Why Urban Rec Doesn't Offer Insurance
March 1, 2016 - 8 years ago
Urban Rec doesn’t provide any personal injury, or personal accident insurance, and we want to make sure you understand the reasons why, and also how you can get yourself covered.
Australia has one of the best public health systems in the world. As an Australian resident through Medicare we are entitled to free medical treatment. If you do have an accident, generally the cost is covered. You can read more about this here.
Most Australian residents now have private health cover. The government has made it beneficial from a tax perspective for most of us to take out a policy. If you do have private health, look into your policy, and see if they cover for ambulance, and rehabilitation services like physio. They are the things you will most likely need if you are playing sport. You can find out more here.
Blanket insurance policies don’t provide the kind of cover worth claiming for. Some local clubs, or organisations offer a blanket insurance policy for all their players. In our opinion, we don’t think this kind of cover is worth the paper it’s written on. Often after lots of paperwork through associations, and months of proving your injury, filling out forms etc, you can claim a measly $20-30 off your next physio appointment. We don’t think it’s worth it.
Everyone’s circumstances are different. Some people have dependants, mortgages or jobs that can be affected by injury, and therefore premiums are vastly different. If we were to secure cover that was really worth it, we would need to access intimate details about your personal situation.
Insurance can add a lot of cost to your registration fee. If we were to take out an insurance policy for you as an individual, we would need you to pay at least 12 months of cover, even if you are only playing sport with us for 11 weeks of the year. It would bump up your rego fee’s another $100-$200 per person, per season. We don’t think this is affordable for social sports.
What can you do? If you don’t have a Medicare card or private health insurance, we suggest you take out a personal accident/injury policy such as this. If you have a previous injury, or you are worried in particular about your income being affected by an injury, we strongly suggest you look into getting yourself covered with a personal insurance policy of some kind. Here are some example of insurance providers. (AAMI, GIO, Suncorp).
If you’re visiting Australia from certain countries, you may be entitled to some subsidised health services under our Reciprocal Health Care Agreements. You can learn more about that here.
At the end of the day, Urban Rec works very hard to make sure you are safe, and free from any hazards when you play with us. But, accidents do happen. So make sure you know what you are covered for, and stay informed.