The GAA has operated an Injury fund in one way or another since 1929. The GAA Injury Benefit Fund is a Self-funded benefit fund funded entirely from GAA funds with no outside involvement. The GAA Injury Benefit Fund does not seek to compensate fully for Injuries sustained but to supplement other Schemes such as Personal Accident or Health Insurance.

Up to now all the paperwork has been handled by our Club Secretary. But as of June 1st the process by which a claim is registered changes. From June 2025 the injured player (or a parent\guardian where the player is U18 at the injury date) will be registering and managing their Injury Fund claims on Foireann. 

The injured player (or a parent\guardian notifying the claim where the player is U18 at the injury) has 60 days from the injury date to register the claim. The injury date is day 1. This is the only timeline notification for the claims reporting. 

Notification of the claims will be via Foireann and therefore, it’s important that each player has been registered on Foireann for 2025 and has an active membership number against their record. 

Further information can be found on Foireann here

Once the player registers the claim, the GAA unit will still need to validate and approve it in the same way that the player transfers process, vetting process works. Please note that it is only when a claim is validated, will it go to Allianz for administration.  

Why are these changes being made

As part of the assessment of GAA Injury Benefit Fund claims, personal individual information which is sensitive data is required such as medical information, salary information, private medical insurance policy information, RSI detail etc. Following independent reviews on the claims process, it was deemed that owing to the GDPR requirements around managing this data, GAA unit secretaries\injury fund administrators should not be handling this information and only the person who owns the information such as the injured player or a person obliged to act on behalf of an injured player such as a parent\guardian where the injured player is U18 should be handling and giving this data. The GAA Injury Benefit Fund operates similar to private medical insurance\personal accident policies\schools accident policies etc and the claims process now on the Fund brings it into line with the claims process on those covers.

It is also hoped that the change in claims administration will in time reduce a burden of work from secretaries\injury fund administrators. Furthermore, by putting the claims handling responsibility on the player or parent\guardian, it should assist in educating those players\parents\guardians as to what the Fund is. The GAA Injury Benefit Fund is not a substitute for a personal insurance policy. It is an initiative to assist players in times of injury to augment other personal covers. It is the responsibility of all participants in our games to have their own personal covers in place in times of injury. By making changes to the administration of the Fund, it should reinforce the concept that the fund provides a valuable protection to players and is worth preserving, protecting, and paying for but no player\parent\guardian should be dependent on the Fund to provide full coverage for injuries sustained.

So what does this mean for you as a player/guardian?

• You NEED to be set up on Foireann and have paid your membership. We insist all players have their membership paid before playing. NO MEMBERSHIP NO PLAYER INJURY FUND.
• When you suffer an injury you NEED to go to Foireann and log the injury in your profile under the "Player Actions" tab. You have 60 DAYS FROM THE INJURY DATE to log your injury. If you don't do it in this timeframe, you have no comeback.
• In my experience it is better to log an injury report that proves to be nothing, than not log one that develops into something larger, so log your injuries.
• And finally, the Club would recommend that all players have some form of their own private medical insurance/cover. Like all things, it will only be useful when you need it, and if you don't have it then, it is too late.
• Any further queries, please ask your team manager or contact Club Secretary Brian Ramsbottom. 

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