£1,000,000 World Cup Insurance

A football fan has taken out a £1m insurance policy against the trauma of England being knocked out of the World Cup early.

Paul Hucker paid £100 plus £5 insurance tax for the World Cup All Risks Insurance, through britishinsurance.com, reports Sky News.

If England are knocked out in the first round of the competition, the insurer will turn to five sports commentators to see 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 if he is 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.

Mr Hucker 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 on penalties.

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 shoot-outs it gets very difficult and I wanted to insure myself against psychological trauma."

The 34-year-old, from Ipswich, 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 £1m 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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