Whether you own a fitness facility, boutique Pilates studio, or simply have a gym at your physical business location, you should have gym insurance. Because gyms are places where members are actively moving, accidents are inevitable. Someone could fall and slip and claim that the floor was wet or something went wrong with the equipment which then caused an injury. Or someone could injure themselves while in a personal training session and claim that an employee was responsible. In order to protect yourself, having gym insurance is a necessity and could save you thousands of dollars, if not more, in the long run. In this article, we will explore everything you need to know about gym insurance so that you feel prepared to find the best plan for you and your business.
Gym Owner Liability Insurance 101
Having gym insurance protects you, your employees, and volunteers from bodily injury and property damage claims which may result from accidents at your facility. Here are the main types of gym insurance options available to you:
- Commercial General Liability insurance. This type of insurance offers you coverage in the event that you are sued by someone who claims you are at fault for their injury. As mentioned before, this would protect you if a member was injured in a class at your studio or gym. Typically, this insurance covers up to $1-3 million in fees, but different policies may vary.
- Excess Liability. This type of insurance provides additional coverage if you surpass your limit for general liability insurance.
- Professional Liability (also called Errors & Omissions Insurance). If a member is injured while an employee is supervising a workout (like in a private session) and that employee is sued for negligence, professional liability is needed for the best coverage.
- Employment Practices Liability. This type of insurance offers coverage for claims by employees for wrongful termination, breach of contract, disciplinary issues, sexual harassment, and more. This policy covers your legal counsel in such cases.
- Cyber Insurance. This type of insurance protects you from cyber-attacks. If you are store personal information of clients or members (such as credit cards) online, then this type of insurance will protect you if there is ever a data breach or attack on your system.
- Business Owner’s Policy. This type of insurance combines general liability insurance with commercial property damage coverage in addition to any other endorsements you select.
- Workers’ Compensation. If you have employees, workers’ comp is usually a requirement to protect your business in the event that an employee injures themselves or gets sick during their work hours.
When preparing to get gym insurance for your business, make sure you do your research, assess your business needs, get a quote from a few different insurance companies, review your quote, make sure you understand everything that is/isn’t included in your coverage, and review your coverage every year before renewing. As you’ve learned in this article, there are many different types of insurance options available to you for different areas of protection. Therefore, it’s important to take your time when deciding on the right insurance for you. Remember, a lot can change in a year’s time – both within your business needs and the cost of insurance coverage so before renewing, be sure to carefully review the details of your plans.
If you’d like assistance with choosing the right plan and getting a quote for your business, reach out to United Insurance and Financial Group. We represent some of the top insurance companies in the country to make sure your business needs are met at the best possible cost. Call us at (484) 881-6848 or send us an inquiry here.