The Need for Sports & Activities Insurance

By Joel Block

In the modern world, as people increasingly become aware of the need to keep physically fit and also find themselves with more free time, we see more and more people actively participating in a broad variety of sports, and not just watching them as spectators.

This has given rise to an increasing need for insurance coverage that is specifically suited for the needs of non-professional sports enthusiasts, both veterans and beginners.

Sports & activities insurance is a broad term that may include competitors, the organizers of sporting events and instructors and coaches who make their living by teaching sports and physical activities. Sports & activities insurance provides peace of mind in situations where accidents are commonplace and the costs incurred after the accidents can be high. Coverage plans for individuals should ideally provide personal accidents and public liability insurance, including weekly benefits for loss of earnings, rescue and search fees and specialized personal equipment under one policy.

Sports & activities insurance is necessary for anyone connected to the field of sports, health and physical fitness: teams need insurance; owners of gyms and martial arts studios, will need cover including third-party liability cover.
Sports participants and athletes should be personally insured because of the high risk of injury in sports. When considering what kind of policy to purchase, a number of factors should be taken into consideration:

• The high cost of recuperation from a sports injury
• Ongoing costs such as physiotherapy and massage
• Inclusion of 24-hour personal accidents coverage
• Insurance for accidental death and permanent total disability
• Extended coverage for specialized personal equipment

Individual instructors and trainers of sports should consider sports & activities insurance to be an integral part of their business expenses. Instructors build their reputations by successfully training many people, but it only takes one person being injured in an accident to mar an otherwise good reputation.

Typically sports & activities insurance covers medical, legal and liability costs for any injuries sustained in the policy holder's insured sport/activity. It should be kept in mind that sports & activities insurance automatically cover any and all sports/activities and that the specific sport to be fully covered in the event of an accident needs to be listed in the policy; someone who took out a policy for ice skating will not be covered for ice hockey.

Sports & activities insurance policies are specifically tailored to the specific needs of the insured and will not cover anything not agreed upon, so it is very important to carefully research the available policies before reaching a final decision.

(Joel Block is a Liability Insurance Customer Service Officer at Sinclair Insurance Company)