Top football clubs risk having to meet multi-million pound compensation pay-outs because insurers are refusing to provide cover if their players cause a serious injury to opponents, claimed a report.
It said that for the first time, no Premiership club had protection against ‘player on player' claims under the block employers' liability insurance provided through the Premiership.
It said no insurer was prepared to provide liability cover including ‘player on player' injuries because of the growing size of the claims.
Last week former Charlton Athletic player Matty Holmes accepted £250,000 to settle a £2.5m claim brought against Millwall player Kevin Muscat and his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers for an injury sustained during an FA Cup tie in 1998. Legal costs were an estimated £500,000 in addition to the award, said the report.
Insurers withdrew similar cover for the Nationwide League at the end of the 2002 season and Scottish Premier League clubs have also lost their cover.
The report said clubs must now self-insure and hope to avoid a costly claim. It said some players had brought expensive personal accident policies in attempts to seek cover.
Premiership insurer SLE Worldwide's underwriting manager, Paul Thomas, said: “The claims record is appalling and there are a number of outstanding claims.
“Nobody is offering the cover now. It is too expensive.”
The Football Leagues' finance director, Tad Detko, said: “We have not been able to obtain ‘player on player' cover. If there was a claim, the club would be left to its own devices to meet any settlement, assuming it had the funds to do that. It is a case of hoping for the best.”
Clubs have a ‘vicarious liability' in law for the improper actions of their employees in the course of their employment and so can be the target of legal action from injured players.
Protection from ‘player on player' claims ended in 2002 when the league's previous insurer, the Underwriter Insurance Company, closed for new business. It was replaced by SLE, part of the Aon group, which excluded the cover from the policy.
“Salaries and transfer values are so great in football that claims payments are always going to be high,” said Thomas.
This is because compensation payouts include not only current earnings, but also future income as a coach or manger, said the report.
The most expensive tackle in the history of the league was made by Huddersfield Town defender Kevin Gray on Bradford City striker Gordon Watson during a First Division match in 1997.
Watson, whose leg was broken in two places, was later awarded £909,000 in damages, said the report.
