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Velo Birmingham sportive cancelled with no refunds

Organisers explain their insurance doesn't cover the coronavirus outbreak...

The Vélo Birmingham and Midlands sportive, which had been due to take place on June 21, has been cancelled. Around 18,000 cyclists had registered to take part, but they will not be receiving refunds. Organisers explained they had already committed staging costs and say their insurance does not cover the COVID-19 outbreak.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the cancellation of Vélo Birmingham & Midlands 2020,” said a spokesperson. “The event was due to take place on June 21st, at which time we are still likely to be significantly impacted by the current Coronavirus outbreak.

“HM Government are strongly advising against mass gatherings and non-essential travel and even if it is possible that the situation may have improved by June 21st (which seems far from certain), working restrictions and self-isolation recommendations mean that we are simply unable to complete the work necessary in the next few weeks to ensure that the event could proceed safely and with minimum support from and/or disruption to local emergency services, whose vital work is rightly focused on supporting public health needs through these exceptional circumstances.”

Charity fundraising places for the event were available from £20, but most entrants had paid a good deal more than this. Many had also booked travel and accommodation.

Organisers said entry fees would not be refunded, explaining that they had already made a significant outlay and their insurance did not cover the current situation.

“In common with virtually every other event organiser and business in the UK, whilst we carry extensive business disruption and event cancellation insurance, none of these policies cover the unprecedented circumstances of the current outbreak of COVID-19.

“In addition to losing our forecast revenue for the next three months, over the last 10 months we have already committed a huge amount of pre-paid staging, logistical and staffing costs towards this year’s event which are now unrecoverable. Put plainly, refunding participant entry fees now is not something our business could absorb.

“Although our Terms & Conditions of participation allow us to withhold refunds in these circumstances, we would never choose to exercise this in normal circumstances as cancellation would almost always result from an insurable event (e.g. poor weather) where money recovered from insurance is then used to refund riders. We hope you understand that this situation is completely unprecedented and could not have been foreseen by anyone.”

Amid much anger on social media, entrants have been asking whether their entries could at least be transferred to sister event Velo Essex, which is due to take place on September 20.

The Velo Birmingham website says that organisers would, “happily provide all 2020 Vélo Birmingham & Midlands entrants with a free entry into Vélo Essex 2020,” should that event go ahead.

Transfer is not currently an option however, as the viability of Velo Essex is also being reviewed.

Explaining why the event could not simply be postponed, the spokesperson said: “With an event the scale of Vélo Birmingham & Midlands, rescheduling 100 miles of road closures across seven different local authorities, in this time of crisis and strain on public services, is simply not going to be possible.”

This year’s National Road Championships are due to take place on the same course as Velo Birmingham.

Currently, British Cycling has suspended all sanctioned cycling activities until April 30, so the national championships – scheduled for June 18 (time trials) and June 20 (road races) – will remain in the calendar until the period beyond April 30 has been assessed.

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17 comments

Avatar
Awavey | 3 years ago
0 likes

from what theyve updated on Facebook,this years event wasnt at full capacity,and that much has been obvious from the multiple offers of registration to ride the 100 and then the tie up with BC nationals (which have also been cancelled fwiw)to try and promote more to sign up, but given the current circumstances they wouldnt expect any more registrations to come in now anyway even if we werent in lockdown, and the entries so far didnt cover their costs, whilst previous years (2017,2019) had run at significant loss.

the refunds for a cancelled event, would have normally been covered by insurance,but insurance doesnt cover a Covid19 pandemic, and theres very few insurance cover out there for this type of thing in advance precisely for the reason its completely unprecedented in modern times.

and they cant move people to next years event, because next years event basically wont be happening as the combination of losses sustained & no income or turnover to speak of as a business means I think this has probably finished them off.

what it might mean for Velo Essex we wait and see

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brokenorange | 3 years ago
0 likes

For my tuppence, that is shocking behaviour and I would be writing letters of complaint to anyone who would listen...

Is there a FoI request to see what they have actually spent? Most of these guys will have charitable status, so they can make more money!

Both Etape Caledonia and Etape Loch Ness organisers have had to cancel or reschedule and they have been great. The former has had to cancel but are giving you free entry to the event in 2021. ELN have rescheduled to later in the year BUT gave the option to defer to 2021.

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Organon | 3 years ago
1 like

I don't know whether to get worked up about this at the moment. It is certainly cheeky to keep all the money, but we don't know how much they have spent. I understand the company might go bust if the whole thing gets cancelled, and they can't change the date. But what about the insurance, surely any policy should cover complete cancellation. What if there had been a terrorist attack? Doesn't make sense.

Perhaps I'll justifiably gatecrash next years event.

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Christopher TR1 | 3 years ago
2 likes

Firstly, why should the organisers insurance (or lack of) become the problem of the cyclists who paid in good faith?!

Secondly, isn't the whole point of insurance to provide security against the unexpected? Insurers are very happy to take our money but now they are crying "not fair ". How am I somehow not surprised?!

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Rapha Nadal replied to Christopher TR1 | 3 years ago
0 likes

See my response above.

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Richard D | 3 years ago
2 likes

I don't believe that the organisers have spent more than a fraction of my money.  The expenditure would mainly have been in the final weeks and days, when the "boots on the ground" are required.

If the company had offered a partial refund, or a transfer to another (reasonably local?) event, I would not be so dissatisfied.

But this is profiteering, pure and simple.

i will look to see what action can be taken once things are a little clearer, but on action point is certain - I will not spend a single penny with them ever again.  They have my entry fee for 2020; they will not get my (very likely) entry fees for 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 etc.  For far as I am concerned, their business is dead to me.

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kevvjj | 3 years ago
1 like

I think that there is a real difference here from other cancellations. Since we are all being told to stay home and work from home and self isolate and not panic buy and keep our kids at home and not go to the doctors and not use public transport and not go to hotels or pubs or cafes and so on. I really can understand how a business that needs to have people on the ground meeting and discussing and planning (with other people!) would find it almost impossible to function.

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HarrogateSpa replied to kevvjj | 3 years ago
2 likes

People understand the cancellation. But offer a move to a different event, or a part-refund. Don't pocket all the cash, and make extra profit out of the situation.

There should be give and take at this time, but VeloBrum want to take and take.

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Rapha Nadal | 3 years ago
5 likes

Help me out here: how many of the naysayers here have access to the policy documentation & wording applied to the particular insurance policy in place here?  None of you?  Yeah, thought so.

The insurance industry, as per almost every other industry at the moment, is being hit by unprecedented circumstances & losses that I don't think anybody, anywhere, ever saw coming.  Travel insurers, as an example, are running up huge losses from cancelled or curtailed trips to areas deemed "no go" by the FCO.

Pandemic insurance CAN be included as part of a Business Interuption policy but, if you've declined to take out the cover then would you really expect a policy to respond to a loss?  Seriously; did anybody really expect to see a virus pandemic in their lifetime until recently?!

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Milkfloat | 3 years ago
3 likes

Whilst is it right to cancel the event, there is no way on earth that all the costs have been paid.  At least half the funds should be available, so a partial refund should be in order.

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Vlad the Impailer | 3 years ago
1 like

What a croc.   Insurance wont cover cancellation due to the virus.    Dont make me laugh.

How to get rich quick scheme.   Hopefully a lot of people will never ride for them and their events again.

Its disgusting.

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Linkan replied to Vlad the Impailer | 3 years ago
4 likes

Vlad the Impailer wrote:

What a croc.   Insurance wont cover cancellation due to the virus.    Dont make me laugh.

How to get rich quick scheme.   Hopefully a lot of people will never ride for them and their events again.

Its disgusting.

I believe you are absolutely wrong on this point as a pandemic definitely would fall under the category "force majeure" for most insurances. Please pause and look for empathy, facts and be calm before writing those type of reactive comments as they don't do anyone any good.

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gbzpto replied to Linkan | 3 years ago
4 likes

Sadly I tried to claim on my business insurance but was told Force Majeure. No one is making money from this they are simply trying to survive as a business

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HarrogateSpa replied to Linkan | 3 years ago
3 likes

I'm not clear that you're following your own advice to to show empathy and be calm - your comment is quite aggressive.

Velo Birmingham's Force Majeure clause is 9.2 of their Ts&Cs. It does not specifically mention pandemics. It might still apply, but in my view it depends on whether the authorities have stated that the event cannot be held, or whether Velo Brum have just taken the decision that it's looking unlikely to be possible.

VB have not said on what basis they are refusing all refunds, so we don't know.

If they said 'look, we've incurred x in costs, but we'll refund everyone part of their fee', I don't think anyone would object.

What sticks in the craw is profiteering out of this crisis. Clearly, there are plenty of costs that they would only incur by running the event; to offer zero value but keep all the money is sharp, unethical practice. I'm not at all surprised that people feel they've been ripped off.

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rowes replied to Vlad the Impailer | 3 years ago
3 likes

We have Business Continuity Insurance and the insurance company have put out a statement. It says that they only pay out, if it is caused by one of the specifically named diseases within the small print. As Covid 19 wasnt known, it wouldn't cover us!

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Hirsute replied to rowes | 3 years ago
2 likes

The opening stance of an insurer is to deny liability by the insuree and to deny cover where possible.
Does not mean that the stance is right or will be shown to be right. There is the ombudsman and the courts to appeal to.

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srchar replied to rowes | 3 years ago
2 likes

Your policy is priced based on known risks.

I know some people are angry with insurers, but if they are made to pay out for Covid 19, you'll never be able to insure anything again, because there won't be an insurance industry.

The only entity that can cover the hole caused by Covid 19 is the state. And I say that as a classical liberal, small-state kind of person.

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