garage dojo

[MartialArthur]

Is there any personal exposure if someone gets hurt? If something bad happens could you lose your house? I don't think a homeowner's policy would cover it.

[AngelaG]

People should be covered by their own personal insurance, rather than insuring the place.

[MartialArthur]

People should be covered by their own personal insurance, rather than insuring the place.

Ideally, yes. Unfortunately it doesn't always work that way. If a student's personal health insurance has to dole out thousands of $$ for a back injury, they will look for someone else to sue to recover their money.

I would not be so worried about the student suing me, hopefully he likes and respects me. Unfortunately his insurance company (and their lawyers) could care less about me.

[Fairfax_Uechi]

Is there any personal exposure if someone gets hurt? If something bad happens could you lose your house? I don't think a homeowner's policy would cover it.

Like everything else in life, the answer is it depends. And that's a great point. You can never assume what you're insurance covers. In the case of someone training folks out of his/her home, you need to contact your insurance agent. Many companies offer what is called an Umbrella policy that you can add to your home owners or renters insurance. Your agent can get the policy to give you the coverage you need.

FYI, I"m not an agent, and won't even go into the details, or try to claim to be an expert, but I've done this for another business, and it's fairly common.

[AngelaG]

People should be covered by their own personal insurance, rather than insuring the place.

Ideally, yes. Unfortunately it doesn't always work that way. If a student's personal health insurance has to dole out thousands of $$ for a back injury, they will look for someone else to sue to recover their money.

I would not be so worried about the student suing me, hopefully he likes and respects me. Unfortunately his insurance company (and their lawyers) could care less about me.

But most insurance has a personal part and a peer to peer part!

[solar_kid]

If you do run a dojo in your garage/house, I would definitely encourage you to make sure you have liability coverage, and make sure that it does not exclude a commercial use. Sometimes, insurance makes a distinction.

[Red J]

Is there any personal exposure if someone gets hurt? If something bad happens could you lose your house? I don't think a homeowner's policy would cover it.

Most home policies would not cover you if they could prove that this was a result of a commercial endeavor. If you and a few buddies are training, then that's a different situation, but if you are running a school out of your house then you better look into an umbrella policy or commercial rider.

[BLOWN]

My current JKD instructor trains us our of his garage. Has matts covering all of the floor. Punching bags, speed bags, bo staffs, sparring gear, etc... He has it all. He used to have his own school outin Texas but prefers to stay away from the politics and advertising stuff. He's not in it for money. He's in it to pass his teachings. And also prefers to work very closely with a handful of people (he only trains 8 of us right now) as opposed to 30 people and not pay attention to detail.

-Ray

[SigungWhite]

I have a Home Dojo, My Barn is convert with artificial floors, mats, total gym, kicking bags etc

I have everyone who trains here to sign a waiver. It is just that simple, besides, I only charge for promotion fees and other club activies that we all attend.

Sigung White

Note: I too had a commeriical school at one time as well.

[MartialArthur]

SigungWhite, please make sure you understand that a waiver does not release you from responsibility. They don't hold up in court.

You should check with your insurance company to make sure you are not taking a risk that you didn't intend to.

..