Are YOU insured??? (11 posts)

Topic tags: hooping, instruction, insurance, liability, teaching
  • Profile picture of Rayna McInturf Rayna McInturf said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Hello Fabulous Hoop Teachers!

    This topic always comes up in teacher trainings that I lead, and it’s an important one, so I thought I’d pose it to all of you and see where you’re at with it!

    Whether you are teaching in a park, a gym, a dance studio, yoga center, etc. – do you have a personal liability policy?? If not, does the place of business you are teaching have a liability policy that covers you and your students?? Have you been thinking about getting a policy but just aren’t sure where to start? Let’s hear it teachers….and we’ll go from there!

    :) Rayna

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  • Profile picture of Jo Mondy Jo Mondy said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Absolutely! I am covered and all my teachers are too.

    For one, I think it’s just too risky not to get insured. Even if you’re the best or most careful teacher in the world, accidents can happen.

    In the UK, if you join the performers union, Equity, you’re covered for public liability insurance too.

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  • Profile picture of Lara Eastburn Lara Eastburn said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    In the U.S., if teaching in gyms or the YMCA, you are required to get an aerobics certification. Basically, this means that you are educated to be able to discern when someone is exerting themselves passed their capability or using bad form. Not a bad idea in general.

    But the topic is insurance. Personally, as small as hooping is, I don’t see the point. Yoga teachers don’t insure themselves… the yoga studio insures itself AND its teachers. So, if you have you’re own hooping studio, by all means and absolutely, insure yourself. Doh.

    But otherwise, they’re not paying you enough to insure yourself. And don’t settle for anything else. If you’re teaching a couple hours here and there at “their” studio … they should carry the insurance. If they don’t, or won’t … simply don’t teach there.

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  • Profile picture of Jenny Flores Jenny Flores said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Do you think I should have insurance if I just sell hoops, but don’t teach?

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  • Profile picture of Jo Mondy Jo Mondy said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Hmm, that’s interesting Lara. I think it’s a bit different over here and in Australia (thoughts uk and aussie hoopers?). A lot of places just won’t employ you unless you hold public liability insurance (covering yourself for accidents that could happen to the venue, yourself and your students).

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  • Profile picture of HoopFlair HoopFlair said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Many studios purchase insurance policies to cover the space, staff, and teachers. However, community rec centers do not. I have purchased one policy (through Philadelphia Insurance) and listed the county as well as one of the studios for which I teach as “additional insured” at no extra cost.

    It is, I believe, prudent to purchase a personal liability policy no matter where you teach. You need to be covered in the event of a lawsuit, however unlikely.

    Of course, to help prevent litigation, it is important to familiarize yourself with contraindications that might lead to injury with any of your students, as Lara had suggested. Definitely get a CPR certification, and perhaps an aerobics certification (not required in my state, MD), or take courses in kinesiology, personal fitness, or athletic training.

    The more you know about injury prevention, the better off you will be, with or without liability insurance.

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  • Profile picture of Lara Eastburn Lara Eastburn said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Wise words, Hoop Flair.

    If hooping is a side job for you … educate yourself.

    If hooping -teaching or performance – is your bread and butter, insure yourself.

    Love, Lara

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  • Profile picture of joanw joanw said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    I think it’s wise to have your own insurance if you’re not associated with any fitness facility. In New Jersey most clubs cover you unless they pay you as an outside contractor, then it’s your responsibility to pay all of the federal and state deductions and have your own insurance.

    Most facilities will require proof of insurance if they’re paying you as an outside contractor.

    There’s a lot of liability involved if you’re teaching seniors or kids so I think instructors (anyone who is charging a fee) should consider getting their own insurance if they’re not associated with a fitness facility.

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  • Profile picture of Rayna McInturf Rayna McInturf said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    All good stuff here hoopers – thanks everyone for chiming in and offering your different perspectives. As hooping continues to grow, I am sure this conversation will grow along with it!

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  • Profile picture of Levi Webb Levi Webb said 7 months, 2 weeks ago:

    I am working on becoming insured, however, though I can find insurance for dance instructors, they always cover particular types of dance, none of which are hoopdance. If you are insured where do you purchase your insurance from?

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  • Profile picture of HoopsieDaisy HoopsieDaisy said 7 months, 2 weeks ago:

    I have been insured through http://www.trainerinsurance.com since I started teaching a few years ago. If you find another company that you like but they don’t specifically list hoopdance, you can always ask them to add it (or ask them if there’s another category they think you should use that will cover hoopdance).

    It’s a good idea to have your own insurance because even if you work at a studio or gym that covers all of their instructors, what if you have the opportunity to teach elsewhere? Or what if you want to teach at an event that is not affiliated with the gym/studio like a festival, street fair, etc.?

    The gym/YMCA issue must vary by state or regionally because some of the ones in California do not require hoopers to have aerobics certification (probably because they consider hooping so new that they don’t know how to classify it, along the same lines as Captain Awesome’s issue of finding dance instructor insurance that specifies hoopdance). Even if your facility doesn’t require certification in aerobics, it’s to your benefit to recognize if your students have overexerted themselves. And as HoopFlair mentioned, CPR training is a good idea as well. My teaching bag contains a first aid kit too – just in case.

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