about supervised activities here, where risk is at a minimum.
The insurance industry will tell you that the reason the premiums are so high is because of the rise in frivolous injury claims. But again – speaking only for Go Wild Wicklow – we never had a single claim against us. Anecdotal evidence we have heard would suggest that many of the centres being forced to close are in the same boat.