OVER the last two weekends I have been taking a look at the insurance implications for the semi pro and amateur players on our local soccer scene should that nightmare of a bad injury actually happen.

My investigation was initiated by what seemed an unusually high number of broken limbs or other catastrophes that had occurred in just two short months since the start of the season.

As regards insurance cover, one thing has become blatantly obvious - players would be foolish not to make their own individual arrangements to cater for the unforeseeable.

I asked John Hyde, chairman, and Gerald Butler, cecretary at Atherton Town, both insurance men of some 30 years standing, if they could detail the pros and cons of the situation.

John says: "I think it's fair to say that most clubs will have some form of insurance cover but, because of the cost, it will be fairly basic ie £10 or £20 per week and will only provide cover for the particular sporting activity, training for it and travelling to and from the game. The cover will also be subject to an excess ie a net number of days for which no benefit will be paid, usually the first seven or 14 days. Some Leagues also have a 'benevolent' fund but here again the payments are small and for a limited period, maybe six weeks at most.

"What I have always recommended is that each player takes out his own policy which will cover not only his own sporting activities but also his usual employment, ie full or 24 hour cover. The premium for this is based on the occupation and generally starts at about the £50 per year premium for £100 per week benefit. It can be cheaper but obviously the pay-out is on a sliding scale.

For most manual trades the premium would be about £125 to £150 per year for £100 per week benefit. Here again there would be an excess of seven to 14 days but the benefits would be payable for up to 104 weeks in all, so it provides cover for all but the most serious of injuries. In addition to the weekly benefit, the policy would also give cover for death (£10,000), loss of one or more limbs (£10,000), loss of sight, hearing etc.

There is no limit to what amount you can insure for but the weekly benefit must not exceed two thirds of your normal weekly wage, ie a lad earning £300 per week could insure for £200 (this would give £20,000 for death, loss of limbs etc).

"The figures I've outlined are approximate and shouldn't be taken as gospel. Each risk is rated separately but to give an example based on, say, a 31 year old plasterer, £200 per week benefit would cost him £307.50 for the year. Therefore he would have got his premium back within two weeks of starting to collect his benefit which would have been 14 days after the time of the injury.

" I know that people may say I'm biased and touting for business but I really do believe that this is something ALL players should have, especially the self-employed and when you bring it right down to basics the premium I outlined in the example is equivalent to about three pints per week!

"I sincerely hope that your series of articles will make people think. If it only helps a few dozen, it will have been worthwhile."

Gerald outlined matters from a club point of view for us. "A club must insure individually for each team it runs and they should always make sure there is a Public Liability Clause included," he explains.

"Insuring for sporting activities, and especially football, is certainly a risky business from an insurance point of view. I've looked at all the different policies on offer and, cost-wise, there isn't much to choose between them. Generally to get players £25 a week benefit will cost the club about £156.25 per team, £50 per week £350 per team and £75 per week £637.50. If a club runs a Reserves side and a Sunday team these figures must be multiplied up so it really does become a major expense item for the season. Some companies will offer individual player insurance with discounts if the club already has a policy. So if the cover he wants costs £20 and the club has a policy, it may cost him just £12 to top up but this can cause complications if he moves clubs during the season.

"I certainly re-iterate what John said in that players must make their own arrangements on top of what the club or League offer. We recently had a self-employed lad get a bad injury and John and I distributed leaflets and application forms to all our players after the next match. When they all left to go home the papers were left on tables or screwed up on the floor. Even though they'd seen what could happen to one of their mates, the message still didn't get through.

If anyone would like any more details on this, they can speak to Gerald on 01942 882828.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.