Why Leagues Need Liability Insurance
Sporting leagues often function much in the same way as businesses. These leagues might be amateur or professional. They might require part- or full-time commitments from employees and players. Regardless of the size or scope of the business side of the league, the operation still needs insurance coverage, particularly liability insurance. It exists to help league groups protect themselves and those with whom they work or associate. Most leagues need several types of liability coverage. Here’s a bit more information on what coverage you can look for.
What’s Liability Insurance?
A liability insurance policy protects one party (the insured party) in case they cause harm to another party. Liabilities are the risks that you pose to others of causing, or being at-fault for, accidents or damage to third party.
Take, for example, auto liability insurance. Most people carry car insurance, and they need liability coverage within this policy in case they cause a wreck, such as if they hit another car. Auto liability insurance can help them pay for the vehicle damage or injuries they caused to the other driver. It can also help them cover legal expenses they might encounter if the other driver sues them.
Liability insurance within the sports world works much in the same way.
If your sports league mistakenly, accidentally or negligently causes harm to come to someone else, then you might have to settle with them for the damage they sustained. The appropriate liability insurance can help you offer that party assistance for their losses. Policies can therefore assist not only the affected party, but also the league.
Without liability insurance in place, you might have to rely on the league’s own money to pay for the costs of third-party harm. Given that you probably don’t have a lot of free money floating around in your accounts, you might face a dire financial situation should you have to pay on your own. Instead, you have no reason not to put your trust in liability coverage.
All the same, sports league liability insurance is not a single policy. You’ll usually need to include numerous types of coverage within your policy portfolio.
Liability Options for Leagues
When assembling your league’s insurance portfolio, consider the benefits of each of the following liability insurance options:
• General liability insurance: This coverage protects your commercial operations in case of bodily injuries or property damage to others. So, if someone visits your headquarters, falls and gets hurt, this coverage can pay to help them with their recovery costs.
• Personal injury coverage: Some general liability policies offer this coverage, which can help the league if it is accused of acts like copyright infringement or advertising injury.
• Participant liability coverage: With this coverage, you can protect people like spectators or staff, in case they get hurt during events. This is not coverage for player injuries, which are usually covered by accident insurance.
• Directors & officers (D&O): Should someone accuse the league’s leaders of acts like sexual harassment or discrimination, this coverage can help you fight that claim. You might be able to buy coverage alongside an employment practices liability policy, which applies in cases where employees accuse the league of such actions.
• Premises liability insurance: If you accidentally damage a property you are renting for events or tournaments.
There are various other types of coverage available, which might prove beneficial to you. Your Bene-Marc Insurance agent can gladly help you analyze your league’s needs to determine which of these liability policies you might need. We can also help you choose the appropriate limits, so that you’ll always have enough coverage, but won’t have to worry about paying for protection you don’t realistically need.
