When a top footballer such as David James gets hurt playing for England it's headline news. But, week in week out, it's the country's 1m amateur footballers playing in local leagues that keep hospitals busy with sprained ankles, broken bones and concussion.

Professional clubs lose 50 players and £40m a year through injury. The amateurs cost the NHS £500m annually. In all, 6m people need medical treatment for a sports injury every year.

One of them was Julian Grummett, a self-employed electrician, who broke a bone in his foot during a game of five-a-side football and was on crutches for five weeks.

He couldn't go to work and would have run into financial difficulty if he hadn't taken out insurance four months previously. That paid out £1,200 just two and a half weeks after the accident, covering his mortgage and bills. For a monthly premium of £24, the policy pays £300 a week for four weeks. Mr Grummett's only criticism is that it does not pay out for longer. "Broken legs take longer than four weeks to heal, so it would be good if the policy continued. But other than that I have no complaints. The insurers paid promptly and professionally. I was very happy with the service and will continue to buy my cover from B&CE Insurance."

Sport insurers say more than 60% of claims come from football. Rugby accounts for between 20% and 30% of claims, but tends to cause more serious injuries: death and disablement being more common. It's a similar story with ice hockey, skiing, rock climbing and horse riding, although fewer people take part in these sports.

According to Sport England, the successor to the Sports Council, 1.5m people take an average of six days off from work each year as a result of a sporting injury and, although big companies often absorb the cost, workers at smaller companies and the self-employed can find an injury is financially catastrophic. A self-employed carpenter, for example, with a badly broken leg will be on crutches and unable to work for six months.

Some county football associations, including Kent and Middlesex, have set up a compulsory insurance scheme for its clubs. Personal injury insurance premiums start at around £40 a season for an adult club and £20 for a youth club. In the event of death, permanent disablement or the loss of a limb or eye, the policies typically pay a lump sum of between £2,000 and £20,000. Players will also get between £10 and £100 a week if they are unable to work, and help with specialist medical care.

But in an increasingly litigious society, public liability cover is becoming just as important. It covers your legal liability to pay for compensation and claimants' costs, and expenses for accidental bodily injury or accidental loss or damage to property.

Public liability cover would be useful if you break someone's leg in a tackle and get a letter from Claims Direct saying it's representing the other player and seeking financial compensation.

Cover is slightly more expensive than personal injury cover. Dorset-based Broadstone Insurance Services charges £26 for £1m-worth of indemnity and £52 for £2m.

If your club doesn't have an insurance policy, ask them to get one or consider taking out an individual accident policy. Make sure it covers sporting activities and that your favourite sports are covered. Scuba diving and bunjee jumping are common exclusions. And before buying cover, check your buildings and contents insurance as it may provide some form of public liability cover.

Additionally, consider some form of income protection cover. These policies guarantee to give you an income of around 60% of your take-home pay if you are unable to continue working. Workers in higher risk jobs pay more, but the premium is unlikely to be more than £40 a month. Just remember that income replacement schemes have a "waiting period" and usually don't pay out for the first three months.

The problem with insurance is that you can take out every policy under the sun on the off-chance that you'll need it one day - and spend most of your salary. It's worth knowing then that the most at risk of a sporting injury are men, who make up two-thirds of all claims and, in particular, 16 to 25-year-olds.