Part One
Sexual abuse and molestation has been a huge issue in youth sports insurance over the past ten years. The sports insurance carriers that write General Liability have been decimated with a number of large settlements and adverse jury verdicts.
As a result, most carriers are not willing to extend coverage for abuse / molestation unless risk management controls are in place. In other cases, the coverage is only available by tapping into custom programs for larger governing and sanctioning bodies that have significant negotiating power.
Coverage for abuse / molestation is important because all directors and officers will be sued in addition to the alleged abuser. The directors and officers will be sued on the basis of failure to screen out staff with criminal backgrounds, failure to respond to an allegation, and failure to implement policies and procedures such as the use of a “buddy system” and a prohibition of overnight sleepovers whenever possible.
As a precondition of coverage, many insurance carriers will require mandatory background checks on all staff with access to youth as well as the adoption of a risk management awareness program.
For more information on the various types of background checks and the strengths and weaknesses of each: www.sadlersports.com/riskmanagement/
For more information on a simplified Abuse/Molestation Protection Program: www.sadlersports.com/riskmanagement/
Source: John Sadler
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