Olympics insurance nightmares

What sports would make most insurance brokers wince? What part of the opening ceremony has insurance providers squirming in their chairs? And which athlete would cost most to insure?

Swathes of the UK seem to be submerged in an Olympic fug at the moment; and with week one out the way, there are still the athletics events to come, as well as the football finals, modern pentathlon, the cross country and outdoor events, marathon and the BMX competition.

Swathes of the UK seem to be submerged in an Olympic fug at the moment; and with week one out the way, there are still the athletics events to come, as well as the football finals, modern pentathlon, the cross country and outdoor events, marathon and the BMX competition.

And we’ve found it difficult to keep our minds from wandering, even in office hours (I know, slap our wrists, sorry) towards topics more Olympian. We have, however, found an insurance-themed slant on our daydreaming…so humour us….

A blessing for whoever is covering the insurance cost of the Olympics; because from our perspective, it’s a nightmare! Terrorism, security, the potential for lost tickets, injuries (athletes might want to consider , fixing or cheating scandals….I can barely watch the weightlifting without envisioning an elbow snapping.

So what if we home and car insurance brokers were covering Olympics? What sport would cost the most to insure – what game would put you at most risks? And how would you get your piece of the Olympic torch insured? (you might consider home contents insurance at Comparethemarket.

Risky sports

Well, the eye-watering with the weightlifting is always my first concern, but the athletes train so well that despite the seemingly constant prospect of a dislocated elbow or snapped wrist, they steer well away from it. Nevertheless, I’d want to have some excellent health insurance and accidents bonuses in case any of those dumbbells fell on me.

Weather-dependent sports often pose the trickiest conundrums to insurers and participants alike; canoeing, sailing and other outdoor watersports rely on the wind, water levels and environment being kind to the players. I’d be a cautious Olympian if I wanted to insure against bad weather; but at the same time, in an British Olympics, it doesn’t seem like such a crazy idea.

Mementoes and the opening ceremony

Managed to pilfer a bit of Olympic memorabilia? A costume from the opening ceremony or a piece of the Olympic torch? Whilst torch bearers had the chance to buy their piece of the torch for £250, they are now selling on eBay for up to and over £5,000, according to the link above – so our advice is to insure them and insure them quickly.

Special items like the metal petals will accrue value rapidly, but I suspect that insurance companies will be loath to consider them special valuables just yet, so the answer may be to have them professionally assessed rather than simply lumping it in with home contents insurance.

Insuring a sports star

And what about if your ‘valuables’ are your own limbs? It’s not unheard of for celebrities and sports stars to insure their most precious or lucrative body parts; David Beckham’s legs have been insured for a staggering $70 million, and he didn’t even make Team GB (a shame not to see them in action…)! So imagine what Usain Bolt’s in-demand pins might be worth, especially if he sprints to another triple Olympic gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay!