insurance.

[drop bear]

Recently I had a friend of mine break his leg in a freak kickboxing accident. And it raised the importance of preparing for the possibility of an injury that may take away your ability to work or pay the bills.

So does anyone have insurance or another way of managing this sort of risk?

 

[Gnarlie]

Yes, I have fully comprehensive private health insurance and liability insurance for my activities as an instructor. This is over and above the compulsory low level membership insurance most NGBs or clubs require.

Martial arts is generally viewed as a low risk activity in terms of life insurance, but high risk in terms of health insurance, due to the frequency of small injuries requiring treatment.

I remember the effect it had on my travel insurance when I told them I would be training in Germany as a tourist...

 

[K-man]

Most schools will have insurance that covers the instructors backside and will give limited cover to the students. Private health cover is a good idea to make sure you aren't out of pocket. Of course you can get insurance to cover loss of income as well which covers for lots of other risks apart from martial arts.

 

[WaterGal]

I've got health insurance, and the school has liability insurance, though that's really to protect against lawsuits. If we employed anybody other than my fiance and I, we'd cover them with workman's comp insurance, too. But, breaking a leg wouldn't keep me from working for long - I can and have taught TKD classes on crutches.

 

[Zero]

Standard health insurance, while covering costs for medical bills and rehab etc, will not include pay-outs to cover bills/ home loan repayments, etc.

You need specific mortgage/lifestyle cover for that and you need to be sure - and check (don't just believe what your broker says(!), read the policy and speak with the insurance provider/underwriter to confirm what you are getting before buying!!) - that the policy includes sickness/injury from sports and even martial arts/own volition fighting/sporting injuries.

I have this insurance, it is dual and pays out on: (I) loss of job (redundancy cover) and/or (II) injury/sickness preventing ability to work. The policy is broad and therefore expensive, about £156 per month.

It has a component that specifically covers mortgage amount (and then some) and a secondary element for lifestyle costs per month (ie utilities, food, etc, as a fixed amount). For redundancy it pays out for 12 months (allowing for 3 of these redundancy scenarios over life of policy). For injury/sickness and inability to work, it pays out on-going until better (or not) and on unlimited events. Both aspects go on until I am 60 (or 65, I forget). So policy goes until well over when should be done with this thing called "work". : )

This is index linked to lifestyle costs/CPI and is at guaranteed/locked-in premium amount - premium never goes up until I want/need to increase the pay-out cover amounts.

I got this a while back, I know from looking at the market and speaking with brokers recently that this type of cover (with CPI and locked premium) has only got more expensive and harder to get, particularly the wide type of coverage.

There is an alternative or supplementary cover and this is Critical Illness/Injury pay-out cover. Instead of drip-fed per month payments, you get a large lump sum upfront payment on heart attach, broken leg, etc. I am not sure if this can be tailored to a sport/fighting package - it may cost a lot. This kind of cover, from reading through policies, generally (not always) has more pitfalls, as in there are almost always things not covered... Some people like the lump sum approach. Some people like the per month costs covered approach. Both have cost implications.

Now I have two kids plus wife plus large house (= large loan, gulp!) I am about to take out life insurance. I have always had this covered by my work before so never needed it privately, ie 5xsalary, but in current package I do not get this through work. While my wife can look after herself, I don't want to leave her having to pay for house payments and feed kids, so if I go down the flusher, the house is paid off and she gets some cash (for that damned toy-boy/girl, whatever!!).

I use my brain mostly (it hurts) for work matters and so many MA/sport injuries I have picked up do not stop me working either from office or home and not for long. But if you use your body (in any sense of that meaning) to pay the bills, then this cover you are thinking of may well make sense.

Also, check your employment contract (if you are an employee), do you get full pay for a long period if you can't come into work, or can they bin you or pay nominal/statutory salary pretty quickly if you can't show up?

[There is also an insurance called "whole-of-life" policy. It pays out regardless in a lump-sum when you get binned. This can be expensive, is not for what you need but it can be far cheaper overall and used effectively as a means of managing death/inheritance tax issues your children may face if you cark it and leave them any assets (which may be turned into liabilities!) - if inheritance tax is applicable in your state/country...]

 

[drop bear]

Most schools will have insurance that covers the instructors backside and will give limited cover to the students. Private health cover is a good idea to make sure you aren't out of pocket. Of course you can get insurance to cover loss of income as well which covers for lots of other risks apart from martial arts.

The income insurance is what I am looking at. It is expensive though.

 

[K-man]

The income insurance is what I am looking at. It is expensive though.

True. I don't want this to seem like a cheap shot but martial art training changed back in the 80s when there was a real chance it would be banned because of the violence. We did change the way we trained to make sure we ticked all the boxes.

As a result very few guys have had injuries that have stopped them training and none have had to miss work. We have never had to use our club insurance.

 

[Steve]

Here in the states, I would really recommend people look into some kind of supplemental disability insurance, Aflac is the best known, as they advertise heavily, but there are many options.

It's also a great idea to have enough money to pay the bills for at least 3 months, in case something happens.

 

[RowdyAz]

Most schools will have insurance that covers the instructors backside and will give limited cover to the students. Private health cover is a good idea to make sure you aren't out of pocket. Of course you can get insurance to cover loss of income as well which covers for lots of other risks apart from martial arts.

I had liability insurance so my students were covered it was a must have for the hire of premises aswell.

 

[Tez3]

Public liability insurance as well. That covers everything off the mat as well. It comes as standard in martial arts club insurance here. All students and instructors are insured as well this includes loss of earnings. Health insurance not included as we don't need it though I suppose you can have it if you want.

 

[starsg38]

Most schools will have insurance that covers the instructors backside and will give limited cover to the students. Private health cover is a good idea to make sure you aren't out of pocket. Of course you can get insurance to cover loss of income as well which covers for lots of other risks apart from martial arts.

Yes, must instructors/schools will have coverage that covers injury to participants. In most cases it will pay up to $100,000 in medical bills. http://www.cossioinsurance.com/insurance/martial-arts.html