Having a basic understanding of the insurance protection you need as a fitness professional and why you need it, is paramount in protecting you, your business and your clients from a financial loss should an insurable event occur.
Insurance policies should always be tailored to fit the insured’s requirements, as no two fitness professionals have exactly the same requirements and equally as important, their requirements may change throughout their policy period. I recently encountered an example of the importance of this when approached by a Pilates instructor who wanted to discuss the insurance policy she had just renewed online.
The lady in question had been a contract trainer for four years, working out of three different studios and also conducting group classes at a local park. Her coverage included $2M professional indemnity and $10M public and products liability, and the professional services covered on her policy were stated as ‘Pilates’.
She then explained that she had just rented a space and opened her own studio. In her lease the landlord required her to have $20M public liability and wanted his name to be noted on the liability section of her insurance policy as an interest party.
So she had contacted her current insurer asking them to raise her public liability sum to $20M and to note the landlord as an interested party, requesting a Certificate of Currency showing the amendments – which they were happy to do. She paid the extra premium and presented the Certificate of Currency to the Landlord, which he accepted. All good, or so she thought.
What she unfortunately didn’t appreciate is that the professional indemnity section (for protection against advice that’s given) and the public liability section (for protection against personal injury and property damage) of her insurance cover only pertain to her professional service activities as stated on her policy – in this case ‘Pilates’.
Now that she is a studio owner the lease requires her to also have property occupier’s liability, as her risk exposures now also relate to the risk of a client hurting themselves in the car park, stairs, lifts or any other common areas stated in the lease that she has just signed. In short, she had been incorrectly trying to repurpose her previous insurance, which only had cover for the professional service that she supplied (Pilates) as a contract trainer.
Since exhibiting at the PAA Conference in Sydney 2015, PAA members and other fitness professionals including contract trainers, studio owners and building owner occupiers (home studios) have accepted my invitation to discuss their policies and seek advice regarding their actual insurance requirements, and I am concerned to find that situations such as the one above are a very common scenario.
In fact it has become my motivation to create better awareness amongst fitness professionals, working with them to identify an innovative approach to risk management advice and solutions, as we navigate our way through the age of litigation.
Keith Matty
Keith Matty is an Insurance Broker & Studio owner of Pulse Pilates and Fitness which is celebrating its 25th year of trading. Keith offers AHPRA compliant policies to P.A.A. members. For more information: https://www.pilates.org.au/membership/indemnity/
Image Copyright: alphaspirit/123RF Stock Photo
9 essential tips for selecting insurance:
- Search the web and ask your colleagues and the greater Pilates community for an insurer that is recommended by your industry.
- Remember that no two policies are the same, compare to identify their differences.
- Don’t select a policy just because your colleague has it, their requirements may be different to yours.
- Like any industry you get what you pay for, don’t select on price alone.
- Give full disclosure to the insurer of your work activities and professional services that you need to be insured for and have them noted on your policy. Never assume you are covered for anything that you do, if you haven’t clearly told the insurer.
- Consider your professional position: are you a contract trainer, studio owner or building owner occupier? This information must be disclosed to the insurer and then make sure it is correctly noted on your Certificate of Currency.
- Do you have any entities that need to be noted as interested parties on you policy? i.e. landlord or financier.
- Be sure to get a personal contact name and number from your insurer so you can build a relationship by speaking to the same contact each time.
- Check what the insurer’s requirements are and the steps they require you to take should you have a claim made against you, including what help they will provide you.
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