Injury-contingent fee relief in community sport

Abstract

An injury-related absence can leave a member paying for training and competition that the member cannot use. This article calculates the price and reserve requirements of a refund contract for 120 members enrolled for 40 weeks at $8 per week. Three refund entitlements are assessed by finite probability calculation: full fees for ten weeks, full fees for six weeks, and half fees for ten weeks. The approved-claim probability is 0.18, and claim durations are two, six, and ten weeks. Full ten-week relief has expected refunds of $829.44 and net expenditure of $604.80 after administration and avoidable service costs. With a $200 operating margin, a $300 opening reserve, and a 1% season-end deficit limit, the required weekly contribution is $0.10 under independent claims and $0.28 under shared-season dependence. When no service expenditure is avoidable, the respective contributions are $0.20 and $0.48, with fully active expenditure held constant. Charging $0.10 under shared-season dependence produces a 19.97% deficit probability and a $532.95 average deficit among affected seasons. Retaining surpluses for five seasons gives reserve-depletion probabilities of 4.08% at the independent contribution and 1.18% at the shared-season contribution. A six-week cap leaves $32 of participation fees payable during a ten-week absence. Claim dependence determines reserve requirements; refund duration determines how much payment remains with the injured member. Contract administration must distinguish refund eligibility from readiness for physical participation.