Registering for a Race Online? Insure Your Fee

It's of little comfort to the New York Marathon runners who ate their registration and travel costs when Superstorm Sandy canceled the race this year, but now there's a way they can be prepared for future races.

Allianz Global Assistance USA, a Richmond, Va.-based unit of the global insurer that focuses on specialty coverage, has partnered with ACTIVE.com, a San Diego-based provider of fitness event management technology to offer a Registration Protector insurance product.

Runners who sign up for events that use ACTIVE's platform will be given the option to purchase Registration Protector, which will refund 100% of insured registration costs, subject to certain conditions and limitations. Covered reasons include injury, illness, job loss, transportation delays and military, family or legal obligations.

The insurer will manage all customer service and claims activity, without risk or management resources from event organizers, the companies maintain.

"For event organizers, Registration Protector solves an important customer service issue by making refunds available to participants without the need for organizers to manage or pay those refunds," says Eric McCue, GM of sports at ACTIVE Network, in a statement. "Allianz Global Assistance was an obvious partner for us to help roll out this robust insurance plan to our customers because of their technical sophistication and impeccable reputation."

Nathan Golia is senior editor of Insurance & Technology. He joined the publication in 2010 as associate editor and covers all aspects of the nexus between insurance and information technology, including mobility, distribution, core systems, customer interaction, and risk ... View Full Bio