Insurance for collegiate and youth sports leagues and athletes
There's a playbook of specialized insurance that brokers need to know so they can keep their clients in the game.
From policies protecting the athletes themselves, to lines shielding the venues and associations from liability, the X’s and O’s of amateur sports insurance are worth mastering.
Student athlete insurance
Accidents are inevitable when students take the field or court. To protect student athletes, many districts buy accident medical policies.
“What happens is the schools usually provide these policies districtwide,” says Mark Di Perno, president of Sportunderwriters.com.
School-based accident medical polices vary by state, but they typically either automatically protect all the athletes participating during school events, or they are voluntary policies made available to parents to buy for a fee.
Some polices are excess policies, meaning they kick in only after the parent’s primary health insurance takes over. Others are first-dollar policies that prevent student families from having to pay a dime in the event of an on-field injury.
In addition to protecting the athletes, Lorena Hatfield, marketing manager for K&K Insurance Group, says there also are policies designed to protect the schools and the leagues.
These coverages include commercial general liability, directors’ and officers’ liability, excess liability, excess accident medical, property, catastrophic accident medical, crime, sexual abuse and molestation, and commercial auto.
Youth sports insurance
When it comes to youth leagues, many of the same coverages apply that are available on campus, but in the case of youth leagues, it is often typical for parents to shoulder more of the burden in the case of an accident through their family’s medical policy.
In the case that the league does purchase an accident and medical policy, the typical lines cover $25,000 maximum per participant, but these policies often don’t have an aggregate limit, meaning that if 10 children were hurt simultaneously, the league wouldn’t run into a coverage limit; all 10 would get full coverage.
League insurance policies often cover liability protection for the organization, including its employees and volunteers for claims arising out of its operations, Hatfield said.
League general liability policies typically run a $1 million per occurrence, $3 million aggregate policy limit.
Then on top of that, there are operations policies, personal and advertising policies, and personal injury policies for nonparticipants.
“The personal injury portion is really handy if someone does something like fall out of the stands, but then is trying to decide whether to sue,” Di Perno sa. “This might give thyse league access to $5,000 to settle the issue without a lawsuit.”
The property damage portion would also kick in if the fields were vandalized, or if a well-hit homerun crashes through a passerby’s windshield. Property or fire damage portions typically come with $300,000 in coverage.
Liability policies often carry $1 million limits per occurrence, $3 million aggregate. These could kick in if the spectator fell out of the bleachers because they were poorly maintained and did decide to sue, or some similar negligence.
Abuse coverage is an unfortunate reality today. Many policies come with standard $25,000 per occurrence, $50,000 aggregate limits.
“A 25/50 policy gets you into most facilities, but some circumstances require more comprehensive abuse policies, and we can work with those on an individual basis,” Di Perno says.
Abuse coverage up to $1 million per occurrence, $2 million aggregate are available, but with those higher limits there are often other underwriting requirements, such as documented best practices in place to avoid abuse, such as saying children are never alone with a single coach, as well as mandatory training.
Serious athlete insurance
As the competition grows, often so do the stakes. If the amateur league is more than just a neighborhood playground, the insurance needs might grow to include commercial general liability, directors’ and officers’ liability, equipment and contents, and even specific policies for individual hosted tournaments.
“For larger organizations and events requiring complex coverage, our Sports Division offers insurance packages designed for the needs of each organization by underwriters who specialize in sports coverage,” Hatfield says, adding that licensed insurance agents can call any time with specific needs.
For something like a walk or run, insurers also offer specialized polices. But one difference here is that the run/walk programs often have specific limitations, such as limiting the total course length to under 16 miles for a standard policy.
Amateur athletes may have their sights set on turning their sport into their career, such as a prospective Olympian or a five-star high school prospect.
In these cases, specialized disability policies are available that would protect the athlete’s future. However, the underwriting for these speculative polices is difficult, and not many insurers are willing to write a policy to protect a high schooler’s throwing arm, for example.
Sports at work
Encouraging a corporate sports league may help with retention and employee satisfaction, but it also might introduce a whole new layer of liability for the company. Workplace sports present a challenge because while the employer may be promoting the athletic activity, if the player gets injured, it won’t likely be covered by a worker’s compensation plan.
To fill that gap, many large employers pick up separate policies to cover their work leagues. While the company’s general liability or business owner’s policy may already cover some of the things the separate policy would cover, the specialized coverage often makes some sense.
“Do you really want that on your claims history?” Di Perno asks. “For $1,500 these companies could have it all taken care of, so it is very worthwhile to them.”
A winning niche
While insurance may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about amateur sports, there is a wide world of coverage available. From protecting the participants and spectators, to protecting the league and volunteers, agents who are knowledgeable about amateur athletics policies have a great chance to score some points with potential policyholders.
Michael Giusti, MBA, is senior writer and analyst for InsuranceQuotes.com.
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