Lloyd's in scrum for rugby cover

The six countries England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, and Italy, aren’t just competing for a Championship Trophy, but for the national pride, bragging rights and the hero status that also come with victory. 

As the competition intensifies, Lloyd’s reveals that it’s part of the scrum, as the pre-eminent insurer for rugby cover in the UK and abroad. The market offers event cancellation policies as well as personal accident cover for individual players, both of which protect the financial assets of this highly commercially lucrative sport that generates hundreds of millions of dollars in economic impact for competing nations each year.

Comprehensive cover
“Lloyd’s provides cover not just for the rugby clubs and the organisations putting on the games, but also for sponsors, advertisers, broadcasters, and even street vendors associated with this type of competition,” said David Bruce, Deputy Managing Director and Head of Specialty at Hiscox. He said that a broadcaster, for example, would want to protect against loss of advertising revenue if it was unable to broadcast the match.

While event cancellation cover varies widely depending on the client involved, the Lloyd’s market provides cover for postponement or cancellation of individual matches to abandonment or cancellation of the entire competition. Beyond that, many clients also want terrorism cover.

Bruce said: “If you’re going to run an event like that, the one thing you might be worried about is terrorism. If someone is really desperate to ruin your day, they will find a way of doing it. For that reason, we review security arrangements very carefully.” Some countries, he said, are better than others in terms of the quality of their security, and that will be reflected in the rate for the policy. “Because of the limits involved in major events, Lloyd’s is obviously a pre-eminent insurer in this type of coverage,” Bruce added.

Every event is different
Rob Barron, Contingency Broker at Lockton, said: “Every event is different, but an Event Cancellation Policy can cover everything a client stands to lose should an event be cancelled. This can include ticket refunds, lost sponsorship revenues, and the costs associated with running an event such as security and staffing costs, food and drink costs and revenues, programme printing and lost sales, to name just a few.”  He said that the Lloyd’s market will also provide cover for a client to recoup expected profits, provided that the expected profits could be substantiated.

Meanwhile, the players themselves need personal accident cover. Last year, the International Rugby Board introduced a regulation stipulating that players must have cover when participating in international matches. For some, their existing personal accident policies may provide adequate cover, but for many, additional coverage is needed when competing in major international competitions.

Protecting players
Michael Owen, Executive Director at Lockton said: “It’s a heavy sport and players need to protect themselves because many don’t play beyond the age of 30 and players bodies are pretty much shot to pieces come 28, 29, 30.” He said that he is placing business in the Lloyd’s and London markets to cover rugby players for career ending injury and disablement, and there has been a significant increase in demand for this cover since the regulation was introduced. 

Players are also looking for income protection policies, in the event that they have a lucrative contract but suffer a short-term injury that may see their wages only pay up to a certain period of time. He also places cover for rugby players for permanent disablement from any occupation which would cover a player in the event that their injury was so severe that they could not do any job whatsoever.

“We can provide cover for up to £1m or more for catastrophic injury for any occupation. However cover for career ending injury is geared towards the players’ contract, so the Sum Insured would clearly depend on what a player earns,” Owen Said.

It seems it won’t just be the fans watching the competition with baited breath. With so much at stake, Lloyd’s underwriters will also be keeping their fingers crossed.

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