If you have a passion for physical fitness and health, you will be a great gym business owner. This business can be profitable, allowing you to choose from different types of features to offer, such as choosing the equipment, having yoga and aerobics classes, and even adding a swimming pool and sauna. When owning and operating a gym business, you have some unique risks that other businesses don’t have, particularly with gym member injuries and various other lawsuits. Protect these risks with gym business insurance. Types of Gym Business Insurance
To protect your gym from possible lawsuits and other unexpected events, choose from these different types of insurance policies: General Liability
General liability insurance may seem like basic policy, but it is also complex. There are three parts to this coverage, including the following:
- Premises liability – If a member of your gym is injured by falling off a treadmill that was going too fast as a result of a malfunction, this is covered under premises liability.
- Products liability – Products liability is for products you sell that cause any type of loss, damage or injury, such as selling a smoothie that contained an ingredient that caused an allergic reaction.
- Completed operations – This is for damages or loss from services you provide, such as a personal trainer that worked a member too hard and it led to an injury or illness.
Business Property Insurance
Unexpected events like natural disasters, fires, and extreme weather events are not always predictable, but can cause serious damage to your property. For instance, an earthquake could mean damage to your building and much of your workout equipment. Get the repairs done and replace anything that was destroyed with the help of the business property insurance policy. Because your facility and its equipment are vital to your business operations, business property insurance is a must have gym business insurance policy.
Business Owner’s Policy (BOP)
If you desire to have different coverages under one policy, it is possible with a BOP, or business owner’s policy. Choose from coverages like newly constructed buildings, such as putting in an aerobics studio, electronic data, business income, buildings and contents, or employee dishonesty coverage. Equipment Breakdown Insurance
The workout equipment you have in your gym is likely very expensive, so when it breaks down, you have to find a way to pay for repairs, and quickly. The equipment breakdown insurance policy is a crucial gym business insurance product to obtain as it helps you quickly repair your treadmills, stationary bikes, ellipticals, or weight lifting equipment in a timely manner.
Business Auto
Using your vehicle for any business-related tasks puts you at risk for possible collision, theft or vandalism. If you are visiting the post office and your vehicle is vandalized while you are inside, the damages are covered by this commercial auto policy.
Cyber Liability Insurance
You most likely have a website where you at least advertise your services, but you might also sell workout equipment and water bottles, and allow members to check their membership status or pay fees online. All of this puts you and your visitors at risk. A cyber crime includes fraudulent activity, viruses, and identity theft, all of which could lead to a lawsuit. These types of crimes are only covered by a cyber liability insurance policy. Employee Dishonesty Coverage
An employee dishonesty coverage policy is a type of crime insurance policy specifically designed to protect you from employee crimes. In a gym, your employees might steal cash from the register, take drinks or food items from the snack bar, or let their friends workout for free. The losses you accrue are covered by the policy.
Employment Practices Insurance (EPLI)
If you have an employee who claims discrimination or harassment that previously worked for your gym, this could lead to a lawsuit. That lawsuit and resulting damages to your company are covered under the employment practices insurance (EPLI) policy. For example, if you have an employee who was hired as a personal trainer and claimed they lost their job due to wrongful termination, the policy helps with the resulting lawsuit. Workers’ Compensation
Your employees are also at risk when they work at a gym, which is why they should be covered by a workers’ compensation insurance policy. If you have a personal trainer that is setting up equipment for a member during their training session, and that equipment malfunctions and drops a heavy piece of metal on their foot, the medical costs and recovery costs are paid for by the policy. Crime Insurance
Crimes are committed in businesses every day, including in gyms. You may have a dishonest employee who lets their friends into your gym for free without paying for a membership, members stealing towels or drinks, or have the building vandalized in the middle of the night. All of these crimes are covered by a crime insurance policy.
Commercial Umbrella
The liability policies for your Gym Business (General Liability, Business Property etc.) all have coverage limits. Umbrella liability insurance therefore is used to increase your liability limits for all of these risks under one policy to protect your business for claims that exceed your primary policy limits.
In order to run your gym without incident and not have to put your assets at risk, be sure to have the right types of gym business insurance policies from the very beginning.
