PUBLIC LIABILITY - For Martial Arts & Fitness Clubs

PUBLIC / PRODUCTS LIABILITY Most people feel this insurance is the first line of defence for their business when this is not true. Applying the appropriate risk management strategies and polices to prevent an incident is the first thing to secure. Next is using an appropriately worded waiver form which can strengthening your defence in a claim.

What level of liability do you need?
There are industry standards that professional bodies will recommend, but ultimately you will make that decision on the level of cover you require. The venue / landlord may specify a minimum limit of 10mil or 20mil Public Liability. About 20% of the fitness / martial arts industries end up with the higher cover. You may pay around 25% more for the 20mil cover.

A lot of martial arts schools have included a small gym area with some opting to have a much bigger space. It is important to know the insurance risk on martial arts activities is different to the operations of a full or hybrid gym set up. It is essential to let the broker know what that percentage of space is allocated to each activity to provide the most appropriate policy.

Public Liability comes with Professional Indemnity / Civil Liability

Business Owners generally just take up Public and Products Liability (cover limits from $1mil - $20mil) with $10mil being the industry standard. We find that larger schools with multiple branches and staff, along with associations often include Management Liability to protect staff / directors on an individual basis. This is being taken up more often, especially as more business owners realise, the potential gap in their overall company operations and as the price is now very reasonable to add it on.

CODE OF PRACTICE - BUSINESS OBLIGATION School / gym owners have a moral, ethical and legal obligation to operate around the industry standards (a combination of business / coaching / legal compliance). As in many industries some operators may choose to just do their own thing without regard for these standards. This of course reflects in a negative manner on those that do the right thing and the industry itself.

Instructors / coaches give advice / direction on how to train, they match students together / set up scenarios and sometimes they get it wrong. Sometimes an incident happens, another time it could be the student not following the direction of the teacher.

What about - Personal  Injury / Income Protection