Club Member Injured Through Advice of Insured

December 7, 2015

A fitness products company has an online membership program. The customers pay a monthly fee and receive advice regarding their fitness routines which include using the company's products including DVDs, ingestible supplements and exercise equipment. The general liability policy is written on an ISO form with no professional services exclusion. Would a bodily injury claim be covered, subject to the standard conditions, exclusions etc., if the allegations of injury included advice provided to the customer as a member of the club?

Illinois Subscriber

Yes, bodily injury claims could be covered since a case can be made that the insured's products as defined caused the injury. The definition of “your product” includes warranties or representations made with respect to fitness, quality, performance or use of the products and the providing of or failure to provide warnings or instructions. So, if the advice given by the insured misleads the customer resulting in an injury, the customer can rightly claim that the product caused the injury. There is no exclusion that would apply in this instance.