The Maltese Olympic Committee yesterday announced that it had reached an agreement with Allcare Insurance Agency to provide its members and affiliated clubs and athletes with a number of schemes fulfilling their specific needs.
It is the first time that the MOC has entered into such an agreement with an insurance company. This is offering athletes and clubs a Sports Protection Plan which includes a tailor-made insurance cover for athletes and an insurance cover for the sports clubs.
The agreement was, in fact, signed yesterday after a news conference at the MOC headquarters at Tal-Qroqq.
Addressing the news conference, Joe Cassar, Secretary General, said the MOC had long felt the need for specialised insurance coverage that is tailor made to the specific requirements of athletes and sports clubs.
Allcare Insurance Agency Ltd had finally produced a very favourable package from which athletes and clubs stand to benefit on a long-term basis.
This does not exclude them whilst practising their sport; cover is now available in relation to Health Insurance, Personal Accident Insurance and Travel Insurance as announced by Mr. Cassar.
The company's Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Judith Galea, stated that after months of hard work, Allcare was proud to announce its official partnership with the Maltese Olympic Committee to offer these two innovative Insurance products for Maltese Athletes and Maltese Sports Clubs. Ms. Galea elaborated by explaining the extent of the cover being provided by these two new products branded as The Sports Protection Plan and The Clubmark Insurance Package.
Ms. Galea explained that The Sports Protection Plan is a tailor made product which combines insurance on Health, Travel and Personal Accident under one policy.
This product which is available for the Maltese athletes and their immediate family members provides wide policy coverage at a very competitive price.
Ms. Galea also outlined the specialised coverage being provided by the Clubmark Insurance which is also a combined policy designed specifically to target the Insurance covers required by sports clubs in line with the requirements of Clubmark Standards.
Ms. Galea added that both Insurance schemes, which are underwritten by Middlesea Insurance plc exclusively through Allcare Insurance Agency Ltd, provide a number of additional ancillary benefits as part of the standard package.
Going into more detail, MOC Director and Chairperson of the Athletes' Commission, Ms. Laurie Pace explained that this insurance product offered by Allcare Insurance Agency Ltd offers a wide level of protection.
One important feature to note is that a local standard Health and Travel Insurance policy would normally exclude injuries arising from taking part in organised sporting activities. This product, being a specifically designed sports insurance product does provide such cover.
There are four levels of protection branded as Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum cover so the athlete can opt to choose the cover that best suits his/her requirements.
There are also various additional benefits being offered to the members who join this scheme.
Envic Galea, MOC Director of Youth, also went on to explain a project which he is currently working on and will be shortly launched by the MOC called Clubmark.
Clubmark is an accreditation scheme which sets the standard for all quality sports clubs in Malta. National Federations accredit clubs that comply with minimum operating standards in four areas: the playing or participation programme; duty of care and child protection; sports equity and ethics and club management.
The Clubmark scheme does not simply set criteria for clubs, it provides the information and support they need to meet the criteria. A resource pack advises clubs on requirements from running coaching sessions and club structures, to child protection and codes of conduct, to first aid and emergency procedures, to sports equity, insurance coverage, legal obligations and recruitment procedures.
Through this partnership with Allcare Insurance Agency Ltd, Sports clubs and association and federations can find through this scheme a tailor-made insurance product which has been very competitively priced and offers a wide variety of covers ranging from insurance on the Property and the liabilities of the respective sports clubs.