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AGENTS & BROKERS ONLY |
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Other Sports & Recreation Insurance Programs |
Named Insureds Under Sports General Liability PoliciesThe named insureds under the General Liability policy for a sports or recreation organization should include the legal entity itself and its directors, officers, managers, employees, and volunteers.
All of the above mentioned parties are covered by most late edition General Liability policy forms. However, many prior policy forms which are still in use neglect to add coverage for volunteers.
It is of critical importance to correctly list the name of the legal entity for the sports or recreation organization. For example, if the organization is incorporated or is a limited liability company, Inc. or LLC should appear in the name. In other words, the name should be listed exactly as the entity was chartered with the appropriate state governmental office. Failure to correctly list the name of the legal entity could possibly result in coverage denial based on a technicality.
Independent contractors that perform services for your sports organization and are paid on 1099′s are not covered under the standard policy forms unless specifically endorsed onto. However, the sports or recreation organization and other insured persons are covered if the negligent acts of the independent contractor results in a lawsuit against any named insured.
Source: John Sadler
Copyright 2004-2009, Sadler and Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Occurrence vs Claims Insurance Made For Sports OrganizationsOccurrence policy form is superior to claims made coverage under a General Liability policy for a sports or recreation organization such as a team, league, camp or recreation department.
Claims made coverage is far more complicated to administer as opposed to an occurrence coverage form for the following reasons:
When renewing a claims made policy, the agent must be careful to set the retroactive date back to the original inception date for the first claims made policy.
In the event that a claims made policy has been canceled or non renewed due to neglect, the retroactive date must be properly set upon renewal.
When changing from a claims made policy form to an occurrence policy form, “tail coverage” or an “Expended Reporting period” must be purchased so that coverage will remain in force for delayed reaction lawsuits that are filed for covered injuries that occurred during the claims made policy period(s) but that are not reported until after the last claims made policy has expired.
When a sports organization is going to shut down its operations, the same “tail coverage” or “Extended Reporting Period” must be purchased to protect the past administrators and volunteers against future delayed reaction lawsuits.
Sports organizations present the perfect opportunity for delayed reaction lawsuits that can be so dangerous under claims made policy forms. For example, a minor who is injured at age 5 can wait until the age of 18 plus 2 years for the statue of limitations to run, which is age 20 before filing a lawsuit. During this time span of 15 years, there is too great a chance that a technical mistake will be made under the claims made policy form which could void the coverage.
Always buy the occurrence policy form instead of the claims made policy form under General Liability for a sports or recreation organization.
Source: John Sadler
Copyright 2004-2009, Sadler and Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Eight Year Old Sues for Hard SoftballThe eight-year-old claimant had joined a softball team for girls of her age group. While playing the infield, she was struck in the face by a ball thrown by a teammate, resulting in a fractured nose. The claimant’s parents filed suit against the softball league, the coach and the child who threw the ball. The main allegation in the suit was that the plaintiff and her parents were deceived by the defendants because the softball wasn’t soft and actually was quite hard. Source: Liable to Laugh Copyright 2004 American Specialty Companies, Inc. Sports Insurance For Sexual Abuse and MolestationPart Two
Insurance carriers that write General Liability insurance for sports and recreation organizations take two approaches to covering lawsuits alleging sexual abuse and molestation. Some carriers’ policy forms remain silent on the issue of coverage under the theory that it is covered if it is not excluded. This is usually true; however, some state case law may reach a contrary conclusion. However, most policy forms provide an affirmative grant of coverage for sexual abuse and molestation via a special endorsement.
For example, many carriers provide an endorsement that provides sex abuse and molestation coverage in the amount of $1,000,000 Each Occurrence and $1,000,000 Aggregate. Furthermore, the endorsement will usually include a laundry list of exclusions such as for the perpetrator himself, for remaining passive after an incident has come to the attention of management, etc.
Some policy forms may void sexual abuse and molestation coverage if the sports organization has not implemented a written procedure requiring a background check on all staff with access to youth.
In the event that a policyholder is a larger state, regional, or national organization with its own custom program, it needs to be verified whether the Sex Abuse and Molestation Aggregate applies to the entire program or separately to each individual named insured such as a league or club. Obviously, it is best if the Aggregate applies separately to each league or club.
Source: John Sadler
Copyright 2004-2009, Sadler and Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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