Ex-QPR footballer Marc Bircham sues Lloyd's syndicate

Former Queens Park Rangers and Millwall footballer Marc Bircham is suing Lloyd's syndicate Marketform for £874,273.

In a High Court writ, Bircham claims the insurer failed to pay out for an injury which ended his career.

Bircham says he will never be able to play professional football again after suffering an ankle injury during training with Yeovil Town in October 2008.

Bircham, now youth team coach at QPR, originally submitted an insurance claim on January 9 2009, according to the writ filed earlier this month.

But Marketform rejected the claim, saying there had been a breach of warranty and/or material non-disclosure.

In response, Bircham's lawyers sent a letter to Marketform's solictors on 23 November last year disputing the rejection and then filed the writ.

According to the writ, the policy protects Bircham from an accident that could end his playing career, providing his injury lasts for a year with no improvement.

The policy also pays out if Marketform decides Bircham was permanently disabled.

Marketform chief executive Simon Turner said: "The original claim that was presented we feel we rejected on a valid basis, and that's been upheld by an independent arbiter."

Bircham scored ten league goals and made 272 appearances during his UK football career.

Bircham's lawyers declined to comment.

Read the full story in this week's Insurance Times, online Wednesday, in print Thursday.