Major breakthrough in improvised insurance products for female sports stars

Female athletes are set to benefit from changes to insurance products that reflect their real-world needs as the government continues to drive a Decade of Change in women’s and girls’ sport, the government has announced.

The Women’s Football Taskforce, chaired by Sports Minister Stephanie Peacock, commissioned Loughborough University to work with leading insurance providers and brokers, and the sports sector, to offer more appropriate support for female athletes.

The move will address blind spots in existing cover when athletes experience pregnancy, menopause, contraception for health conditions and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). The taskforce was set up to progress the recommendations of former footballer Karen Carney OBE’s independent review of women’s football. 

Female athletes disproportionately experience a number of health conditions, including RED-S, a complex syndrome of low energy availability, where an athlete’s food intake does not meet the energy demands of their activities or training, resulting in metabolic, hormonal and physiological changes that can cause injury. The most common indicators include stress fractures and changes to the menstrual cycle. 

The insurance brokers on the working group are now considering how best to provide tailored or specialist products to better protect female athletes throughout their sporting career, giving them greater security of knowing their health and livelihoods are properly supported. This includes reviewing exclusion criteria within relevant insurance products.

• What is your reaction to the announcement?
• Are women disproportionaely affected in the insurance industry?
• Are sportswomen being left behind?

Responses asap please.