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Fitness insurance is a type of exclusions and omissions (E & O) insurance in the sense that it protects the insured from any liability arising from the practice of his or her chosen profession. As such, it can also be considered a professional liability or malpractice insurance. However, it is focused towards physical fitness professionals. This means that doctors, lawyers, among other professions are not entitled to the surety in question.

In fact, insurers usually require a proof or proofs of employment in the fitness industry, such as educational records, teaching and fitness training certifications. It should be made clear that with this type of insurance, the fitness guru is not the beneficiary of the plan. What it does is it shields him or her from any accidents, damages to students or their property, and the unintended negative consequences of pursuing the profession on a regular basis.

For example, Eve is a certified fitness instructor at a gym. In the course of teaching a class of fitness buffs, one student is injured while at the same time inadvertently destroying a $4,000 thread mill. While the injured student has his or her own health plan to cover for treatment and hospitalization, this individual sues Eve for damages arising from the accident. At the same time, the gym also sues the instructress for destruction of equipment, even though the workout place has all its equipment nicely underwritten.

Without fitness insurance, Eve’s career could be easily crippled by the impending court litigation. Luckily, she had the foresight to consider getting herself the surety that her profession direly needs. She is not required to do so, but she considered it advantageous to her career to secure one. As a result, she can continue practicing her profession while the court case takes its toll. After all, the underwriter of the insurance will cover all the court and other legal fees, having a total coverage of $3 million.

This kind of policy arose in the early 1980s, when the gym movement was also born. Out of concern for their health and well-being, patrons started to workout in droves, jumpstarting a chain reaction of gymnasiums mushrooming to fulfill local demand, particularly in North America. In its current form, a fitness policy can be likened to the third party liability enshrined in most car insurance. As such, it is non-comprehensive by nature. In addition, the premium can be hefty as in the case of Eve, who pays $200.

Two factors account for this reality. First, there are considerably less subscribers to the plan, especially when compared to say, a home or life insurance both of which have universal application at this time. Second, legal proceedings cost an arm and a leg.
By nature, this type of insurance carries a relatively high value because of the liability involved. But none of the benefits accrue to Eve. In fact, if she damages her own equipment or injures herself while at work, she cannot expect this insurance to cover for her. Likewise, since she works as an independent contractor at the gym where the accident occurred, the fitness center assumes no liability whatsoever for the mishap.

Although the center likely has a fitness insurance of its own, only employees of the center can make a claim against it. No one knows for sure how this policy will metamorphose into, but one thing for sure is that in its current form, it fulfills a very important need that negates the possibility of losing one’s job or bankruptcy in particular.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/the-wages-of-the-workout-generation-4694595.html

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