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When Do I Report a Claim or Incident? 

Fitness professionals face significant risks in their careers, particularly related to malpractice claims that can affect their finances, reputation and mental health.

Fitness professionals face significant risks in their careers, particularly related to malpractice claims that can affect their finances, reputation and mental health. Even with careful instruction and strong client relationships, injuries and allegations can arise. 

Timely reporting of any incident, big or small, is crucial, as it allows your insurer to assess the situation and potentially prevent costly litigation.

Read on to learn how you can report incidents accurately, and how doing so protects yourself and your business. 

When Do I Report a Claim or Incident?

In the daily routine of working as a fitness professional, you make every effort to provide careful, accurate instruction. You modify your approach appropriately for each client and work hard to help them see results. Yet, despite all your best efforts and determination to provide excellent service, sometimes unfortunate things happen. A client can be injured and claim your training is the cause of the injury or make an allegation of your misconduct.

How you handle these types of incidents can have a big impact on its outcome. Never underestimate the severity of an incident — even minor incidents can turn into claims down the road. If an incident is reported in a timely manner, the insurance company can step in to assess the damages and help avoid litigation, drastically reducing the cost of the claim.

In general, if any sort of incident occurs, it can be beneficial to report the incident to your insurance company. When appropriate, an incident can be reported as a “Report Only”. This enables you to fulfill your duty to report a potential claim to the insurance company, even if the injured person does not pursue the incident. 

Important Steps if an Incident Occurs

Here are steps you should take if you are made aware of an injury or incident that could potentially lead to a claim:

1. Provide immediate medical help

Administer first aid to someone who is injured or call 911 if necessary. Even if an injured person feels fine, encourage them to seek medical treatment to ensure there isn’t an injury that may cause future medical problems.

2. Don’t admit guilt or liability

Do not admit wrongdoing or declare responsibility for an injury or accusation. Do not make any commitments to the injured party, such as paying medical bills or other expenses. You can simply say that you’ll contact your insurance company, but details of your insurance coverage should not be discussed with the injured party or anyone else.

3. Get the facts

Document the circumstances of the incident. Do so immediately to help ensure accurate reporting of what happened. Delay in recording the facts can lead to uncertainty when trying to recall details at a later time. Write down as much detail about the incident that you know. If any witnesses were present, ask them to make a report of their viewpoint of the incident. These reports should be copied and given to your insurance provider.

4. Contact your insurance agent or administrator

Once you have all the documentation ready, share the details with your insurance company. Timely notification of an incident helps to facilitate prompt claim reporting, saving time and money.

5. Retain copies of incident documents

Keep copies of all documents and record all conversations (even if just on paper) related to the incident according to your state’s statute of limitation for claim reporting. Do not give copies of any documentation to any party other than your insurance provider — this includes the injured party or their representatives. Likewise, do not discuss a claim with anyone other than your insurance agent or the insurance company.

Preparing for an Incident

Following a strict code of conduct and exercising precision in your training and instruction will go a long way in protecting you from unforeseen incidents. But if an incident does occur, knowing how to handle it will be to your advantage.

Always report incidents big and small to your insurance provider, with plenty of details and contact information of involved parties. 

It’s also a sound business practice to purchase a Professional Liability insurance policy to help offset the financial risks should an incident turn into a claim filed against you.

IDEA® has partnered with Lockton Affinity to provide access to comprehensive liability insurance coverage for small business owners and fitness professionals at an affordable price.

Protect against the career risks you face as a fitness professional today! 

The IDEA Health & Fitness Association Insurance program is administered by Lockton Affinity, LLC d/b/a Lockton Affinity Insurance Brokers LLC in California #0795478. Coverage is subject to actual policy terms and conditions. Policy benefits are the sole responsibility of the issuing insurance company. IDEA Health & Fitness Association will receive a royalty fee for the licensing of its name and trademarks as part of the insurance program offered to the extent permitted by applicable law.

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