Football is one of the most dangerous games in the world, with players colliding at high speed with great impact on a regular basis. For this reason, injuries are extremely common. Despite the fact that injuries are a big part of the NFL, most players neglect against buying disability insurance.
As one of our California readers, there is a good chance that you watch your favorite team every week. When doing so, it is safe to say that you will see plenty of injuries.
According to an executive vice president of International Specialty Insurance, approximately 40 percent of players in the NFL purchase disability insurance. This means that the other 60 percent play the game without any coverage, despite the fact that they are well aware of the risks.
This insurance professional said, “A lot of guys who need it are rookies. They don’t want to spend $20,000, $30,000 or $40,000 on insurance. It’s a big chunk of money on something that is a safety net.”
Even though the NFL provides a limited disability coverage policy to each player, it only provides roughly $180,000 after taxes. For a player who could go on to earn tens of millions of dollars, this is not enough money to compensate for an injury.
Just the same as people in other lines of work, buying disability insurance is often passed over because they don’t want to spend money on something they may never use. Regardless of your career, when you have a policy you can submit a claim should you ever become injured and unable to work.
Source: CBS News, “Most NFL players don’t buy disability insurance” Jonathan Berr, May. 16, 2014