Sportscover Australia has not received a single claim related to COVID-19 so far, and says its exposure to the coronavirus outbreak is negligible.

The Melbourne-based underwriting agency insures participants and players, coaches and instructors, clubs and teams, gyms and fitness facilities and associations.

“From a purely bottom-line point of view we will ride through this, but there is more at stake than just the bottom-line result,” Sportscover CEO Simon Allatson told insuranceNEWS.com.au. “People’s health is being seriously affected.”

Insurance cover for a communicable disease generally requires an extension to a standard policy and an additional premium, something few policyholders had the foresight to arrange.

“It’s unlikely their normal cover is going to recompense people for any loss, so from that point of view our exposure, I would suggest, is minimal,” Mr Allatson said.

“This has taken the world by surprise. It hasn’t been foreseen and people haven’t necessarily factored that into their insurance arrangements.”

Sportscover has received a growing number of enquiries about the virus, particularly in relation to travel arrangements by athletes and sports teams as well as events that are having to be postponed or cancelled.

The insurer plans to discuss the issue with its broker network to make sure clients are fully aware when looking at cover for travel and events that they consider all possibilities, “even if they are extreme.”

“The pandemic issue is one we are still very much in the middle of,” Mr Allatson said. “At the moment it has been minimal in terms of insurance impact for us but it is something that we are talking about internally each and every day.”

Sportscover was mindful of how the outbreak had impacted its client base and Mr Allatson, who was formerly CEO at Athletics Australia, says it would likely trigger new and detailed management conversations regarding cover for sports or events and encourage people to think about every foreseeable issue that might impact their operation.

“That is probably one of the few upsides, that we learn from it and be better prepared for next time,” he said.