Why Your Business Needs Wellness and Fitness Insurance: A Comprehensive Guide Blog | Why Your Business Needs Wellness and Fitness Insurance: A Comprehensive Guide
Insurance Basics 03/11/20

Why Your Business Needs Wellness and Fitness Insurance: A Comprehensive Guide

Do you work in or operate a business in the health and wellness industry? Do you own a gym, a martial arts studio, a yoga center, or a massage therapy clinic? How about expert advice—do you offer it in-person or online? Do people come to you for your opinion?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should consider wellness and fitness insurance to protect yourself against litigation. 

Are All Wellness and Fitness Insurance the Same?

When choosing between fitness and wellness insurance plans, you need to choose the coverage that fits within your bespoke business model. Fitness center and gym insurance will be slightly different than that of a general wellness center. Consider for a moment, a personal nutritionist versus a boxing gym owner. 

The Nutritionist: Example 1 of Wellness and Fitness Insurance

The nutritionist is working closely with individuals, building a relationship, and testing many different health and dietary strategies to optimize for the person. When it comes to food, nutritional health science has found that diets must be individualized to the person to be optimal. There is no one size fits all, as nutritionists used to believe. Biomarkers and DNA have to be considered now for sustained benefits to result. 

What does that entail for the personal nutritionist?

He or she must offer advice and meal plans until one is found to benefit the person. The person seeking advice might not know that they’re allergic to gluten or even allergic to strawberries. Slowly but surely the nutritionist designs a diet that cuts out these foods that cause inflammation—but during the process, they are liable for the possible adverse health effects from the trial and error.

For this reason, a personal nutritionist would need:

  • Extensive professional liability coverage to protect against unhealthy advice
  • Professional  liability to cover basic health problems that arise while working with individuals
  • General Liability to cover accidents happening on the business property
  • Cyber liability if they operate part of their business online or hold onto client information

The Boxing Gym Owner: Example 2 of Wellness and Fitness Insurance

Kickboxing, boxing, mixed martial arts—these are all contact, combat sports. Aggression is part of the game and injuries are likely. For the gym owner, this should immediately spell lawsuits, medical bills, ambulance costs, and the more they have to cover should anything arise on their property.

Additionally, the gym owner will be hiring personal trainers who will instruct and advise the gym members on how best to fight. If this advice backfires and results in an injury, the member could sue the owner of the gym.

For this reason, a boxing gym owner would need:

  • Extensive general liability coverage to protect against injuries such as slip and falls and equipment malfunctions.
  • Professional liability to ensure that the personal trainers in the gym can offer advice without the threat of a lawsuit.
  • Property coverage to protect against building damage, theft, vandalism, and any unforeseen natural disasters.

What Are The Types of Coverages?

Most of the different coverages were mentioned above with the nutritionist and the boxing gym owner. However, let’s do a deep dive into each type of liability coverage and why your business might need it.

First things first, the types of coverages that will be discussed are:

  • General Liability 
  • Professional Liability
  • Property Coverage
  • Cyber Liability

General Liability Coverage

The most common form of fitness and wellness insurance for businesses is a basic general liability plan. General liability will often cover you in the event of an injury, property damage, or instances in which you were at fault (or at least you were legally responsible at the time) and the aggrieved party is requesting monetary compensation. It’s these broad, blanket terms that businesses enjoy for general liability because it’s difficult to say what will go wrong and when. 

Health, wellness, and fitness industries are specifically dealing with people exerting themselves by participating in physical activity and testing their limits. Even mental health therapists can find themselves ensconced in legal cases where patients experienced bodily harm and sued the therapist. (While this would most likely need to be covered under professional liability coverage—detailed below—there are instances in which general liability would be needed to protect themselves financially).

Why Your Business Needs General Liability

If your business operates with other people, like most of the health and wellness sector do, you need to protect yourself against third-party injury or damages. This is especially important for gyms, and though you may be wondering what the cost of gym insurance is, it is less than the cost of you being held liable for an accident. 

If you are, own, or operate any of the following, you should consider general liability coverage:

  • Fitness studio
  • Gym (regular, boxing, yoga, etc.)
  • Massage therapy center
  • Day spa
  • Medical spa
  • Nutritionist
  • Mental health therapist

Remember that this is only a small list of the extensive professions that need general fitness and wellness insurance.

Professional Liability

Professional liability coverage is often mistaken for general liability. The difference, laid side by side, is easy to decipher. As just mentioned, general liability accounts for third-party injury or damage; professional liability covers damages, injuries, and liabilities that are a result of negligence on the professional’s part.

To return to the two examples above—the nutritionist and the gym owner—the nutritionist relies heavily on clients taking their advice. Because the nutritionist is the expert in the field, they need to cover both what they say AND what they don’t say.

How does that work? Here are some examples of when professional liability would come in handy.

  • A nutritionist sits down with a client to set weight management goals. When the nutritionist assures that the client will be able to lose 15 pounds, and the client does not, they can sue for failure to deliver promises.
  • When a nutritionist doesn’t explain the concepts behind their meal plan choices and it results in an adverse misinterpretation—the client could sue for omitting necessary information.

Why Your Business Needs Professional Liability

If your business involves offering advice or expert opinions, you need to protect yourself against client claims. Errors and Omissions coverage (E&O), as is often the name for professional liability, refers to both the errors in advice and the omission of advice. 

Who needs this professional liability? In the health and wellness industry, most of the professions listed for general liability also require E&O. However, the following professions should consider investing heavily in this type of insurance:

  • Nutritionists
  • Mental health therapists
  • Instructional services (yoga, gyms, boxing, martial arts, etc.)

It should also be noted that many industries outside of the health and wellness sector also require adequate professional liability coverage, including:

  • Doctors
  • Lawyers
  • Financial advisors
  • Wedding planners

The list goes on, but this should provide a rough idea of who needs professional liability coverage. If customers or clientele come to you for advice or your expert opinion, make sure you only give it when you have coverage.

Property Coverage

Sometimes covered in general liability coverage, property coverage is extended protection for your building and operations. In its most simple form, it covers any and all reasonable damage to your building. However, there are some intricacies that you might not be aware of that will convince you to add this coverage.

Why Your Business Needs Property Coverage

Consider the following situations to determine whether property coverage is right for you and your business.

  • Natural disasters – First and foremost, natural disasters are as preventable as they are predictable. Forest fires can start from a tossed cigarette on a windy day or during a thunderous storm. Seismologists can detect earthquakes seconds before they happen, and can warn of tsunamis from oceanic earthquakes, maybe, up to an hour in advance (if they’re lucky). Who knows what disaster your building will be subject to. The only thing you can be confident about is having the insurance to protect your business just in case.  
  • Vandalism – While it’s an annoying part about owning and operating a building, chances are you will encounter some form of vandalism (light or heavy) in your time. When smashed windows and theft are a result, there’s property coverage to help out.
  • New legislation on building codes – Consider when new legislation is passed that requires your ceilings to be six inches higher than they currently are. Without any type of property insurance, you could be left paying for these repairs and construction costs out of pocket. Required construction can be covered under specific property insurances.
  • Theft – As mentioned prior, vandalism and theft are two unfortunate instances that property owners face. It’s better to be prepared and insured than to try and predict when this might occur. Plus, having coverage will lessen the anxiety of when something does.
  • Equipment replacement – Gyms and other fitness centers have heavy machinery that needs repairs, updates, and replacements constantly. This either has to come out of pocket or through insurance.

Cyber Liability

The fourth and perhaps one of the most undervalued insurance coverages is that of cyber liability. What used to be specifically catered toward large companies that had extensive private data that needed protection—think healthcare organizations, banks, credit card companies—is now desperately needed among small and mid-sized businesses.

CNBC reported that, on average, cyberattacks are costing SMBs upwards of $200,000. This fee comes from data extortion, security investigations, legal costs, cyber compliance fines, and other intangible monetarily losses—loss of customer trust, reduced membership, etc.

This fine for most gyms is enough to put them deep in debt. And for some, it’s enough to cause bankruptcy.

Why Your Business Needs Cyber Liability

If you have credit card data, phone numbers, addresses, or an online presence for your business, you need to stay protected. Cyber liability insurance will cover:

  • First-party incidents – When a cyber threat appears, this will cover everything from extortion costs to determining and analyzing the security system that was infiltrated.
  • Third-party incidents – When an associated business experiences a data breach that negatively impacts your business, this will help cover these losses and expenses.
  • Miscellaneous incidents – Theft of hard drives or computers with sensitive information can result in heavy data breaches.

Why Your Business Needs Fitness and Wellness Insurance?

If there was one reason why your business needs fitness and wellness insurance, above all else, it’s the peace of mind. Disaster can strike at any time. Humans are prone to make mistakes. Hackers are increasingly tricky. And culture has turned particularly litigious-happy. 

Combining these factors, you could stand to lose everything if you ignore the proper insurance coverage.

If you’re still unsure what your business is liable for, talk to the experts at NOW Insurance today and receive assistance to all your insurance questions.

 

Sources:

Nature. Longitudinal analysis of biomarker data from a personalized nutrition platform in healthy subjects. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-33008-7

Investopedia. Errors and Omissions Insurance (E&O). https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/errors-omissions-insurance.asp

CNBC. Cyberattacks now cost companies $200,000 on average, putting many out of business. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/10/13/cyberattacks-cost-small-companies-200k-putting-many-out-of-business.html

Blog

Tips for protecting yourself and your business.

Consultants

10 Things to Avoid When Looking for Liability Insurance Online

News

Video Interview with Phil Cabaud and Celent Analyst, Andrew Schwartz

News

NOW Insurance Wins Celent Model Insurer for Customer Experience Transformation

Cyber

6 Reasons Medical Professionals Need to Understand Cyber Liability

Nurses

Continuing Education Round-up for Nurse Practitioners

Mental Health

6 Major Mental Health Challenges for Today’s Students

Nurses

In-Demand Nurse Practitioner Specialties for 2022

Mental Health

Why Home Health Care Can Have a Positive Impact on Mental Health

Mental Health

Why Clinical Counselors Need to Care for Their Own Mental Health, Too

Nurses

Celebrating Nurse Practitioner Week: Nov. 7-13

Lab Technician

Four Ways to Reduce Risk for Medical Labs in COVID Era

Healthcare

Malpractice Insurance FAQs: What Is a “Retro Date”?

Pharmacy

Why You Should #ThankAPharmacist This Month

Mental Health

Why School Counselors Should Consider Malpractice Insurance

Insurance Basics

Am I Legally Required to Get Small Business Insurance?

Occupational Therapy

Liability Risks for Occupational Therapists

Insurance Basics

What Are the Exclusions on a General Liability Insurance Policy?

Nurses

Nurse Liability Insurance: 7 Reasons to Get a Policy Even If Your Workplace Is Covered

Lab Technician

Four Common Mistakes Lab Techs Make

Pharmacy

Upskilling and Reskilling in Pharmacy

Insurance Basics

How Can I Reduce My Professional Liability Insurance Cost?

Healthcare

Is Administrative Staff Covered by Medical Malpractice Insurance?

Mental Health

What Can Happen if a Clinical Counselor Doesn’t Carry Malpractice Insurance?

Mental Health

Mental Health Technicians Are More Important Than Ever in 2021

Mental Health

Why Every Counselor Should Have Malpractice Insurance (Even If You’re Just Starting Out)

Consultants

Five Reasons Why Marketing Consultants Need Insurance

Speech Therapist

Speech Therapist Insurance: What Do You Need to Cover?

Insurance Basics

General Liability and Workers’ Comp: What’s the difference?

Event Planning

Top Tech Tools for Hosting a Hybrid Event

Mental Health

Are You at Risk? Four Potential Liabilities When You’re an Uninsured Drug Counselor

Consultants

Consulting in the Tech Field? This is the Insurance Coverage You Need

Event Planning

How to Use Virtual Reality for Your Hybrid Event

News

Bold Penguin and NOW Insurance Partner to Make Professional Liability Insurance Easier to Quote and Bind

News

Matt Higgins Joins NOW Insurance as Executive VP of Engineering

Event Planning

Planning a Conference? You Need Event Insurance

Consultants

Five Steps to Buying Consultant Business Insurance

Nurses

Nursing Board Discipline: Know the Process

Event Planning

Eight Things Commonly Forgotten by Event Planners

Event Planning

Hybrid Events Are the New Norm – What Should Event Planners Know?

General

How Much Is Professional Liability Insurance? 6 Factors That Affect Price

Mental Health

Providing Peace of Mind: Insurance for Mental Health Workers

Mental Health

7 Reasons Rehabilitation Counselors Should Get Malpractice Insurance

Pharmacy

Pharmacy Technician: What’s Next?

Consultants

Common Mistakes When Starting a Consulting Business

Mental Health

8 Reasons a Family Counselor Should Be Insured

Mental Health

Professional Liability Insurance for Mental Health Technicians: What Does It Cover?

News

NOW Insurance Partners with Hiscox on Medical Malpractice Insurance

Healthcare

What to Know About Multi-State Healthcare Licensure

Healthcare

6 Risks of Being a Substance Abuse Counselor Without Malpractice Insurance

Healthcare

What Are the Best Upskilling Opportunities in Healthcare?

Healthcare

How Virtual Care Expands Access to Specialists

General

Thinking of Becoming a Therapist? 5 Things to Know

Healthcare

Do School Counselors Need Their Own Insurance Policy?

Healthcare

5 Rewards of Being a Mental Health Technician

Home Health

What are Key Compliance Issues in Home Healthcare?

Home Health

The Home Hospital: What Is It and How Will It Affect Future Care?

Healthcare

What Challenges Should School Counselors Expect as Schools Reopen?

Pharmacy

Sharing the Workload: Questions You Can Ask Your Pharmacist Instead of Your Doctor

Healthcare

5 Situations Where Testing Labs May Be Legally at Risk

Healthcare

Do Marriage Counselors Need Professional Liability Insurance?

Healthcare

8 Malpractice Insurance Terms Every Medical Professional Should Know

Healthcare

Social Worker Insurance: Do I Need My Own Coverage?

Mental Health

Pandemic Pressures Drive Increased Need for Mental Health Technicians

Nurses

Celebrate National Student Nurse Day on May 8

Nurses

National Nurses Week: Celebrate May 6-12

Healthcare

Why Nursing Students Need their Own Professional Liability Policy

Home Health

How to Find Affordable Professional Liability Insurance for Home Health Providers

Healthcare

5 Benefits to a Career as a Pharmacy Technician

Healthcare

How Digital Pharmacies Will Change the Industry

Healthcare

How to Become A Pharmacy Technician

Healthcare

Supporting Providers in the Age of Telehealth

Healthcare

12 Keys to Finding the Best Physical Therapist Insurance

Healthcare

When Are Lab Technicians Liable? Five Reasons to Carry Professional Liability Insurance

Healthcare

What Is and Isn’t Covered by Malpractice Insurance?

Healthcare

Why COVID Testing Labs Should Carry General Liability Insurance

Healthcare

Do Occupational Therapists Need Malpractice Insurance?

Healthcare

Can Lab Technicians Be Sued for Malpractice?

Cyber

5 Reasons Cyber Security Insurance Is Becoming More Important Than Ever

Healthcare

What Sort of Insurance Will Cover Physical Therapists?

Cyber

Helping Hesitant Patients Embrace Telehealth

Cyber

Why COVID Testing Labs Should Have Cyber Security Insurance in Case of a Data Breach

Nurses

GI Nurses and Associates Week: Highlight A GI Nurse Hero March 21-27

Nurses

What Malpractice Risks Do GI Nurses Face?

Nurses

What Kind of Nurse Should You Be? Check Out the Growing Field of Gastroenterology

Healthcare

6 Risks Lab Technicians Face Without Professional Liability Insurance

Healthcare

Do Contact Tracers Need to Protect Themselves with Professional Liability Insurance?

Cyber

Telehealth Rules Relaxed During Pandemic

Cyber

Telehealth is More Than Just Video Appointments

Healthcare

Pharmacists: Which Specialty Is Right for You?

Healthcare

Sued for Malpractice: A Guide for Nurses and NPs

Healthcare

A Guide to Medical Director Insurance and the Costs

Healthcare

2021 Trends to Look for in Occupational Therapy

Healthcare

Become a COVID-19 Contact Tracer

Healthcare

How Much Does Physician Assistant Malpractice Insurance Cost?

Healthcare

Lab Technicians: Is a Travel Job Right for You?

Home Health

Why Your Agency Needs Home Healthcare Insurance

Lab Technician

Covering Covid-19: Is Your Medical Laboratory at Risk?

Healthcare

A Complete Guide to Insurance for Physical Therapists

Healthcare

The Costs of Medical Staffing Agency Insurance

Home Health

Why Start a Non-medical Home Care Business

Healthcare

IV Nurse Day: Celebrate Jan 25

Healthcare

How to Become an IV Nurse

Healthcare

Charting by Exception: Errors by Omission or The Efficient New Norm?

Healthcare

Are You a Culturally Competent Nurse?

Healthcare

Risks of Abbreviations in Nurse Charting

Home Health

A Guide to Starting a Home Healthcare Business

Nurses

Nurses and The Good Samaritan Law

Cyber

Cyber Liability and HIPAA Compliance

Cyber

Why Hackers Love Healthcare Data

Cyber

Ransomware Rampant in Among Small Businesses

Cyber

What is the cost of a data breach?

General

NOW Insurance closes $2.5 million seed round, enhances AI-enabled platform

Cyber

Cost of a HIPAA Violation

Cyber

How to Create a Small Business Cyber Security Plan

Cyber

Small Business and Cloud Storage: Is Your Data Secure?

Cyber

Social Engineering: 7 Common Red Flags

Event Planning

Getting Liability Insurance for Events

Event Planning

Starting an Event Planning Business: A to Z

Event Planning

How Much Does Event Planning Insurance Cost?

Event Planning

Insurance for Event Planners: What You Need to Know

Event Planning

What’s Included in Event Planning Insurance Coverage?

Insurance Basics

What Can a Tax Preparer Be Held Liable For?

Insurance Basics

Tax Preparer Insurance 101

Medical Staffing

4 Nurse Staffing Issues to Avoid

General

What You Need to Know to Be a Tax Preparer

Insurance Basics

Insurance for Bookkeepers: A Complete Guide

Medical Staffing

How to Start a Nurse Staffing Agency

Insurance Basics

What is Liability Insurance for Bookkeepers?

General

How to Build Customer Relations in Your Business

Medical Staffing

A Guide to Medical Staffing Insurance

General

Developing an Effective Risk Management Plan

Insurance Basics

All You Need to Know About Therapist Insurance

Mental Health

What is Malpractice Insurance for Counselors?

Mental Health

Benefits of Therapist Liability Insurance

Insurance Basics

What’s the Average Counselor Malpractice Insurance Cost?

Insurance Basics

Risk and Hazards of Being a Massage Therapist

Insurance Basics

Do Nutritionists Need Insurance?

Insurance Basics

What’s Included In Massage Insurance Coverage?

Insurance Basics

Everything You Need to Know About Malpractice Insurance Coverage For Nutritionists

Insurance Basics

Do Massage Centers Need Insurance?

Insurance Basics

How Much Does Nutritionist Insurance Cost?

Insurance Basics

Insurance Plans For Nutritionists: Everything You Need to Know

Insurance Basics

Massage Therapy Insurance: A Beginner’s Guide

General

Coronavirus Outbreak: 3 Tips to Keep Your Healthcare Business Safe

General

Company Working From Home? Stay Safe of Cyber Attacks

Insurance Basics

Business Interruption Insurance and Coronavirus

General

4 Best Practices for Medical Workers During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Insurance Basics

Inside the Hacker’s Mind – Social Engineering

Insurance Basics

Do Consultants Need Insurance?

Insurance Basics

Fitness Center & Gym Insurance: A Beginner’s Guide

General

Should Your Company Work From Home During the Coronavirus Outbreak

Insurance Basics

Why Your Business Needs Wellness and Fitness Insurance: A Comprehensive Guide

Insurance Basics

What Is the Cost of Gym Insurance?

Insurance Basics

What Insurance Do Consultants Need?

Consultants

How Much Is Insurance For a Consultant?

Consultants

Benefits of Consulting Insurance Coverage

Healthcare

Pay as You Go Insurance for Healthcare Professionals

General

You Have Your Physician Assistant’s License: Now What?

Healthcare

Why Are You Still Buying Occurrence Malpractice Coverage?

Healthcare

What Does Malpractice Insurance Cost?

General

Physician Assistant Malpractice Coverage: A Practical Guide

Nurses

Do Student Nurses Need Malpractice Insurance?

Nurses

Ouch, You Hurt Me! Do Nurse Practitioners Need Their Own Malpractice Policy?

Nurses

What Type of Insurance Do Nurses Need?

Insurance Basics

Understanding Insurance Terms: Back to Basics

General

What Does Professional Liability Insurance Cover?

General

Types of Insurance Available for Small Business Owners

General

Potential Small Business Risks

General

General Liability Insurance: How to Keep your Business Protected

General

Choosing a Business Insurance Provider: Everything You Need to Know

General

Business Insurance Plans – Do I Need One?

General

Benefits of Professional Liability Insurance

General

What Is the Average Cost of Errors and Omissions Insurance?

General

What Is Cyber Liability Insurance?

General

What Does Errors and Omissions Insurance Cover?

Cyber

Cyber Insurance 101: Why You Need It

Cyber

What Does a Cyber Liability Policy Cover?

General

Errors and Omissions Coverage: What Is It & How Does it Work?

Cyber

What Is the Average Cost of Cyber Liability Insurance?

General

Who Needs Errors and Omissions Coverage?