Volunteers, other people’s children, and a season that never stops.

General liability

Third-party bodily injury and property damage. It is the line nearly every contract names by default.

Without it — Fields, spectators and every facility the league borrows or rents.

Participant accident

Pays the medical costs of a player, a camper or a rider injured while taking part, without anyone having to establish that the organization was at fault.

Without it — A child injured in ordinary play needs their medical bills paid without anyone alleging fault.

Sexual abuse & molestation

Covers allegations of abuse by staff or volunteers. General liability usually excludes it outright, and any organization working with children, patients or vulnerable adults will be asked to carry it by name.

Without it — The exposure that defines youth activity, and one general liability commonly excludes or sublimits.

Directors & officers

Protects the personal assets of the people running the company when they are sued over a management decision. It applies to private companies and nonprofit boards, not just public ones, which is a common and expensive misunderstanding.

Without it — A volunteer board makes decisions — selection, discipline, spending — and gets sued over them personally.

Commercial auto

Vehicles the business owns and the people who drive them for work.

Without it — Volunteers driving teams in their own vehicles is the gap nobody has looked at.

Crime & employee dishonesty

Theft by your own staff, funds transfer fraud, and the dishonesty bond a home care contract will ask you for by name.

Without it — Registration fees and concession cash handled by rotating volunteers.

Umbrella & excess liability

Extra limit stacked above general liability, auto and employers liability. Usually the cheapest million dollars on the policy.

Without it — Facility agreements and national affiliations specify limits above primary.

Employment practices liability

Wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment claims brought by your own employees. General liability specifically excludes these.

Without it — Coaches and staff, paid or stipended, bring employment claims with them.

Our national body provides insurance. Is that enough?

It is a floor, not a program, and it is worth reading rather than assuming. Affiliation coverage is usually general liability plus a modest accident benefit at limits set for the whole membership, frequently with abuse and molestation sublimited, directors and officers absent, and no coverage for the vehicles volunteers drive. The gaps are the same in almost every league, and they are the exposures that end organizations.

Why do we need directors and officers coverage for a volunteer board?

Because volunteers get sued personally for board decisions, and the fact that nobody is paid is no defense. Playing-time disputes, a coach removed, a contract awarded, funds spent. These become claims against named individuals, and general liability answers none of them. It is the coverage volunteer boards are most surprised to need and most exposed without.

What do facilities ask us for?

A certificate naming the school, park district or landowner as additional insured, usually a million per occurrence and often more, sometimes with a waiver of subrogation. Municipal fields and school districts tend to have the strictest wording. Collect the requirement in writing at the point you book, because the season starts whether or not the paperwork does.

What does a youth sports insurance application ask for?

The applications for youth sports businesses ask about 4 things above all: what is your facility's name and what other names has it been known by; what is your instructor-to-student ratio during activities; how is your walkway and parking area lit; have you ever had a claim filed against you. Have your loss runs (claims history for the last five years from your current or previous insurance company) and your liability waivers if you use them ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week.