In summary, and emphasising the point made previously that the protection provided by an insurance policy can vary from policy to policy, a public liability policy will generally protect an insured sporting organisation or individual should they be deemed legally liable for personal injury due to an occurrence pertaining to participation in the activities of that sport.  However due to the usual policy exclusions, this protection would not generally apply should the injured party be an employee of the insured, nor if the injury was the result of a breach of professional duty.

Professional indemnity insurance indemnifies the insured against claims for compensation for breach of professional duty by reason of any negligence by way of act, error, omission or advice in the conduct of their business.  You will recall that breach of professional duty is excluded under Public Liability insurance.

It is foreseeable that a participant in sport could claim a breach of professional duty from another party involved in the provision of sporting service that refers to the issue of pregnancy in sport.  A simple example could be an allegation that a  coach has made an error in giving inappropriate training instructions to a pregnant athlete and as a result of following those instructions injury has occurred to the athlete or the unborn child.  Professional Indemnity policies do not generally contain conditions or exclusions that prevent claims in regard to pregnancy from being included in the cover provided by the policy.

Another class of liability protection is Directors and Officers insurance.  This insurance indemnifies the Directors, Committee Members, Trustees, Executive Officers and other officers and employees of the organisation against "wrongful acts" committed in their respective capacities within the organisation, but excluding any claim made that in any way involves injury, sickness, disease or death of any person, or damage to property.  Some insurers are prepared to extend a Directors and Officers policy to include such protection for the organisation as an entity in addition to the directors and officers as individuals.

"Wrongful Acts" includes breach of trust, breach of duty, misleading statement, neglect, error and omission.

Directors and Officers insurance does not provide protection for liability incurred as a result of bodily injury and therefore pregnancy claims related to injury would not be covered by this class of policy.  However liability relating to pregnancy that emanated from "wrongful acts" as outlined above would come under the auspices of Directors and Officers insurance.  An example may be a claim for discrimination.

Employment Practices liability insurance can be included as a part of a Directors and Officers insurance policy or it can be issued as a stand alone policy.  This cover provides indemnity to the insured against amounts they are legally obligated to pay arising out of a claim for specified matters associated with employees and their employment - again excluding bodily injury.  These matters include unfair dismissal, workplace harassment, breach of employment contract, and discrimination against employees.  It should be noted that punitive damages and fines and penalties imposed by law are excluded, and also that whilst the costs in defending a breach of Commonwealth, State or Territory occupational or workplace health and safety legislation may be covered, coverage does not extend to include damages or compensation arising from that breach.

So, referring back to the pregnancy in sport issue, should a participant who is deemed to be an employee of the sporting organisation take action claiming discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy, the Employment Practices insurance cover would generally respond.

Association Liability is another class of liability insurance that may be familiar to sporting administrators.  In broad terms, this policy is designed specifically for incorporated associations and generally provides cover best described as a combination of Professional Indemnity and Directors and Officers insurance, but not including the protection against liability resulting from bodily injury and property damage that is generally included under Professional Indemnity insurance.

So, to summarise the situation in regard to pregnancy in sport and the aspect of liability and insurance, and again I emphasise that policy wordings do vary.  In the case of injury incurred as a result of an occurrence whilst participating in the sport, a public liability policy should normally respond unless the injury was caused or contributed to by a breach of professional duty.  In the case of injury caused or contributed to by a breach of professional duty, a professional indemnity policy should respond.

Continued....