Football crazy insurance
They think it's all over… well it could be for one football fan if England get knocked out of the World Cup. But his £1m insurance policy could soften the trauma. Adrienne McGill reports
While Northern Ireland didn't qualify for next month's World Cup in Germany, at least fans won't have to face the pain and suffering of seeing their team get knocked out of the tournament.
But one football fan has decided to protect himself against such an upsetting event. Paul Hucker from Ipswich has taken out a 1 million insurance policy to cover himself against the trauma of seeing England knocked out of the early stages of the World Cup.
He has paid 100 plus 5 insurance tax for the World Cup All Risks Insurance, which he has taken out through insurance broker britishinsurance.com.
Mr Hucker, 34, said he had taken out the policy following years of disappointment when England failed to progress to the final stages of a competition, and the agony of watching them lose through penalty shootouts.
He said: "The pressure of this World Cup is not just on the players and the managers. I think a lot of supporters are under a lot of pressure and suffer because of England's performance.
"I find when it goes to penalty shootouts it gets very difficult and I wanted to insure myself against psychological trauma."
England face Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and Sweden and are expected to do well.
If England are knocked out in the first round of the competition, which runs from June 9 to July 9, the insurer will turn to five sports commentators to judge if their exit is premature.
Mr Hucker will then have to provide medical evidence showing that he has suffered severe mental trauma as a result to get his seven-figure payout.
The only thing the policy does not cover is England failing to progress through the tournament as a direct result of players being out due to metatarsal injuries, following news that striker Wayne Rooney may not be fit for the event after breaking his foot.
Mr Hucker said some people might think the insurance policy was funny, but it was serious.
He said England were always the "nearly men'' and he had suffered trauma after England had been knocked out of every major competition following hype, despite being used to disappointment as a Newcastle United fan.
He added that despite the prospect of a 1 million payout he would still be cheering on England in the World Cup.
He said: "I feel very patriotic and very optimistic. To have psychological trauma and depression is something I don't want."
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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