Why do I need to buy insurance?

Excuse #1: We've never had a serious injury or lawsuit in our sports organization. Besides, we're extremely safety conscious.

Reality #1: Such a shortsighted attitude is dangerous -- serious injuries and lawsuits can happen in any sports organization. It's impossible to predict the future and the risks of being wrong are just too high.

Excuse #2: Our volunteers are "bullet proof" against lawsuits because our state has recently passed a law that provides immunity for volunteers.

Reality #2: While definitely a step in the right direction, most state immunity laws don't prevent the lawsuits from being filed and it may cost over $10,000 in legal fees to attempt to prove that you are protected.

Excuse #3: Our sports organization is protected against lawsuits because we require our players and their parents to sign waiver/release forms.

Reality #3: It is not legally binding in any of the 50 states for a minor under the age of 18 to sign away (or have his parent sign away) his right to file a lawsuit. Therefore, waiver/release agreements won't prevent a lawsuit and do not take the place of General Liability insurance. Nevertheless, we recommend their use anyway as waiver/releases may have a psychological impact and actually deter some parents from filing lawsuits. Also, they may have a psychological impact on some juries when it comes to deciding the amount of damages.

Excuse #4: Our sports organization doesn't need to buy a General Liability policy to protect against lawsuits because each volunteer can provide his/her own protection through Homeowner's Liability, Personal Umbrella Policy, or a Coach Certification Policy.

Reality #4: Many Homeowner's Liability and Personal Umbrella Policies don't cover lawsuits arising out of your actions as a sports volunteer. Most Coach Certification policies only protect the coach while undertaking coaching duties -- this can still leave the coach exposed to lawsuits arising out of injuries to spectators and to players while on non-sport team outings. Also, even if these policies were to provide total protection for the individual, not all volunteers will carry one! Further more, none of these policies protect the league itself.

Excuse #5: Our sports organization and our directors, officers, and volunteers are automatically covered through the insurance offered by the recreation department or municipality.

Reality #5: The standard General Liability policy carried by a rec. dept. or municipality only covers the rec. dept. and its directors, officers, and employees. However, individual leagues using the facilities are a different story. In order for the leagues and their personnel to be covered, the rec. dept.'s General Liability policy must have a special rider or endorsement adding such leagues and their respective directors, officers, employees, and volunteers as named insureds. Incredibly, over 50% of the rec. dept. policies that we review leave their leagues and their hard working personnel out in the cold. Even more incredible is the fact that most rec. depts. and leagues aren't even aware of this.

Excuse #6: Our sports organization doesn't need to buy Accident Insurance to pay for medical bills on its participants since they are all already covered under their parent's health insurance.

Reality #6: National statistics indicate that up to 25% of all children in the U.S. aren't covered by health insurance. Most of these uninsured children come from middle class backgrounds where their parents are self employed and don't have access to affordable group plans. Even in affluent neighborhoods, parent's health policies are subject to cancellation due to layoffs. Even if health insurance is in force, it may be subject to large deductibles of up to $2,500 and coinsurance penalties that require payment of up to 40% of all medical bills. Unpaid medical bills often result in a lawsuit being filed by the injured participant.