What a martial arts school or boxing gym usually needs
- General liability with participant coverage. Responds when your business is legally responsible for a student’s or visitor’s injury, and pays for your legal defense. How the policy treats injuries to participants, and to participants of contact activities in particular, is the most important question to ask.
- Professional liability for instructors. Covers claims that an instructor’s teaching caused an injury. Some policies include it, some exclude it, and some offer it as an option.
- Commercial property and business income. Mats, bags, rings, mirrors and build-out, and income lost while a covered loss keeps you closed.
- Abuse and molestation coverage. A priority if you teach children. It is often excluded from general liability or limited, so ask about it directly.
- Workers’ compensation. Required outside construction once you have four or more employees, counting officers and LLC members. See our workers’ compensation guide.
- Participant accident medical. An optional coverage that helps pay medical bills for students hurt in class, regardless of fault.
- Event and tournament coverage. For competitions you host, or events your students attend.
- Hired and non-owned auto, and umbrella. For staff driving to events, and for higher limits when a lease or a serious claim calls for them.
Contact changes everything
The first thing an underwriter will ask is whether your students make contact. The answer sorts schools into very different risks:
- No contact. Forms, drills, bag work and fitness-style classes where nobody is struck. This is the easiest kind of school to insure.
- Controlled or light contact. Pad work and supervised partner drills with protective equipment and rules.
- Full contact. Hard sparring, competition fighting, boxing with contact and mixed martial arts. Some insurers decline these activities, exclude them, limit them to certain students or ages, or want extra information first.
The answer needs to be exact, because an activity your policy excludes is an activity with no coverage when someone is hurt. Tell us what really happens in your classes, including the advanced and competition classes. If one of your activities cannot be covered, we will say so plainly and look at other options.
Tournaments, belt tests, seminars and camps
Hosting or sending students to events usually has to be reported to the insurer, and some events need separate approval or a separate policy. That includes tournaments, belt testing days, seminars with guest instructors, summer camps and demonstrations. Tell us what your calendar looks like for the year so nothing surprises you in the middle of it.
Instructors: employees, contractors and teens
- Employees and independent contractors are treated differently. A policy may cover employees but not contractors unless they are added, or may require contractors to carry their own coverage. Tell us how your instructors are paid.
- Classification. Calling an instructor an independent contractor does not make them one. If they are really employees, workers’ compensation may be required. An attorney can help you classify.
- Instructors under 18. Some insurers exclude them from instructor coverage. Mention it if you have junior assistants.
Memberships and the health studio bond
If your school sells memberships or contracts for future services, Florida’s health studio law may apply to you. Section 501.016 of the Florida Statutes requires a health studio that sells such contracts to put up security, usually a surety bond of $25,000 for each location, with exemptions for some studios that collect payment monthly and for some long-established studios. Whether your school counts as a health studio depends on how you sell, so ask your attorney, and tell us if you sell prepaid or long-term memberships. See our gym and studio page for more.
If you teach children
Kids’ classes are a large part of many schools. Ask about abuse and molestation coverage, ask what screening, supervision and policies your insurer expects, and keep records of what you do. We can help you ask the right questions, though we are not a substitute for legal advice on screening or supervision requirements.
What to have ready
- The styles you teach and whether students spar, with what kind of contact and protective gear.
- Number of students at your busiest, annual revenue, and years in business.
- Instructors: how many are employees, how many are contractors, and whether any are under 18.
- Whether you teach children, and the programs involved.
- Events: tournaments, testing days, seminars and camps that you host or attend.
- Your lease’s insurance requirements, current policies and expiration dates, and claims history.
You do not need everything to start. Tell us about your school and we will ask for the rest.
Last reviewed October 13, 2026. This page is general information. It is not legal advice and it is not an offer of coverage.