Sports Insurance
The sports insurance is a complicated industry.
It aims to cover all individuals and businesses which work in and around the sport industry.
For this reason you should never bother with main stream insurers.
Firstly, most of them do not offer policies in the sports domain.
Secondly, the general insurance industry does not have the experience to cater for sports' customers.
Thus, the best value for money comes from the specialised operators.
The sports insurance is needed by:
- Participants (players)
- Coaches
- Clubs (including entire teams)
- Facility landlords
- Organisers
- Associations
Further, the sports insurance can be classified as the:
- Sports insurance for professional athletes
- Sports insurance for recreational athletes
Sports Insurance Polices
It is very difficult to obtain a comprehensive sports insurance.
Sports insurance polices are specialised and offered separately, especially for the professional athletes.
Most sportsmen need accident insurance.
This will differ between amateurs and professionals.
The type of the sport will also greatly influence the premiums for the insurance.
The sports insurance for badminton will cost substantially less than that for rugby.
The liability sports insurance is an extension to the accident policy.
Here, the organisers and players are protected against public claims.
The examples are the car and horse racing events which pose a potential risk to the viewers.
Nevertheless, most other sports are safe for spectators.
Property sports insurance is the third important item on the list.
This covers the cost of buildings, equipment and business interruptions.
The property sports insurance is essential for most professional events.
Some sports such as gliding, parachuting and plane flying need property insurance both for the sports equipment and public assets.
Finally, the contingency sports insurance.
Some, especially professional events, can lead to massive financial losses in case of cancellations and/or bonus disagreements.
The high-end boxing matches and first league matches are prone to such expensive and unexpected losses.
Imagine the financial burden the organisers face if players refuse to play during prestigious events.
Sports Insurance Providers
Sports insurance is a specialised industry.
You will have serious difficulty to obtain such a policy from the general insurers.
There is a number of sports insurance companies which provide the cover.
However, the acceptance to any of the policy is not a straight forward procedure.
Generally, sports insurance providers do not accept applications over the phone.
You need to meet their brokers for a thorough interview.
JLT is the major sports insurer in Australia.
It covers main-stream sports such as: AFL, Cricket, Football, Gymnastics, Swimming, Horse racing and Hockey.
JLT aims at professional players but also have policies for younger athletes and amateur sportsmen.
The similar to JLT is Sportsnet.
As with JLT, the Sportsnet offers a good range of covers and polices for players and organisers alike.
However, Sportsnet is more inclined into a recreational rather than professional sporting market.
Finally, the Sportscover.
This is an industry giant with connections to the LLoyd Group.
This insurance company has policies applicable to every aspect of professional and recreational sports.
There is a policy for the member, players, organisers and even entire teams.
Sports Insurance Loop Holes
You must read your sports insurance carefully. Unfortunately, the insurance which covers athletes has a lot of unexpected disclosures. For example, a personal injury insurance may cover you for physio, chiro, hospital and ambulance but doctor fees may come from your own pocket. Similarly, if you try to play against (even a minor) doctor's advice then your insurer may refuse your personal injury compensation. Unfortunately, the more risky the sporting discipline the less clear are the polices.