Edition 04/2003

Appointing an Insurance Broker and Arranging Cover

As insurance is a complex area sporting organisations will generally enlist the professional services of a broker to assist them in ensuring that their risk exposures are appropriately insured.  The selection of the broking company is very important and therefore an appropriate selection process should be followed. 

As with most professions insurance brokers have their particular areas of expertise.  In much the same way that sports coaches specialise in a particular sport, so to do insurance brokers have particular areas of insurance in which they have specialist knowledge.  Obviously an administrator who requires advice in regard to sports insurance needs a broker with specialist knowledge in that field.  What the sports administrator is seeking from the broker is knowledge, expertise and practical experience in the particular area of sports insurance.  These are the critical areas to look for, more so than size of company and numbers of staff which may have been seen in the past as a benchmark for judgment.   

With that in mind listed below are some questions that should be included in the sports administrators broker selection process.

• What insurance and risk management qualifications does the broker who will be servicing my sport have?

• How much experience do they have in insuring sport and recreation organisations?

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• In what way are they going to add value to our business relationship? i.e. what services (if any) are they going to provide in addition to sourcing and arranging insurance cover?  Risk management education and advice is an obvious value added service, but insurance services to look for are those that will assist with administration, help educate insured members in regard to cover and claims and also contribute to a sustainable insurance program.  Claims management, including data analysis, and injury intervention strategies are examples of services that will lead to safer sport and recreation.  

• Are any insurance covers placed by the broker done via a binding facility with a particular insurer?  As the broker’s role is to act on behalf of the client, will such a binding authority compromise the broker/client relationship?

• How does the broker receive remuneration?  Is it commission only, fee only, or commission and fee?  Is the remuneration received commensurate with the services provided?

The brokers’ responses to these questions and any other sports specific queries will aid the sport administrator in making an appropriate appointment decision.

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