Tom and his wife opened a strength and conditioning studio in Issaquah four years ago. They have about two hundred members, run small-group classes, and employ five coaches, three of them part time. Every member signs a waiver on day one.
Tom's view of risk was straightforward: members sign waivers, and the studio has liability insurance. He reached out because a new commercial landlord asked for higher limits.
What he asked for
Higher general liability limits to meet the new lease, which required $2 million per occurrence.
What the review found
The policy excluded the most likely claim. His general liability came from a generic small business program. It covered slip and fall accidents in the lobby, but it carried an exclusion for injuries to participants in athletic activities. For a gym, that is nearly every injury that matters.
Coaching was not covered as a professional service. When a member is hurt during a workout, the claim usually alleges the coach programmed it wrong, pushed too hard, or failed to correct form. That is a professional liability claim. Tom's policy had no coverage for instruction.
Waivers help but do not decide. Washington courts generally enforce well-drafted waivers for ordinary negligence, but not for gross negligence, and a waiver does nothing to pay the lawyers who argue about it. Defense costs alone can be substantial.
Five coaches and no EPLI. Coaches came and went, some were paid per class, and one former coach had complained about how hours were split. None of that is covered by general liability.
What we put in place
We moved the studio to a carrier that specializes in fitness facilities. The new general liability has no participant exclusion, carries the $2 million limit the landlord required, and names the landlord as an additional insured.
The same program includes fitness instructor professional liability covering every coach on staff, employed or contracted, for claims arising from instruction and programming. Contracted coaches who teach elsewhere still carry their own policies too, and we built that requirement into their agreements.
We added employment practices liability with wage and hour defense coverage, since pay disputes with part-time coaches are the most likely employment claim a studio sees.
We also reviewed the waiver. It is not our document to write, but we flagged two things the carrier's risk team recommends, and Tom took it to his attorney.
Why it mattered
The following winter, a member tore a shoulder during a heavy overhead lift and later alleged the coach had loaded the bar too aggressively for her experience level. The claim went to the fitness carrier, which defended both the studio and the coach. Under the old policy's participant exclusion, it would have been Tom's to defend alone.
If you run a gym or studio
- Read your policy for an athletic participant exclusion
- Make sure instruction and programming are covered as professional services
- Require contracted trainers to carry their own coverage and name you on it
- Treat waivers as one layer of protection, not the whole plan
A free policy review will tell you in one call whether your members' most likely injuries are covered.