This sporting life … and death
Sport can keep you fit, but when it’s the cause of injury or worse, the cover an athlete has – or hasn’t – in the kit bag is crucial. David Kernek asks whether professional sports associations take enough responsibility to make sure their members have adequate travel medical cover when training and competing abroad
First published in ITIJ 137, June 2012
Sport can keep you fit, but when it’s the cause of injury or worse, the cover an athlete has – or hasn’t – in the kit bag is crucial. David Kernek asks whether professional sports associations take enough responsibility to make sure their members have adequate travel medical cover when training and competing abroad
It could be said of sport – and probably has been by brokers and underwriters – that it’s not the taking part that counts, but the staying in one piece … or the staying alive. Be it abseiling or zorbing, American football or skiing in Switzerland, it’s an activity that in many cases demands peak fitness yet brings with it unavoidable risks of life-changing injuries.
Evaluation of risk
That sport – especially contests involving contact or speed – entails rather more risk than playing chess, reading a novel or watching rubbish on television comes as no surprise to risk assessors, who grade all sports into the hazard groups that determine policy premiums. Their assessments are based on both common sense (men or women trying to knock each other out with big leather gloves and people climbing sheer rock faces are clearly taking chances of one kind or another with their health) and the hard statistics of injuries and medical care costs. As the London Hand and Wrist Unit – anyone for Tennis Elbow or Skier’s Thumb? – warns: Whether you play for fun or are a professional sportsperson ... accidents happen!
What is surprising is that athletes and players who study their disciplines and adhere to fitness regimes with such care should be so cavalier about their insurance cover. Perhaps it’s the downside of the fundamental optimism needed for competitive sport – the ‘It ain’t never going to happen to me!’ mentality?
While many of the millions of sports-related injuries recorded around the world (the estimate for the US alone is put at two to three million each year for adults and children) are minor and only briefly inconvenient, there is always the risk that some will be either physically – and financially – ruinous or fatal. And in both circumstances, having the right cover can be crucial for sports people and their families.
These are some recent examples of tragedies compounded because the only thing missing from an athlete’s kit was a travel and medical policy that met the risks of their sport:
After the death in January of Canada’s champion skier, 29-year-old Sarah Burke, her family and supporters had to raise more than US$200,000 to pay for the medical costs arising from a fatal training accident in Utah. Canada’s state health insurance scheme would have covered her while she was in the US, but only to the value of what the medical bills would have been in Canada, where hospital costs are lower than they are south of the border. As an Olympic competitor, she had medical cover worth $5 million, provided by the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association, but that was only for association-sanctioned competitions, not the privately-sponsored event of the kind for which Burke was training.
Mark McGovern was a rising Gaelic football star when he sustained a severe brain injury during a match in San Francisco in June last year. After major surgery and months of physio, speech and occupational therapy in an acute rehabilitation unit in California, he is on the road to a full recovery. But the costs of that treatment and rehabilitation – estimated to be considerably in excess of $1 million – are being met by Gaelic football fans in Ireland and around the world because the only cover he was carrying was a standard travel insurance policy that excluded contact sports.
After the injury, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) said that in future it would have to take responsibility for covering members playing abroad, but at the time of writing it has not confirmed that action has been taken to provide appropriate insurance. The GAA – which also oversees hurling, handball and rounders – has had a self-funded injury payments scheme since 1929. Its purpose, however, is to merely supplement players’ personal accident policies, not to provide full compensation for injuries. “When members voluntarily take part in club activities,” says the GAA, “they accept the risks that such participation may bring … ultimately, the responsibility to ensure adequate cover is in place lies with the individual member, commensurate with his/her needs.”
Many put their trust in prayer when a heart attack brought down Bolton’s African footballer Fabrice Muamba during a match against Tottenham in London in March. Others turned their attention to the meagre health and insurance provisions made for sportsmen in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring Uganda. Only two clubs in Uganda’s top soccer league – and two Rugby Union clubs – have medical insurance arrangements with local hospitals. “As players, we are at the mercy of God, but we are also calling on clubs to put up money for a qualified doctor,” said the chairman the Ugandan Footballers’ Association, Daniel Walusimbi. Meanwhile, Uganda’s veteran cricketer Samuel Walusimbi – now an official of the country’s National Council of Sports – revealed that in 30 years of playing in Uganda and internationally, he had never had a medical check-up.
It has been difficult in past years … for some sports associations to purchase the correct cover
Professional cover
Britain’s best-in-class athletes have no need to worry about medical and travel insurance when they are selected for home country – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – and UK teams. Sportsmen and women who are members of clubs or sports organisations affiliated to UK Athletics – Britain’s governing body for athletics – get automatic comprehensive travel cover (from Chartis) when they are training and competing at international events in Britain and overseas, plus public liability cover (from ACE Europe) up to £50 million. The travel package includes:
- Unlimited medical costs
- Kidnap, ransom and extortion - £250,000
- Personal security specialist costs - £10,000
- Cancellation/curtailment/ re-arrangement/replacement - £250,000
- Baggage, including sports kit - £10,000
- Loss of passports, visas, driving licences and travel tickets – £2,000
- Electronic and other business equipment - £3, 500
- Cash - £5,000
- Payment card mis-use - £5,000
- Travel delays after four hours – £2,000 maximum per journey
- GlobeCover Assistance
- Personal liability at any one event – £5,000,000
UK Sport – the quango whose role, in its own corporate jargon, is to ‘underpin and unlock the nation’s Olympic and Paralympic performance potential’ – looks after more than 1,200 elite competitors in all 26 Olympic sports, not just track and field athletics, and has a partnership to provide medical expertise with BUPA.
Foreign athletes competing at events organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) get travel cover provided by default by the IAAF unless national bodies, such as the UK’s, indicate that it is not needed because they have their own. “The IAAF must be aware that a lot of sports associations and countries overseas don’t provide insurance cover, so they do it for them,” says John Temperton at United Kingdom Athletics, the governing body for athletics in the UK.
At Sportscover, a UK-based award-winning specialist in sports and leisure insurance, syndicate underwriter and company director Murray Anderson confirms that participants representing their country at an international event are likely to be covered by a policy arranged by their sport’s national governing body.
“But,” he adds, “it’s unlikely that those policies would extend to a local county or club sending someone, for example, to Europe to participate in a competition that is not an internationally sanctioned event.”
All of which leaves local clubs, county and regional sports associations – and individual athletes – to make their own insurance arrangements.
It has been difficult in past years, says Anderson, for some sports associations to purchase the correct cover. Some general insurers will specifically exclude claims arising from sports injuries. “Sports participation brings its own risks; it goes without saying that an athlete is more likely to get injured than your general traveller. It is not so much of an issue in the UK as far as events in Europe are concerned; it’s not too hard to get an athlete back from Europe. But the cost of getting someone back from Australia after an injury is of course substantially greater. European Health Insurance Cards also limit the costs but, again, it’s a bit more difficult on the other side of the world!”
He says group policies sold to associations and governing bodies will have details supplied and clarified by insurers via brokers. “If individuals are being left to their own devices and buying their own cover, then Key Fact documents have to be very clear in detailing the cover. If an association or governing body arranges a base cover, why not have the ability for individuals to purchase when and if travelling at other times for the purpose of their chosen sport? Having the ability to up-sell to current members is a tool that should be considered, but ultimately if the individual decides to do their own thing, then the onus is on them.”
Brokerage firm Marsh Limited has a full-time sports and events insurance unit with clients in all sports sectors including international federations, national governing bodies and professional sports teams. It arranged £20 million of liability insurance against third-party claims for British Eventing, and personal accident cover for members when they’re riding in non-UK teams and at events not sponsored by the sport’s governing body.
“Having the ability to up-sell to current members is a tool that should be considered, but ultimately if the individual decides to do their own thing, then the onus is on them.”
“Sports teams,” says Marsh’s Nick Faux, “tend to mitigate against key-man risk through insurance. A career-ending injury for a Premier League footballer will mean his club not only loses a top player, an unquantifiable loss, but it also has to write-down the traded value of the player, which could run into the tens of millions.”
Many smaller clubs arrange insurance only for their most valued players, as team policies can be expensive. “Football clubs look to cover their key players such as the strikers, the people they rely on week-in, week-out for their results.”
Faux says teams and associations might have limited budgets, or be unaware of the importance of having cover. Some associations advise teams that they must carry travel/medical coverage, and then leave it up to individual teams to arrange. “We ensure the coverage we offer is sufficient for the client’s needs, with the level of cover depending on key factors including travel patterns. Medical costs around the world can be vastly different, and some policies do not automatically cover emergency evacuations in the event of political unrest as recently seen in the Middle East and North Africa. Player values and earnings are other factors: a team of Premiership football players would be of higher value than a semi-pro rugby team, and would require a certain level of cover for emergency treatment and repatriation.”
Do insurers provide clear and sufficient information to sports associations regarding the cover they are offering? “Yes,” says Mr Faux, “it is a Financial Services Authority requirement that a summary of cover is provided to the client at quotation stage. Once coverage has been bound, it is an association’s or team's duty to advise its members about the coverage in place. An association can stipulate that teams and individuals must carry a certain level of travel/medical cover, and that they must be able to demonstrate this before taking part in a competition. The team or individual might opt to purchase a basic level of cover to satisfy the stipulation or, indeed decide to purchase a policy with greatly enhanced benefits to ensure they are suitably covered.”
Student cover
Universities are hotbeds not only of beer-swilling and study but also of organised sport. British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS), the national governing body for higher education sport, says more than 100,000 students – and 4,000 teams –compete in 50 sports in a BUCS programme that starts with surfing championships in Cornwall in October and ends in July with athletics, shooting and cricket events. BUCS, however, does not arrange insurance cover for competitors. That is down to universities and colleges, all 280 of which arrange their own policies for sporty students.
No Oxford undergraduate capable of understanding simple English should be in any doubt where they stand as far as sports insurance is concerned. The university’s sports federation tells members: “The federation has a basic personal injury policy for our members. Please treat this as a back-up. As the benefits are not a significant amount, we recommend you take out your own policy or check if you are on your family’s policy.”
And for students still unsure: “We urge all members to take out their own personal injury policy… Please ask questions of yourself when thinking about taking part in your sport … If you were to lose the use of a limb, how would that affect your career prospects? If you are studying medicine and you lost the use of a hand, that could be detrimental to your studies and eventual career path. For a relatively small annual fee you can take out your own personal injury and accident insurance that will cover you should the worst happen.”
in California … draft legislation that would implement a Student-Athlete Bill of Rights is winning support in the state senate
The federation’s ‘basic’ cover is a UK-only Endsleigh Platinum policy, with benefits including: £25,000 for accidental death; up to £50,000 for permanent disabling injury; up to £40 day for hospital confinement up to 140 days; dental treatment to a maximum of £600; and examination re-sit expenses up to £2,500.
It’s made clear to students that claims are refused if the university’s sports guidelines were not adhered to, that some sports classed as extreme are excluded and that there are restrictions on some activities – yachting is not covered more than a specified distance offshore.
These are the claim examples students are given:
- American football – £1,540 – spinal fracture following a tackle
- Rugby – £22,530 – retinal tear causing permanent disability
- Canoeing – £10,000 – death by drowning when trapped by branches
- Skydiving – £104,260 – permanent disability after parachute became tangled
- Cheerleading – £3,922 – back injury
- Hockey – £674 – hit in the face with a hockey stick
Campus sports clubs planning overseas trips are told they can either arrange their own travel cover or purchase it through the university at a cost per head of £15, provided a risk assessment form is given in advance to the university’s sports health and safety officer and its insurance department.
In the US, football and basketball matches pull in billions of dollars in ticket sales, television rights and sponsorship for universities, but adequate insurance cover for the student athletes who bring in the fans and the money is by no means guaranteed.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) oversees 89 championships in 23 sports, and more than 400,000 student athletes in 1,000 schools and universities take part in its programmes. Since 2005, universities have been mandated by the NCAA to certify that athletes have insurance for sports-related injuries before competing – with policies being provided by colleges, parents or a player’s personal policy – and that it must cover up to the $90,000 excess of the NCAA’s catastrophic injury insurance plan. Students who are covered by their parents’ medical plans often find that the policies exclude sports injuries and place limits on out-of-state treatment. Critics point out that the NCAA does not stipulate clear standards of cover, which means some university sports departments ensure that players and their families are not left high and dry when injury strikes, while others let their athletes pick up ruinous medical bills and lose their scholarships.
The National College Players Association (NCPA) – a lobby group founded by UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) footballer Ramogi Huma – has been leading the campaign for full coverage for student athletes, and it’s made progress in California, where draft legislation that would implement a Student-Athlete Bill of Rights is winning support in the state senate. If passed, it will require Californian universities that earn significant media rights revenues to provide injured student athletes the necessary medical, financial and educational support to complete their degree.
“I am a big fan of collegiate athletics,” says the bill’s author, Senator Alex Padilla, “but I am also very concerned that the vast amount of money in collegiate sports has distracted everyone from the primary purpose of our colleges. With billions of dollars in television revenue gained on the backs of student-athletes, it is shameful that so few student-athletes actually graduate and that many are further burdened with medical bills due to injury.” He went on to say: “The universities impacted by this bill benefit from their share of a $3 billion media contract. With such largess, nothing prevents these colleges meeting the standards established in this bill. Neither personal injury nor poverty should dim the dreams of a student-athlete pursuing a degree, particularly when their performance has enriched their college.”
The NCPA has been backed by Professor David Dranove, a leading expert on health industry management at Northwestern University, Illinois. Calling for guaranteed medical cover for college athletes, he says: “It’s part of the cost of having an athletic programme. It makes no more sense to tell the athletes, ‘You go buy your own health insurance’ than it does to say, ‘You go buy your own plane, tickets and uniform.’ ”