Tommikka

1) Go to the Just-Cos website and read the meaningless page: https://www.just-cos.co.uk Just-Cos is a membership based insurance policy. We approached them with a view to covering CosPlayers with Public Liability insurance in their right as a re-enactor to wear and carry costume articles that may prove alarming or ‘scary’ to third parties who may not understand our purpose. This policy particularly covers the right to carry imitation weaponry that could otherwise be mistaken as real or mistakenly reported as an offensive weapon. In today’s ‘Americanised’ legal system of ‘No claim no fee’ companies and similar ambulance chasers, it is now more important than ever to be protected by insurance. It’s better to be safe than sorry, right? Just-Cos is exactly that: It’s just for us CosPlayers. You can join up for a small annual fee of £20, that’s it. For your £20 you will receive £5 million maximum claim cover against public liability. It’s quite unlikely that you’ll ever need to use it and we sincerely hope you don’t! That is not all though. With membership we have power! We can use our strength in numbers to apply for discounts and other awesome deals on behalf of the club. This is just the beginning and it’s your chance to be part of it. America is irrelevant, you can’t claim for seeing something scarey in the UK (other than being put into genuine fear) and you can’t but a ‘right’ to carry a RIF You can have good reason to transport one - eg going to / from an event What is relevant is you could be held liable for injury / damage to property - and liability insurance can be handy to have (not essential for individuals) 2) Sign up to Just-Cos As you create a user name and password you gain access to their member area. I received my notification email whilst going to the payment page (so I stopped to check if policy details were there - they were not) 3) Pay £20 by card or PayPal (I used PayPal) You then gain access to policy documents in the members area 4) What does the policy say? Insurance Company = Zurich Insurance Ltd Our Reference: xxxxxxxxx Name of Insured: Just-Cos This is to confirm that Just-Cos have in force with this Company until the policy expiry on 17 May 2024 insurance incorporating the following essential features: Policy Number: xxxxxxxx Renewal Date: 18 May 2024 Limits of Indemnity: Public Liability: £5,000,000 any one event Products Liability: £5,000,000 for all claims in the aggregate during any one period of insurance Pollution Liability: As per Products Liability Professional Services Extension: £1,000,000 any one event Note: Cover for Financial Loss, and Third Party Property Damage or Bodily Injury is provided where arising from advice or services carried out by the Insured in the furtherance of its purpose as a registered charity or not-for-profit organisation. Excess: Public Liability: Nil any one claim Products Liability: Nil any one claim Pollution Liability: Nil any one claim Professional Services Extension: Nil any one claim Indemnity to Principals: Covers include a standard Indemnity to Principals Clause in respect of contractual obligations. Full Policy: The policy documents should be referred to for details of full cover. What does that mean? The policy insures Just-Cos. That’s OK, as I’ve joined Just-Cos The £5m cover isn’t mine. It’s £5m public liability per event. So if just me then I can be covered up to £5m, but elsewhere there are 100 to 500 members per event, rendering the cover to between £10k and £50k each Another document is enclosed, which tells us that Just-Cos run 4 cinema trips and attend 4 events per year Therefore as a member the insurance above covers Just-Cos and the members attending those 4 trips & 4 events There is a newsletter subscription in the account details, so presumably I would be notified of the trips & events - but that’s no good to me for the cosplay events I attend unless Just-Cos align with them As a new member I have not been provided the code of conduct (but it may follow in a newsletter etc) Your organisation type: You are a not for profit group. Your aim: Describes our understanding of your organisation and its aim. To promote social interaction between members by using Cosplay. Your principal activities and services: This details your activities and services. Where and tow oen ese lake place. • You organise around 4 cinema trips a year at screenings which are open to the public. These will average around 6 around 20 At arenio, mentio bute group may. dress up to watch the film if they wish, however this is optional as the main purpose is to view the film. • You will attend around 4 third party events throughout the year and can get between 100 - 500 people from the organisation attending each one. These will mainly be Cosplay conventions and involve members of the group carrying replica weapons whilst interacting with other members of the group and members of the public. • You will charge a membership fee which will predominantly be used to create a Database. This will also help grow your organisation and fund towards future activities. Your current Risk Management: Provides details of your organisations risk management provisions for each service and activity You will comply with all local and national laws for transporting replica firearms and weapons. and wilpons are in vil of re puaional laws when replica frearms. You will comply with all third party regulations. You complete written risk assessments. Inductions are given to all new members regarding the organisation's code of conduct. You have a written safeguarding process in place. Your structure You have at least three trustees. Previous claims New organisation so no previous claims. Currently the policy does not relate to the public web page, and does not insure members other than as part of a Just-Cos group attended event - the cover is for the groups liabilty as a result of its ‘advice’ / ‘services’ I don’t give advice on behalf of Just-Cos, I won’t be providing services as Just-Cos Where I do provide advice and/or services it is part of other organisations / groups / as an event organiser - which do not fall within this insurance I could make use of the peace of mind of public liability insurance to cover my personal liability in activities I participate in - At comicons for example I am covered as staff / volunteer in events and with traders, but not for any actions should I choose to Cosplay beyond the scope of staff / volunteer This sums up as a mis-sold policy, not fit for purpose

As per a recent related thread, I signed up to Just-Cos to get the true cover information. A member of the forum recently signed up to Just-Cos to obtain their ‘defence’ to purchase a RIF. In their actual transaction they were required to submit the insurance certificate and a photo of them playing. (Below I will show the certificate that you get upon joining Just-Cos which does not insure you, but the group/society) The ‘defence’ provided and used by the retailer was therefore the playing photo which rendered JustCos membership redundant to the transaction …. TBC

Or they didn’t catch me …… You are of course correct I have for a long time been an advocate for not being a dick and not using ‘special words’ to avoid saying the scary ‘gun’ word Use your brain, handle appropriately (your kit and the people you encounter), don’t be a dick and outcomes are normally good

Or Darth Harry But it is worthless insurance for any liability an individual could have, that the insurers could reject

I did manage to satisfy the inquisitive police, asking me what I was doing parked up late one evening, with one talking to me through the window while the other curiously scanned through my back window I’’m on my way back from having run an event and am having a rest stop ….. and not quite in these words but to the nosey one at the back ….. “That’s shit loads of guns and pyro bagged & boxed up in there” They were perfectly happy with that !

Payment went to Cosplayer World Ltd, and the insured name is Just-Cos, so it is a legitimate policy seperate from any site. Very likely to be Zurich’s standard group / club PLI policy

I’ve decided to bite the bullet and have signed up to JustCos to see the policy cover for myself …… On sign up (and payment) you receive a copy of the policy certificate (Zurich insurance): Name of Insured: Just-Cos This is to confirm that Just-Cos have in force with this Company until the policy expiry on 17 May 2024 insurance incorporating the following essential features: Policy Number: @@@@@@@@@@ Renewal Date: 18 May 2024 Limits of Indemnity: Public Liability: £5,000,000 any one event Products Liability: £5,000,000 for all claims in the aggregate during any one period of insurance Pollution Liability: As per Products Liability Professional Services Extension £1,000,000 any one event Note: Cover for Financial Loss, and Third Party Property Damage or Bodily Injury is provided where arising from advice or services carried out by the Insured in the furtherance of its purpose as a registered charity or not-for-profit organisation. Excess: Public Liability: Nil any one claim Products Liability: Nil any one claim Pollution Liability: Nil any one claim Professional Services Extension: Nil any one claim Indemnity to Principals: Covers include a standard Indemnity to Principals Clause in respect of contractual obligations. Full Policy: The policy documents should be referred to for details of full cover. That means unlike the wording on the JustCos website I have not purchased insurance of £5m public liability for £20, but I have joined a club/society that has £5m PLI ‘per event’ - and covers injury / damage arising from the advice of JustCos If I have any actual cover then it’s only the full £5m if I am the only member at any event then I can claim against £5m of PLI, but if there are two or more then the cover drops - there’s no mention of ‘being scarey’, Just-Cos is a membership based insurance policy. We approached them with a view to covering CosPlayers with Public Liability insurance in their right as a re-enactor to wear and carry costume articles that may prove alarming or ‘scary’ to third parties who may not understand our purpose. This policy particularly covers the right to carry imitation weaponry that could otherwise be mistaken as real or mistakenly reported as an offensive weapon. In today’s ‘Americanised’ legal system of ‘No claim no fee’ companies and similar ambulance chasers, it is now more important than ever to be protected by insurance. It’s better to be safe than sorry, right? Just-Cos is exactly that: It’s just for us CosPlayers. You can join up for a small annual fee of £20, that’s it. For your £20 you will receive £5 million maximum claim cover against public liability. It’s quite unlikely that you’ll ever need to use it and we sincerely hope you don’t! That is not all though. With membership we have power! We can use our strength in numbers to apply for discounts and other awesome deals on behalf of the club. This is just the beginning and it’s your chance to be part of it.

There would be two reasons for those differences 1) JustCos is not a VCRA RIF defence, but a cosplayers Public Liabilty Insurance policy - in case you scare someone with your cosplay The cosplay event that is referred to as a ‘partner’ does not/did not even allow RIFs in their cosplay rules I would recommend that cosplayers who feel the need to protect themselves from any liability to the general public ought to join one of their local/regional cosplay socities and benefit from the groups PLI plus all the other benefits of being part of a society in your hobby / interest 2) The UKARA list shows registered retailer members of the Retailers Association and have access to verify UKARA membership. Other retailers may accept UKARA as a defence without the ability to directly verify

Regarding any sites disallowing two tones - that’s entirely down to them - their site, their rules It does as mentioned reinforce the entire justification of establishing a VCRA RIF defence with ‘immersion’ into the game I don’t, not never, there is not an abundance of photos of me making staged advances towards / past photographers, furtively looking down the lens whilst trying to pretend not to look at them. There also definitely is not a set of posed portrait photos of me in the midst of a firefight, and that non existent photoset was not used as a reference guide for the design & manufacture of a custom event player stautuette trophy Not

You don’t claim from their insurance, you claim against the individual / site / organiser. They then refer your claim to their insurer The insurer then pays out or doesn’t - directly to you or via the individual / site / organiser The individual / site / organiser remains liable or not irrespective of whether their insurance covers the claim Pedantic correction A VCRA defence is essential for the sale of RIFs The buyer needs to express a ‘defence’ in the terms of the act, but the legal impact lies upon the seller - they may need to defend themselves in court to establish that they took reasonable steps to establish that the buyer had a ‘VCRA defence’ at the time of sale UKARA is the defence established by the retail industry - but it is not a specified method in the law I would argue in your case that your photo/photos are the ‘defence’ that matters. In asking for that they are acknowledging the elephant in the room that JustCos has no bearing upon the VCRA You’re happy that you obtained your RIF, they’re happy that they made money selling a RIF & an extra £20 was spent on JustCos It’s not a bad thing to have PLI - providing it gives you relevant cover

@superwok If you could post up the policy wording, or pick out a couple of points such as the underwriter and the sections on what they actually cover then that would be highly informative on any actual value of JustCos For those who have been around the block a few times, it’s just fleecing players of an extra £20 The policy is the key unknown

It could provide the third party liability - but then why ask for a photo playing at an event - which backs up playing at what should be an insured site/event? It could be argued that airsoft is cosplay skirmishing (a very good argument as the look is the case that backed up a need for RIFs to be realistic - otherwise for just shooting each other IFs would do) But cosplay in itself isn’t a defence (airsoft skirmishing isn’t even a defence under the core VCRA as a statutory instrument was used to add skirmishing) The JustCos public liability as described in the justcos site is a load of bollocks - insuring against hurt feelings. What liability is there for injury/damages/losses due to seeing a RIF that JustCos will pay for ?

Note that to be pedantic: for an adult buyer in the UK it is always legal to acquire a RIF any offence is committed by the retailer By asking for a photo of you playing at an airsoft event they have not committed an offence under the VCRA, as they have been able to reasonably confirm intent to play airsoft at an insured site. What they have also managed to do is to con you into spending £20 on ‘cosplay insurance’ which bears no relevance to the VCRA or to playing an airsoft event What does the Just Cos insurance certificate insure you for? Their web page says that it provides “Public Liability insurance in their right as a re-enactor to wear and carry costume articles that may prove alarming or ‘scary’ to third parties who may not understand our purpose. This policy particularly covers the right to carry imitation weaponry that could otherwise be mistaken as real or mistakenly reported as an offensive weapon.” What injury / damage is your JustCos going to pay out for a third party being alarmed or scared? https://www.just-cos.co.uk The skirmisher defence under the VCRA requires the site/event to have public liability insurance, for the injury of you/third parties or the damages/losses to you/third parties.

Why? Define significant money? A secure system, hosting and handling processes are required. That costs money. But why ‘significant’? GDPR does not prevent the sharing of personal information - in fact, as any system designed to form a VCRA defence would require some form of sharing to function then it would be a GDPR breech to not share information collected for the purposes of sharing the validation of a defence. It does require the security of information collected and to only share the appropriate information in the appropriate manner eg Collect suitable information to justify a defence, receive a query to validate a defence, share appropriate information back and forth with appropriate parties Eg request for defence number 54321, Joe Bloggs, 1 the Avenue, New Town Result confirmed

The other thread on attracting players ties into this as well. Particularly of note are the mentions of exercise / health benefits The Olympics have been mentioned, which is of course a topic that comes up among many activities every 4 years when someone makes a post such as “How come breakdance/gymnastics/latest demonstration is in the Olympics and x isn’t? They aren’t a sport and my thing is” The answer is that people involved in those put in the effort to participate, establish national bodies, collaborate internationally and go through the national and international recognition processes. Airsoft does not have to discard types of airsoft to make itself politically correct, it would in fact fracture itself and make backward steps. It should not be pursued as a route to the Olympics but as a route to a number of benefits within each nation - healthy activities, benefiting society Numbers are required - but that’s not the be all an end all Delta Force (those who market themselves in shopping centres selling ‘discount’ tickets - which turn out to be paying the pitch and staff cost to obtain a booking phone number) have jumped on the bandwagon a few times claiming to be the representative body and trying to convince Sport England that everyone who has ever signed a rental disclaimer with them is a paintballer (to qualify them as representing all paintballers in the UK) They were laughed out The UKPSF is the recognised representative body by the Home Office since before it was the UK (it was a European body run by one man in the UK until others took on the mainland Europe elements) They represent the industry and players The process for sports has been going on for a number of years. Paintball still has not achieved sports recognition but is recognised as on its path, during Covid the UKPSF were treated by Sport England as if they were a formally recognised sports representative body and opening for UKPSF member sites in accordance with the UKPSF policies submitted was approved (Non UKPSF sites may also have opened including Delta Force - and did so in breach of the reopening regulations) (shooting each other of no concern as far as Sport England are concerned) International tournaments take place already, even with different laws & rules in different countries - the national & international leagues set rules appropriately (Even an attempt for one international organisation set a ‘standardised international rule book’ consisting of world rules and US rules, let alone competing leagues in the US and each country) Note that tournaments do cover the obvious speedball format, but there are also woods/scenario leagues - airsoft can have both recreational & competitive skirmishing plus speedsoft etc as a range of activities - these also can be shown in recognition submissions as inclusive pathways from grassroots to varying destinations and crossovers from the ‘professionals’ putting in support to local sites and groups On a numbers basis Sport England requires a minimum of 1600 paid up player members. The UKPSF did run a free basic membership promotion for a few years - no good for qualifying numbers, but a step along the way and have moved those on to annual / 5 year memberships (On a quick check - I’m due for renewal this year) They commissioned a study with Leeds Becket University, some parts of which I’ve seen, but I’ll avoid mentioning what as I do get involved with other members of the industry and could be discussing public and non public parts of the study. It covers numerous factors to establish benefits covering health/exercise, social benefits etc Every now and then they publish a point from the study but are using the data in their bids with Sport England, lottery funding, information to member cohorts etc so are cagey about what fully goes public from a pricey study and also because they are pushing elements to improve One quote published is about social anxiety, confidence etc https://www.facebook.com/UKPSF/photos/a.290380091078069/3752634168185960/?type=3&mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v Sites are a factor - contributing to the economy and providing facilities - though commercial they can be supported by community initiatives for grants etc if they build a case for how investment aids them to provide leisure to the community With the VCRA / UKARA airsoft must be able to establish evidence of a good level of paid up membership, and as a shooting activity could follow the same pathway as the UKPSF ….. it’s not essential to have one body covering sites/retail/trade/players/teams

The primary spirit of the Olympic Games being military skills.

Note that every airsoft retailer has control over the sale. They are liable for a substantial fine (if the justice system acted) if they sell a RIF outside of the VCRA terms. Cosplay isn’t a VCRA defence (professional cosplay can potentially fall into the theatrical defence) JustCos puts the onus on the buyer to make a fraudulent statement to the retailer (unless the buyer is a genuine cosplayer acting on bad advice from the retailer) They are trying to put the blame on you, but in doing so it becomes a potential conspiracy to defraud.

On topic there is likely to only be one company that would accept JustCos as a defence. It also just so happens to be a company that references its partnership with a Comicon whose cosplay rules explicitly ban RIFs. They will also charge you £20 for the privilege of making a false declaration Look up a retailer, attempt to buy a RIF and see what defences are asked for. If you really do want to use whichever non UKARA defence you can manage then a very minor amount of effort would find you someone who is willing to sell a RIF without UKARA but with you claiming that your intent is to play airsoft on insured sites - which is what the law actually requires

You’re welcome ….

The law on the sale of RIFs places responsibility on the seller It’s not illegal to sell/buy RIFs - and there is not a definition in the law to what governs any membership etc to justify a sale A seller only needs to reasonably be confident that the buyer of a RIF intends to play airsoft skirmishing on an insured site. The UKARA scheme is intended to provide documentation to back up sellers that the buyer is an airsoft skirmisher Just sell as a bundle. If selling on a forum such as this just make sure the buyers posting history does not imply they are a schoolchild / chav gangsta If selling via other social media look at their photos etc Do not go into some convoluted route such as selling a few batches of assorted parts in seperate transactions to one buyer - if someone added one and one together then they could come up with deliberate evasion of the law Avoid overthinking, sell on an airsoft site such as the classifieds here and just ask the buyer to acknowledge they are an airsofter - or check their profile to see that they appear to be a regular user of an airsoft forum and it’s reasonable that their intent is to play

This is a public service announcement, you only get one set of eyes ….

Places like this do not lend themselves well to paintball I played the infamous paintball game at the Mall. It should have been run as a limited numbers & limited paint game, but then the costs don’t add up - it would have needed to be well trusted and experienced organiser to be able to charge high enough entry prices for any chance of viability ( and originally it would have been with a scheduled event and aiming powder balls, but somebody else also jumped the bandwagon and secured an earlier date ) They soon discovered they had bit off more than they could chew, opened it to unlimited paint to up the income. In minutes the whole place was soaked with clear paint. Carpets absorbed and were full of liquid gel, marble floors were ice rinks. Game one was ended early and then the long wait for all the sawdust in the area to be bought and thrown around the site It didn’t get much better Assaults on shop doorways were no surprise - just watch the opposition pass the big window and squeeze the trigger as they get to the door Walls didn’t need to be knocked in etc as the back service corridors could be used whilst others were stuck in stalemates at the shop fronts Airsoft just leaves plastic balls around which can be swept up - just avoid stepping on concentrations of BBs From what I heard for weeks later, the paint was ‘bleeding’ out of the carpets for airsofter games Rent and rates will be the real killer. As soon as there’s any use the rates become active, so it’s not always an existing cost for the owners - if they are stuck with rates then at least some income from game days reduces costs, or sometimes concessions can be made with councils such as for short term pop up shops etc & as you mentioned charity concessions can work

I do / did like a good game in foul weather. A couple of memorable ones were: 1) Falklands themed game with authentic weather. Many players had gone home before lunchtime, parts of the safe zone were blowing away, I was soaked through and covered in mud but had multiple sets of clothes allowing me to change at the break and to change for the drive home with the prospects of soaking in a hot bath when home. (this game also gave me the stories of my broadcasting expletives on box when poking my head into a window, and the husband of a colleague arriving home to find his wife laundering my stinking bin bag of playing clothes) 2) A snowy Christmas game where I thought that I was being clever with a set of thermals. Lovely and toasty for the morning brief, sweaty mess for game one I would typically be fine if I’m enjoying myself in the cold and wet - provided I can look forward to later and I’ve prepared. My body dislikes the heat, and it’s easier to warm up then cool down But I do now have Raynaud’s phenomenon (like Raynaud’s syndrome but I’m special) - this is also just in one finger tip! Raynaud’s plus cold equals pain - so I now don’t like the cold and I don’t like the heat A couple of weeks back I declined the option of a game - early Sunday morning on a miserable day in a standard woods site - a warm lie in won. Improve one of the factors and I may have been up for it

Back in the day I used to wonder why people would pack a baseball bat as their preferred weapon when a cricket bat would do the job just as well but be that little bit more convincing for the UK Ribbed for pleasure and wider at one end to minimise the risk of going to A&E to have it removed after ‘falling over’ onto it I know someone who was done for his fruit knife, but he was a repeat drink drive offender and able to provide valid reasons for all his tree surgeon assorted blades He accepted that it was fair enough for everything he usually ignored

I will still need a proper read of the legislation changes, but two key points I’m aware of are a widening of the definition of zombie knives (which doesn’t worry me) and possession in private, at home etc (I do possess knives that I would not have good reason to be taking outside etc) If I never have the police around then I won’t get caught, and if I do have the police around they would need to make a very throrough search to find them in storage boxes etc I also won’t be in a situation where the police ought to be having ‘reasonable grounds to suspect the blade will be used in a serious crime’ ….. but you never are until the situation arises Ideally the ‘normal’ responsible members of this forum won’t be in such situations