Damage Control

Since joining CSIB in early September it has become clear to me that I am pursuing this niche market of sports insurance at exactly the right time.   During the course of my short tenure numerous scenarios have occurred where different people, whether it be a personal fitness instructor or the general manager of a pickup hockey league, approach CSIB claiming that they can no longer proceed with their current operations.  Why have these people had their operations halted?  Due to the fact that facility owners and operators are now strictly mandating that any entity performing sporting or physical activity cannot use their facilities unless they are covered by liability insurance.  This new demand has caught some clients off guard as they weren’t required to have liability insurance in their previous years of operation.  Another emerging industry trend is more and more clients are requesting a 5 million dollar liability limit instead of the traditional standard 2 million for liability coverage.  Reason being that not only are the liability claims more prevalent these days, but the litigation process has become more expensive than ever.

With the increase in liability claims blossoming at a startling pace, more and more sport managers and athletic participants are realizing the benefits of participant accident coverage.  Participant accident coverage is typically thought of in its traditional sense of being used to cover out of pocket medical expenses following an injury (i.e ambulance needs to take someone to the hospital or the use of a defibrillator) but its benefits as a deterrent for liability claims is also now being more recognized.  When proper coverage is in place at the time of an accident, contingent on the type of accident, your risk of being sued at a later date dramatically decreases.  It is essential to ensure that an injury situation is diffused sufficiently at the time of the incident and proper participant accident coverage will certainly help.  Sports are fun and exercise is great, but always discuss with your broker your exposure to risks when organizing, hosting or directing operations that involve physical activity.

-Tyler Tisdale