A new insurance product launched on Monday "is providing Europe's top clubs with the opportunity to insure their players against illness or injury that could affect the club's performance on the field and hence its financial performance off it," according to Paul Nicholson of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. A club "could protect" up to £100M ($161M) of revenue with the cover. The product -- called MAXI -- "has been created by Avoca Elite Sports" and specialist insurer Hiscox. The insurance provided by MAXI "covers teams against a fall in a player's agreed transfer value but also compensates the club for potential lost revenues" caused by that player's absence from the team (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 11/25). The INSURANCE TIMES reported "this is said to be the first product that covers these two aspects of financial loss." Hiscox Head of Alternative Distribution Division Guillaume Bonnissent said, "Football clubs are among the very few businesses whose key assets, on which they rely for their success, are exposed to harm on a weekly basis" (INSURANCE TIMES, 11/25).
THE DETAILS: In London, Roger Blitz wrote Hiscox, the London-based insurer that has drawn up the new policy, said that "existing policies only compensated clubs for wages paid to long-term injured players" -- a common insurance cover in U.S. sport where the value of players is tied up in their contracts. Other existing policies "cover clubs in the event of an injury forcing a player into retirement, or multiple players dying in a catastrophe." The new policy, "drawn up following discussions with three Premier League clubs, can cover a club's entire squad." It will apply to more than 400 injuries "that keep a player out of the game for 60 days and more, or illness judged bad enough to damage a player's market value." It "pays out to clubs in stages based on the length of the player’s absence," capped at £100M a season. It "is being targeted at the top 40 clubs in Europe." A point of contention "could be in settling on cover for a player who has had a significant previous injury or is prone to significant injury" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 11/24).
