Specialized Insurance: Covering all the bases
Picture this: You’re an adventure tourism operator. You provide clients with snowmobile tours of the remote backcountry. Your guests thrill to careen through the fresh white powder, inhaling the crisp, invigorating mountain air.
Suddenly, the unthinkable: a patch of black ice or a momentary distraction. In an instant, the fun is over as the tour comes to a crashing halt. A snowmobile driver lies in a painful, crumpled heap. And while his dream vacation is over, your nightmare is about to begin.
Or perhaps you’re organizing a summer music festival. The sun is shining, the musicians arrive on time, and everything is coming up roses—until the scaffolding collapses on an unsuspecting festival-goer, breaking his leg.
Finally, imagine planning an exotic adventure, complete with backcountry mountain biking and perhaps even bungee jumping. You plan to look into extra coverage, but you’re so busy at work that before you know it, you’re on a plane, without insurance. But that’s fine because you’re covered through your provincial plan, right?
Wrong.
Provincial health plans don’t cover
all injuries resulting from sports
and leisure activities.Not pleasant to contemplate, but too important to overlook, specialized insurance coverage is a growing niche market designed to cater to sports associations, adventure tourism operators, extreme sports fanatics, special event organizers and fitness and lifestyle instructors.
As a society, we’re on the move. We engage personal trainers, seek out exciting tourism options and enjoy group sports. Luckily, several forward-thinking insurance companies are keeping up with everything from daredevil desires to down-home country fairs.
Vancouver-based Sports-Can Insurance specializes in offering coverage from the organizer’s perspective. Whether you’re the head of a non-profit organization planning a fundraising event, or a midget hockey league director, Sports-Can demystifies the often confusing and convoluted world of insurance in order to tailor a package to meet your specific needs.
SportsInsurance.com, also known as SSEI (Sports and Special Events Insurance), is a broker that specializes in both organizer and individual insurance, and is the first online sports insurance company doing business worldwide.
“We don’t shy away from new sports or complex events,” says CEO Nick DiPerno who works out of the company’s Western Canada base in Vancouver. He also notes that many conventional insurance companies eschew emerging sports and outdoor adventures.
In fact, until recently DiPerno says that insurance premiums were so unaffordable that some tourism operators were forced to go uninsured, a risky proposition that could easily ruin livelihoods.
SportsInsurance.com began with a sports focus; the company’s mandate was to offer liability insurance for every imaginable activity. “We cater to everything from weekend soccer tournaments to international surf competitions to heli-skiing,” says DiPerno, who adds that he could even craft an appropriate policy should I endeavour to write this article while paragliding!
“From polar bear tours to the halftime show at the Super Bowl, we do have a wide range,” acknowledges DiPerno, whose company organized coverage for the 2007 BC Bike Race on Vancouver Island, facilitating everything from the development of risk management to a comprehensive safety plan.
And while organized sports associations—which range from kids’ soccer leagues to mountain bike races—need coverage to protect their players, coaches and spectators, SportsInsurance.com also caters to festival and event organizers, a market which has grown steadily since 9/11 as the threat of terrorist attacks became of greater concern.
“Look at music festivals from an insurance standpoint. The organizer needs to be protected against a liability suit resulting from bodily injury or property damage. Scaffolding could collapse on a fan and break his leg, or on an automobile causing damage. Weather could also be a factor; a bad storm could affect attendance, power supplies and performances. Or perhaps the headlining band’s lead singer falls ill,” says DiPerno, who explains that all of the above scenarios are insurable.
And SportsInsurance.com also extends coverage to individuals.
Simply put, every organization needs insurance. No matter how careful you are, accidents can happen
“Take travel medical insurance for instance. Let’s say you’re mountain biking in Moab, Utah. Your son suddenly decides it would be a good idea to huck off a 20-foot cliff on his bike, has a horrific fall and shatters his arm and loses his teeth. He requires emergency surgery, which could run anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000. Since you’ve bought insurance, you’re covered. Your government insurance would only cover a portion of the cost,” says DiPerno, who notes that trip cancellation coverage is also highly advisable.
“Insurance might not be sexy, but it is necessary,” agrees Murray Morrison, President of SBC Insurance, a retail insurance company that operates within BC, and it’s affiliated nationwide wholesaler, Allsport Insurance. “We don’t do home or auto insurance, but rather sport, recreation and leisure activities.”
“Simply put, every organization needs insurance. No matter how careful you are, accidents can happen,” says Morrison, who points out that today there is no excuse for going uninsured. “In Canada, per participant premiums are often as low as the cost of a Starbucks coffee.”
Some would argue that’s a small price to pay for peace of mind.
