What are the most important questions for you to consider when buying your first gym insurance policy? Here are four FAQs we get from first time gym owners about their liability insurance.

1. What insurance do I need for my gym?

Let's keep it simple to start - you'll need these three insurance policies:

1. General liability - This is your main policy and protects your business from claims arising from accidents or injuries. Typically, this is what your landlord or bank will require you to have.
2. Professional liability - This protects you for your professional advice given while coaching or training others
3. Business personal property (sometimes called Property or BPP) - This is optional, but recommended, coverage. It covers replacement costs for your business property - like your equipment, expensive Jiu Jitsu mats, mirrors, or computers. It also gives you money for lost business income if you have close for a while for repairs.

2. Do I need to add my landlord, bank, subletters, or independent contractors?

You'll want to check your lease or bank loan agreement. Search for any "insurance" sections and read what through those terms. Often a landlord will ask to be named as an "additional insured" on your general liability policy. They may also have requirements for glass coverage and minimum limits on your policy. Banks are usually similar to landlord requirements - they'll ask to be named on your policy and may have minimum limits requirements for your general liability policy.

If someone is subletting space in your gym from you, it's the reverse - they should add you to their policy as an additional insured.

Same for independent contractors - if they have their own liability policy, they should add you to their policy as an additional insured. If they don't have their own liability insurance, then you should add them to your policy as an additional insured.

3. How accurate does my revenue estimate need to be?

Many insurance applications will ask you for your "estimated annual revenue". We recommend being as accurate as possible here. Lots of applicants are tempted to put in $1 - either because they're not sure, or because they think a lower revenue will keep their price lower.

Part of your claims payout will be based on the revenue you've insured, so if you have a lower than realistic number on your application, this could impact how much you receive if you have a claim. Use your best guess - you don't need to be 100% accurate. If you're not sure, then use the number in your gym's business plan. And if you realize that you were off with your estimate later on, you can always contact your insurer to increase or decrease this number after you've purchased your policy.

4. Does my insurance policy cover ________?

Most insurance plans are "open peril". This means that if an activity isn’t listed as excluded in the Commercial General Liability Coverage Schedule table in your quote (pages 8-10 in our quotes) and it’s reasonable for a gym, it’s covered. Insurers do this because it would be impossible to list everything that's covered, so it's better to just say explicitly what we don't cover.