THE Irish Jockeys Association is becoming increasingly concerned with its struggle to attain indemnity insurance, having yet to receive a single quote from insurers.

Andrew Coonan, secretary for the IJA, says the association is now trying to find insurance cover outside of Ireland, but will need help from IHRB and HRI as “this is very much an industry problem, not just jockeys.”

The IJA have discussed in the past whether it would be appropriate to get professional indemnity insurance but the majority of committee members decided it wasn’t needed as among other reasons, it potentially encouraged a litigation culture within Irish racing. However the high-profile case between Freddie Tylicki and Graham Gibbons has focussed the attention of the majority in the association.

Tylicki successfully sued Gibbons for £6 million in damages last December. The former jockey was left paralysed from the waist down after a fall at Kempton, in which Gibbons was found liable for. Unlike in Ireland, jockeys based in Britain are covered for personal liability.

“My view always was that this was something we very much needed to consider and this is we’re we’ve found ourselves,” Coonan told The Irish Field this week. “Before the Tylicki case itself, this was something that we were very aware of.

“What very much focussed all our attention was the fact that essentially what we had all feared came to pass, albeit in another jurisdiction, but it did come to pass and we found ourselves in the really unpleasant environment of jockeys suing jockeys for personal injuries and that’s a big, big concern.

“We have even been approached by brokers who have told us they can get something for us but I still have been unable to get a quote from any broker.”

Should the IJA attain an insurance quote and proceed to have a policy in place, it would likely come at a significant extra cost to jockeys but Coonan believes that both IHRB and HRI should come forward to help.

“Arguably, you could say this is a jockey problem but it’s not, it’s an industry problem, because when these incidents occur, when stewards make decisions, it involves everyone, IHRB, HRI, and the riders who participate,” Coonan said.

“You can’t just say to jockeys, ‘go and sort cover out for yourselves.’ That’s not what happens in rugby or gaelic games and it can’t be the situation from a riders point of view.

“This has to be looked at in a holistic approach.

“Even if we can get a quote, we can expect that it’s going to be significant and it’s just simply not realistic to think that riders on an individual basis are going to be able to insure themselves or even as a group they are going to be able to do that.

“So on the basis that it isn’t a rider problem exclusively, we are going to need assistance and we are going to need help from IHRB and HRI.”