Type of sport played – Is there a lot of physical contact? Is there heavy lifting involved? Those sports with more physical contact will be considered a higher risk to insurance firms. A fair rating system is in place that ranks Golf or Jogging as a category 1 while higher risk sports like Skiing or Skydiving are Category 4 sports. If you participate in two or more sports your premium will be based on the sport with the higher risk category.
Terrain – Where the sport takes place can affect price since some playing fields will be higher risk of injury and accident than others. For instance, an ice hockey rink and mountain biking can potentially cause more damage to participants than playing on a table tennis table or badminton court.
Occupation – Your line of work could influence your premium and some jobs that involve manual labour could make your more prone to back or leg injuries.
Group size – Policies which cover larger groups or teams may reduce the sports insurance premiums for every individual added to the policy.
Level played – Whilst this falls under amateur, there is a difference between levels and those with more competitive football or rugby may be at a higher risk of injury than those who play in a simple work league.
Participating in amateur or professional sports means can sometimes expose you to other members of the public – especially those played on public football grounds, schools, parks, leisure centres and roads.
In the event that a passerby or spectator is hurt during a sports match, they may take legal action and demand compensation if they feel that they have been unfairly hurt. For instance, a loose football hits an elderly spectator in the face or a stray cricket ball injuring a passerby.
By having public liability insurance for sport purposes, you are able to protect anyone else around you and this will pay for any damages to the victims. This also includes any damages to public property such as a cricket ball smashing a window or breaking a scoreboard – this cover can pay for any repairs and replacements involved.
Athletes and teams should have a good look through all the cover included in a policy because there are likely to be several things that they will not require. Have a think about the number of training sessions and games you play as this will allow you to match up just the right amount of cover.
A smart way to make a saving is to restrict your hospital choices. If you can use an NHS hospital instead of a private hospital, you can make quite a saving.
One of the most common ways to save money on any insurance policy is to take advantage of paying a higher excess. In the event that you need to claim, the athlete or team will have to pay the ‘excess’ which is a one-off fee and once paid, your insurer can pay you out for any medical bills or damages.
For Example: If you pay a £200 excess per claim and your treatment cost £5,000, you pay only the first £200. The insurance company would pay the rest (£4,800.)
By choosing to pay a higher excess than average, it is like saying that you are willing to fit more of the bill. But you hope that you won’t need to claim in the first place so you must agree to this at the beginning of the insurance term. But as a way of thanking you for agreeing to pay more, your insurer will lower the cost of your insurance significantly. The average excess paid for individuals across all insurance products is around £200 to £300 but you can choose to pay up to a maximum of £3,000.