Businesses are susceptible to many risks, such as claims due to bodily injury, property damage, personal injury, and more. Visitors walking into the center could slip and fall, a teacher or employee could cause damage to a student’s property, or a lawsuit could be filed against the studio.

General liability insurance is an absolute necessity for any business. It provides broad coverage when you are deemed responsible and liable and will also pay to defend any covered lawsuit or action regardless of its merit.

Fire, weather, burst pipes, and other losses are potential risks, especially given the amount of physical space required to operate. These losses can cause significant damage to the studio’s business personal property.

Business personal property coverage allows the studio to replace the property that has been damaged or destroyed by a covered loss. For a dance studio, this may include property like equipment, chairs, tables, props, stereo systems, TVs, and video cameras.

When working with children or youth, there is always a risk that staff/owners could be accused of physical, sexual, or mental abuse.

If an employee or owner is accused of abuse, you need abuse/molestation coverage to protect your studio from the possibility of significant financial loss. Even unfounded lawsuits are costly to defend.

Everyone knows that children can be accident-prone. They often trip and fall, collide with one another, or even knock out a tooth or break a bone, so it is important to obtain a student accident policy. This risk increases when participating in physical activities such as dance and acrobatics.

A student accident policy can cover children’s medical bills if they are injured at the studio or on a sponsored field trip or activity. There are two options. Full excess reimburses secondary to the child’s health insurance plan and primary reimburses on a primary basis, regardless of the child’s current health insurance plan.

All dance studios and schools are at risk for professional liability claims to be brought against them for negligence.

Professional liability protects your teachers and studio employees. If your staff is sued due to negligence in relation to a child’s safety or for making an error in judgment, your center can also be sued.

If one of your employees receives an injury or becomes ill due to a work-related occurrence, you are required by law to have the proper coverage in place. This can be even more of a risk when spotting children, moving equipment, or demonstrating a movement.

State disability and workers' compensation protects your employees should a job-related injury or sickness occur during the course of employment. This coverage is required by law, so be sure that you have it.

If you or your staff drive their own vehicle on business time or you rent vehicles in the business name to travel to meetings, conferences, competitions, or elsewhere, you face additional exposure and risk.

Hired and non-owned auto liability protects your staff if they are driving their own vehicle to run errands. Your studio can be held liable for injuries or property damage if a driver is involved in an accident. The hired liability portion covers rented vehicles when listed in the business name for travel use.

On average, it's estimated that three out of five businesses will be sued by their employees. Companies are vulnerable during the pre-hire process, throughout employment, and during a reduction in workforce. Claims can also be made by clients or potential clients and can arise in any size operation. You can do everything right and still be sued.

Coverage to protect you against this risk normally comes as a standalone policy. The right coverage is critical to your risk management process as it protects against discrimination, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and other employment-related allegations. Typically, the policy will cover your business as well as your directors and officers. Third-party coverage is an added option, usually accomplished via a policy endorsement, and addresses claims made by customers or vendors against you from acts committed by employees.

The internet has spun a whole new web of liability exposures. E-commerce, social networking, cloud storage, and other technologies bring great benefits to all businesses. But with these benefits also come challenges, including protection of privacy, data, and financial information of your employees and students.

Cyber liability coverage covers unauthorized access to electronic data or software within your network. It also provides coverage for spreading a virus, computer theft, extortion, or any unintentional act, mistake, error, or omission made by an employee. This coverage is quickly becoming more and more important as you embrace technology to help run your dance studio.

What happens when your studio faces a large liability loss that exceeds the basic limit of your standard policy?

A commercial umbrella policy provides high limits of insurance, typically between $2,000,000 and $10,000,000. Coverage is extended over your general liability insurance, workers' compensation, business auto, as well as your directors and officers liability coverage. It provides a great safety net and helps ensure your business is well protected.