Gymnastics Insurance: How to Find the Right Policy

Whether you run a recreational gym or a highly competitive gym, you will need gymnastics insurance. While having the proper insurance policy isn’t always something gym owners think about, it is extremely important and can protect the gym and the owners if an accident or incident were to occur.

There are a ton of options out there. Finding the right policy can be tough if you don’t know where to look or what type of coverage you need.

But, no matter what you do, you have to make sure you choose an insurance policy carefully to ensure you are prepared for anything if the need arises.

Shop Around for the Best Deal and Coverage

Not all gymnastics insurance policies are created the same, so it is important for you to shop around. Since the activities that go on at gyms can vary greatly from one location to another, there is no OSAF insurance policy.

When you have a few quotes from reputable insurance companies in front of you, you need to make sure you compare each quote side-by-side. Don’t just choose the lowest priced policy. Instead, compare coverages, and make sure all your activities are covered.

If you choose the lowest priced insurance policy, and it doesn’t cover your needs, it can end up costing you more money than a more expensive policy would have cost you in the first place.

If you over-insure your gym, you’ll be wasting money that could have been better invested in improvements or savings. Likewise, if you are under-insured and a claim or lawsuit is filed against your gym or you, you can risk great financial loss that extends from your business to your personal life.

The only way to make sure you are prepared for any accident or incident that can occur at your gym or on the premises of your facility is to make sure you have the proper insurance coverage and any applicable waivers.

Make Sure to Read the Fine Print of Your Gym’s Insurance Policy

Did you know that some gymnastics insurance policies require you to submit the name of every gymnast or participant that takes part in an activity at your gym? While most underwriters have got away from this practice, others still require it.

This type of liability insurance can create a great deal of paperwork and headaches for gym owners and staff. Not only is it time-consuming, but with the constantly changing roster that most gyms experience, it can be nearly impossible to keep up with.

In the event that an injury occurs, if that participant’s name isn’t on the list, they might not be covered, which leaves your gym, your participants, and yourself personally liable for any incident or accident that occurs.

Another huge concern with gymnastics liability insurance is reporting your number of participants accurately. Policies can go up dramatically when you have a certain amount of participants in your gym. To get around this, some gyms will underreport the number of participants at their location in an effort to decrease liability insurance cost.

However, if you get caught doing this, your insurance company could drop you, and it could make it harder and more expensive for you to insure your gym in the future. Other gyms over report the number of participants at their gym because they plan on growing.

For instance, if a gym is just starting out with 100 enrollees, but plans to have 500 soon, they may report 500 on their insurance liability form. However, it can take months, maybe years to get to the goal list of participants. This means you are overpaying for gymnastics insurance in the months that your enrollment isn’t where you thought it would be.

With this in mind, it is important to report an accurate number of gym members when filling out gymnastics insurance paperwork. The best insurance policies will allow you to adjust your number of gym participants at different times throughout the year.

Covering All Your Gym’s Bases

In addition to choosing the right policy and reading the fine print, you need to make sure you are covering all your bases. For this reason, it is important to work with an insurance agent that truly understands the day to day operations of your gym.

Obviously, a gymnastics class offers gymnastics, but does the policy you are considering cover everything entailed in a gymnastics class. How about the trampoline, uneven bars, parents in the watching area? Is all of this covered by the policy you are considering?

You also need to think about the activities that go on at your gym in addition to gymnastics classes, practices, and competitions.

Does your gym host open gyms, martial arts, adult workout classes? What about child care? Who is watching the children who aren’t participating in class events? Does your team hosts competitions or tournaments? Is that covered under the policy you are thinking about purchasing?

To truly make sure you are covered, you and your insurance agent need to consider everything that happens at your facility on a day to day basis.

Now that you know what to expect from a gymnastics insurance policy, you are ready to find the right policy to meet your needs.

The most important part of any policy is that you can confidently run your day-to-day operations and know you are covered both from a business and personal standpoint if an incident or claim arises from your clubs day to day activities.

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