Spinning and Indoor Cycling Instructor Insurance

Yes, this is one of the main reasons you need spinning insurance. If a student is injured during a training session, you could end up paying for their medical bills, or legal bills if they sue.

Business insurance policies that cover bodily injuries include:

• General liability insurance provides financial protection against accidental injuries, such as a student who tumbles off their bike or slips and falls in the locker room.
• Professional liability insurance helps pay for legal defense costs related to professional negligence, such as a student who is taught poor form and suffers a related injury.

To fully protect your business, our insurance agents recommend carrying both types of coverage.

Yes, spin instructors who are self-employed take on the same risks as other businesses and should carry the same protection, even when it's not required. In fact, a lawsuit can be even more devastating when you have fewer resources to fight it.

Sole proprietors, independent contractors, and limited liability companies (LLCs) should invest in general liability and professional liability coverage to protect against legal defense costs in the event of an injury. You might also need to show proof of liability insurance to teach in a gym or fitness center.

Fitness centers often carry insurance that covers their own employees, but not independent instructors. It may be possible to get yourself listed as an additional insured on their policy.

You should also consider handing out liability waivers to students to help mitigate your risks. This will limit your liability to some extent, but not in cases of gross negligence, such as failing to fix a broken exercise bike or bullying a student to push through their pain.

Online cycling classes offer their own risks, especially since it's difficult to see if your students have good form and safe equipment. That's why it's important to have the right insurance and best practices.

Depending on where you work, your insurance company or your state might require extra steps from you. Some of these include:

• Providing liability waivers for in-person classes, online classes, or both, before students can take part in your lessons.
• Including disclaimers at the beginning of your pre-recorded videos or within social media and YouTube descriptions.
• Enforcing webcams during live sessions to adequately assess and guide your students' form.

When reviewing your coverage, it's best to customize your spin instructor liability insurance to include any modalities you need, such as livestreaming, pre-recorded online content, or in-person classes. A licensed insurance agent can help make sure you get the right insurance plan for your needs.

For a comprehensive risk management strategy, you may want to consider additional types of coverage. From indoor cycling to aerobics and martial arts, fitness professionals and wellness centers often carry the following policies:

• Commercial property insurance covers your studio and everything in it, from your exercise bikes to your computers and furniture. It provides financial protection against fires, storms, and burglaries. If you don't have a studio, then you can add business personal property (BPP) coverage to your general liability policy instead.
• Equipment breakdown insurance provides coverage in case an air conditioning system or other piece of equipment that your business depends on breaks down unexpectedly.
• Business income insurance, also called business interruption coverage, pays for financial losses if your spin studio is forced to close temporarily due to a fire or other covered property claim.
• Product liability insurance is usually included in general liability insurance coverage. It covers harm caused by a defective product, such as a stationary bike that falls apart when a student sits on it.