When it comes to selecting an athletic insurance partner, premium is all that matters, right? Wrong. You've undoubtedly seen this story play out time and time again in your personal life. You try to save some money upfront by going with the lowest price but you often end up paying more than you would have if you'd selected the best product or service from the beginning. Athletic insurance is no different.
Claims Experience
Many factors contribute to what your current (and future) premium is. The main factor that insurance carriers are looking at is your claims experience, the total dollar amount of claims that your policy paid out during the benefit period. While you may not be able to impact the frequency or severity of athletes' injuries, what you can do is select a partner that is able to minimize the risk and reduce the total claims payouts on an annual basis. In doing so, you will experience reduced claims on your policy and relief in premium in subsequent years.
Provider Agreements
How can one company reduce your total claims payout more than another? Simply, there are a few companies out there that go the extra mile to see that your program is maximizing the DISCOUNTS received at your top medical providers. The medical billing world is not black and white. Providers are often able to reduce the billed charges if asked or if they have agreements with the third-party administrator (TPA) or a repricing (discount) network. Getting into this level discussion is paramount to the success and stability of your athletic insurance program.
Managing Primary Insurance
Perhaps more important than your sports insurance agent's ability to secure lowest premium and the highest discounts on your behalf is having constant oversight of your athletes' primary insurance. While your institution may not require insurance, there are certainly steps that can be taken to ensure the coverages they do have are going to work. It is very important to partner with an experienced broker that offers free access to a primary insurance verification program (Coverage Backer™) and has a primary insurance specialist on staff to assist you with finding primary insurance plans for your athletes that arrive to campus without insurance (or with insurance that we know won't pay for athletic related injuries).
Specialist Broker
Next time you are evaluating athletic insurance partners, consider these factors in your decision. There are many insurance brokers that have the ability to obtain a quote that meets your policy benefits but do they specialize in athletic insurance and athletic insurance only? That can be the difference in a program that continues to see premium increases and a program that is stable and well run for the long-haul.