Sports Insurance for Coaches and Athletes, Part 2

Sports Insurance for Coaches and Athletes, Part 2

(This is a continuation of the previous article, “Sports Insurance for Coaches and Athletes, Part 1”)

Organizations Require Insurance?

As a word of caution, if you aren’t sure if you’re covered and continue to participate in sports, it may be in your best interest to determine if you’re covered by an insurance program. Some schools, especially ones under austerity or have under-funded extracurricular activities, often pass the cost of insurance to the coaches and athletes.

Professional organizations are different. For instance, NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) schools are required to have up to $75k of medical coverage, which is further augmented by a catastrophic policy. This policy can cover a larger amount, up to $20 million. This is also true for NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) schools, with a basic insurance policy covering “basic injuries.” The intent of these policies is to ensure that student-athletes and coaches have to pay no out-of-pocket expenses beyond a deductible (if applicable).
Location Matters

As you might imagine, where you are holding a clinic, practice, or even a scrimmage has a big impact on how insurers insure an instructor. For instance, if you have a frozen pool in your backyard that you use for the hockey team you coach, your homeowner’s insurance  would actually cover an injury. On a practice field at a high school, the insurance of the school would be held liable if they were determined to be at-fault for an injury (ex. broken glass on a baseball diamond). Any policy you would take out for your home would cover any damages above the policy’s limits.

Equipment Floaters

While it is often thought that the risk of participating in sports is directly related to the activities on the field and liability related to injuries, the equipment involved in sports needs to be insured. Most companies are able to provide coverage for items like practice pads, pitching machines, and cages against vandalism and theft. This can also extend to employment dishonesty coverage, as sports equipment can be worth thousands of dollars and be valuable to would-be thieves.

Instructor’s Liability for Non-Bodily Injury

Some insurers offer coverage to coaches for instructor’s liability, relating to a non-bodily injury claim. Similar to E&O insurance, this coverage is important to coaches who may be sued for something they did or didn’t do.

As an example, if a coach didn’t inform an athlete that wearing a mouthpiece was mandatory before participating in a scrimmage game and an injury results, a parent may file a claim that the coach didn’t inform the team about the necessity of having the correct safety equipment.

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Of course, there are various scenarios that play out for coaches that may not be apparent to those who specialties lie in creating a winning team, not in the minutia of insurance and liability. That’s where an insurance advisor can help find the best insurance policies for coaches. Contact RiskBlock today to score a touchdown today!