WTC's New Cancellation Insurance
Just signed up for IMLP, and was offered the opportunity to buy cancellation insurance for $90. Insurance to me is a bet - what are the odds I will incur the incident I'm insuring against, compared to the cost of the incident. This one is actually a very easy calculation. I know the cost of the ins ($90), the cost of the race ($725), and the frequency in my life of the occurrence (3 DNS in 27 IM registrations.) That works out to 1/9 >>> $80. So the insurance fee was close enough to the odds it might happen that I went ahead and bought it. FYI, all three of my previous DNS would have been covered: IMLP in 2002, my mother went into the ICU a week before the event; 2010, my own injury into the ICU kept me out of two IMs that fall. So it can and does happen.
Oh, I also had to renew my USAT membership, which I did for three years (no discount for multiple years!), which made the grand total - just to register; travel and housing still to come - at just a tick under 4 figures. Where will it all end?
Comments
Rev3 Rocks!
Maybe one of you smart gals / guys can put your smartypants cap on and outline something that's a no brainer for EN to make happen? Like our First Finish program for newbies....would love to make sure you guys aren't screwed, without getting screwed.
Now there's a ringing endorsement.
Seems you need a bit more data, but I think the folks on the team would definitely give it to you. I'm not terribly quant-literate, but seems to me that if Al is a reasonable baseline, then it's 1/9. If cost =725, then you need 9 people to finish for each one that starts if premium = 80. But that's Al--a seasoned triathlete with incredible discipline.
I think the fact that someone signs up for EN lowers the risk as opposed to a general member of the public. WTC is offering insurance to people who think "wow that would be cool" without the foggiest idea of what goes into it. As RnP have written, "90 percent of the field doesn't know what they're doing."
They're paying for a service that gives them coaching and feedback designed to prevent them from hitting a literal or figurative brick wall. How to quantify the random risks (bike crashes, mad calf, plantar F, pulls of varying degrees of suck) I don't know but I'd think there had to be some literature on those points. Plus there are things you could do that limit exposure: e.g., Iron distance only events, injury or life event required; minimum number of months of membership required before policy-eligible. "I skipped all the long rides in the 3 months prior to the event" is not a valid excuse. You have to write the terms for the "bad man" (or "bad woman"), but there are not very many of those here. This is a pretty good risk pool.
If there's anyone in the Haus that knows the insurance business, I'd talk to them about how this could be done. My only other question would be regulatory: in other words, if you offer this to the public (or to members) do you have to jump through any regulatory hoops?
You also have the customer relations risk....insurance companies play hardball and have an army of lawyers, etc to investigate questionable claims, etc. Not sure you really want to do this with someone that is paying you primarily to be their coach.
IMO...stick with what you do well. I suspect the amount you'd need to charge to be safe would be well beyond the value that EN members would see and also well beyond the cost the WTC can deliver for a similar protection.
FYI … Here is the actual text for the terms and conditions of the insurance policy; each of my three DNS would have been covered. Note that Rachel's examples might not be sufficient for coverage:
We will reimburse the Registration Fee you paid if you are unable to participate in the Covered Event for any one of the following reasons:
You suffer from an Injury or an unforeseen Illness, normal pregnancy, or childbirth including unforeseen complications of pregnancy which prevents you from participating in the Covered Event. A Qualified Medical Practitioner must certify that you are not able to participate in the Covered Event.
You are on Active Military Duty and receive unanticipated reassignment or deployment orders or revocation of personal leave, except for disciplinary reasons. You must provide us a copy of the orders you receive.
You are directly involved in a traffic Accident on the day of the Covered Event that causes either: an Injury to you or damage to the automobile that creates an immediate need for repair to ensure the safe operation of the vehicle and prevents your attendance at the Covered Event.
You are not able to arrive in time to participate in the Covered Event due to a delay by the Common Carrier you used for transportation to the Covered Event location.
Any Injury or an unforeseen Illness, normal pregnancy, or childbirth including unforeseen complications of pregnancy occurring to your Family Member. Your Family Member must be examined by a Qualified Medical Practitioner within 72 weekday hours of the date of the Covered Event.
Your automobile having a Mechanical Breakdown within 48 hours of the Covered Event which results in the vehicle being inoperable to be driven to the Covered Event.
You, after having been with the same employer for at least three continuous years, are terminated or laid off, through no fault of your own, after you enroll as a participant in the Covered Event.
You or Your spouse are relocated by your or your spouse's current employer to a location that is at least 100 miles from your primary residence.
The death of your Family Member. You must provide us a copy of the death certificate via a process outlined in the benefit request form.
We Will Not Pay:
We will not reimburse the Registration Fee you paid for the Event if you are unable to participate in the Event due to:
An intentionally self-inflicted injury or self-inflicted sickness
Physical complications resulting from alcohol or substance abuse
Natural disasters (unless as specifically covered)
In addition to the exclusions above, we will not reimburse the Registration Fee you paid for the Event if:
You have not made your full payment of the Registration Fee prior to the Event date;
The Event is cancelled by the Event administrator for any reason (including bad weather) unless as covered herein;
You cross the start line on the day of the Event;
You:
Make changes to personal plans OR
have a business or contractual obligation that prevents you from participating in the Event.
btw in 2012(the year of my false diagnosis) when i had to bail on IMMT & IMFL, I got nothing for IMMT despite the pleadings of the IMFL RD to his friend, the IMMT RD, but did get a full refund out of IM for FL... was in shock when I saw the check.
For example, for my first trip to Mallorca Spain to go cycling, way back in 2011, I bought it. But after reading the T&Cs, "training or racing in a sport" is usually exempt from coverage. That's the main reason I bought it!
My point, be sure to read the T&Cs and don't assume it'll cover every scenario!
some will spend money on the insurance, some will not. Me, I will not spend it. If i get hurt and cannot race, well it sucks, nothing i can do. I will also lose a boat load on travel, housing, and other things because of deposits. Its a Risk. But adding another $90 to my race registration is just too much for me. It puts the races out of reach for me financially. I just have issues justifying the costs.
OK, i know what others are thinking, spend $1000's on training, travel, and lodging, what is another $90. I just have this idea of how much i am willing to spend on a race, and thats too much.