Gearing up for volume in the amateur sporting sector

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Whether it be leisure events, travel, or participant insurance, solutions for this segment are getting better and better, according to Sherri Sheer, senior commercial underwriter at Excess Underwriting.

Traditionally, the most challenging risks to secure coverage for in the space have been around sexual, emotional, and physical abuse. Sheer explained that it’s important for brokers to remember that there is no statute of limitation for athletes under 18.

“Athletes can bring in a claim at any time regardless of when the abuse occurred,” she said.

Companies like Excess are working to provide more protection from abuse and to carefully underwrite protocols and monitoring practices for clients. Sheer noted that clients are required to log everything so brokers can ensure they are covering a client’s full risk profile.

“It’s extremely important that brokers get a full description of operations from their clients, from the activities played, to information on coaches and owners,” she continued. “Details on documents, such as criminal record checks, are all essential when it comes to abuse coverage.”

Screening coaches and ensuring qualified professionals are training young athletes is “huge,” which is why written protocols for abuse is now a minimum benchmark for these clients.

“Its not just coaches,” Sheer added. “It’s the volunteers, or anyone affiliated with an organization that needs written protocols in place. Once those processes are solidified, brokers must ensure they are being followed.”

In order for brokers to manage risks to the full extent, they can provide clients with a log to fill out, and offer resources on how to monitor that the correct protocols are being practiced daily.

“This provides both the broker and underwriter a full picture of risks and exposures that could happen and allows them to mitigate any exposures to avoid claims or lawsuits,” she said.

Sheer also mentioned that aside from abuse, injury to the participants is the other major exposure that underwriters keep top of mind – as that’s where many of the biggest claims originate from.

Additionally, if a broker moved a policy to another carrier that doesn’t match the policy inception date, she explained that a client may not have the coverage for abuse or injury that was previously in place.

“Understanding the product is vital for underwriters so they can work closely with brokers, and make sure major exposures aren’t overlooked,” she continued.

When it comes to handling smaller organizations compared to larger associations, Sheer said there’s no big difference when it comes to their insurance needs.  

“You still want clients to have the best coverage possible, but there might be lower limits for smaller organizations or brokers may have to go through more hoops to get higher limits for abuse or injury exposures,” she said.

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Staying educated and taking the time to understand what coverage options are available is on brokers. Assisting brokers on understanding requirements to obtain coverage is on the underwriters.

“Now that the pandemic is coming to an end, the challenges we’re going to see are struggles with volume,” Sheer noted. “Brokers don’t want to be waiting till the eleventh hour to approach an underwriter because they may not have the time.”

These are some of the factors brokers should be mindful of: providing a full description of operations, where events and practices take place, and communicating what coverage a client requires.  

Sheer emphasized that “brokers are not alone, underwriters are here as a resource to help them become more knowledge about this space.”