Martial Arts Insurance Guide

Do you run a martial arts facility, teach martial arts, or are you organizing a martial arts event? One thing you are going to need to protect your business or organization is insurance for martial arts.

This post is your in-depth guide to the different type of martial arts insurance, as well as factors that can affect the pricing for these policies. Let’s start out by explaining exactly who needs martial arts insurance, and why it is so critical.

Who Needs Martial Arts Insurance Coverage?

Anyone who is involved with running a martial arts school, karate program, facility or tournament needs to get insurance, including, but not limited to:

• Dojos
• Studios
• Gyms
• School teams
• Individual instructors
• Tournaments

You also need martial arts insurance regardless of what type of martial arts is practiced in connection with your business, organization or event. Examples include, but again are not limited to:

• Mixed martial arts (MMA)
• Karate
• Aikido
• Kung fu
• Brazilian jiu-jitsu
• Taekwondo
• Capoeira
• … and more

You should even get martial arts insurance if you are teaching a “slow” martial art, like tai chi, and your students are not actively fighting. Injuries are still possible, after all.

Why Does Your Martial Arts Facility Need Insurance?

All businesses require insurance. But martial arts, frankly, are risky to participate in, or even sometimes to be near. Here are some things that could go wrong while running your business or event:

• Imagine you teach children martial arts, and one kid seriously injures another during training. The parent sues you for the cost of their treatment.

• A participant trips at the edge of the mat, stumbles into a staff member, and injures the staff member.

• En route to a tournament with students and equipment, your vehicle is struck by another.

• One of your coaches at your martial arts school is accused of sexual harassment by a student.

In scenarios like these, your insurance can help you pay medical and legal costs that you would otherwise be stuck paying out of pocket.

Do not assume you can skip insurance and get away with just having everyone sign a waiver! They can rarely be legally enforced (and definitely not, if children are involved).

Plus, sometimes insurance might be a requirement. For example, you may only be allowed to participate in certain tournaments if your school is carrying the required minimum insurance.

And in some cases, martial arts insurance might be legally mandated as well. If you have employees, for instance, you have to get workers’ compensation insurance for them to satisfy the law.

Types of Martial Arts Insurance You Need

Let’s go over some important types of martial arts insurance.

• General liability insurance: Liability insurance for martial arts instructors and other types of martial arts businesses and organizations is a must. It is a type of policy that pays out if you injure a third party or do damage to the property of a third party.

• Accident insurance: Although general liability insurance does cover the cost of accidents, it is wise to also purchase a type of excess coverage called accident insurance. If there are medical costs in excess of what liability insurance will cover, then you can turn to your accident insurance policy.

• Participants medical insurance: Use this type of policy to specifically insure students and staff (as opposed to third parties not directly involved in your organization).

• Workers’ compensation insurance: Do you have any employees? If so, the law requires you to pay for workers’ comp. If your employees get sick or injured on the job, workers’ comp will cover their lost wages and medical bills.

• Commercial property insurance: If you want to cover your own commercial property, you need to get this type of insurance. Remember, liability insurance is coverage for other peoples’ property, not yours.

• Commercial auto insurance: If you drive a vehicle for your organization, you need to cover it with commercial auto insurance. Your personal auto insurance policy will not suffice.

What Does Insurance For Martial Arts Programs Cost?

The price range for martial arts insurance can vary. But to give you an idea, a typical range for general liability insurance for martial arts would be anywhere from around $60 to $80 per month.

Here are some of the factors that can impact the cost of insurance for martial arts schools, instructors and events.

• Which policies you buy: You will need to decide how many policies, and which types, to get for your business or organization. An organization that purchases just liability insurance and nothing else will have a lower cost than one that purchases all of the types of insurance in our list. But the organization that is willing to spend more to put together a full package of policies will also be better protected.

• Coverage amounts: Every insurance policy has a maximum amount it will pay out per occurrence, and collectively for all claims in a year. Raising this amount can raise your insurance premiums, but it can also mean paying less out of pocket if you do need to make a claim at some point.

• Deductibles: Your deductible on a policy is how much you must pay out of pocket before your insurance policy will start covering costs. You can pay lower premiums by choosing higher deductible amounts. The downside, of course, is that if you need to make a claim, you will have to pay more before your coverage begins to pick up the costs.

• What type of organization the insurance is for: You might be insuring a school, or you could be insuring a gym, or perhaps an event. Maybe you are just insuring a business for coaching, and you do not have a single dedicated practice space. Regardless, there are different levels of risk associated with each of these. As a result, how your organization is classified will have an impact on how much you have to pay to insure it.

• The size of the organization: Larger organizations cost more to cover since there are more people involved. A martial arts studio that needs to cover 300 students and staff will need to pay more than one that has about 30 students at a time and no employees.

• Which martial art(s) are practiced: All other things being equal, karate insurance, MMA insurance, judo insurance, and other types of martial arts insurance may all carry different costs, because each martial art carries different risks.

• Travel: Some martial arts teachers and organizers may not need to do any sort of travel. But others might routinely need to transport their students and equipment to other cities or even other states to participate in tournaments. When travel is a regular part of your business, there are additional risks, which may drive up the costs of your martial arts insurance.

• Discounts: Some martial arts businesses might be able to qualify for discounted insurance rates based on things like installing security systems, or going long time periods without making claims.

• Underwriting: The underwriting process for each of the insurance carriers you request quotes from will vary, which means that their quotes also will differ. Some will be higher and others lower, even if the coverage amounts and deductibles are comparable.

Your goal when shopping for martial arts insurance is to find the best value. Chances are good it will neither be the cheapest nor the most expensive option. If you are just starting out and cannot afford much now, you might want to start with the most basic plans and upgrade later.

When you are shopping for martial arts insurance, we recommend that you work with a company that has extensive specialized experience with these types of policies. Our top recommended provider is eSportsInsurance.

This company focuses entirely on sports insurance, including for martial arts. Here is what they are offering in terms of martial arts coverage:

• Liability coverage up to $1,000,000 with zero deductible
• Accident medical insurance
• Participants medical insurance
• Maximum excess medical expense benefit
• Full-contact martial arts and MMA insurance

You can also purchase these optional add-ons to your policies:

• Independent contractors insurance
• Sexual abuse and molestation coverage
• Spectator med pay benefit
• Equipment coverage
• Day camp coverage

A lot of these policies and add-ons simply are not available through carriers that do not specialize in martial arts and MMA insurance. So, it is a big deal to be able to get them here, and with such reasonable pricing and excellent customer service.

Get Insurance for Your Martial Arts Business Now

If you are ready to protect your business, organization or event with martial arts insurance, click the link below to request your custom quote from eSportsInsurance. Once you are covered, you will have the peace of mind that lets you focus fully on martial arts.