What could possibly go wrong with your perfect yoga retreat?

Insurance matters when it comes to organising yoga retreats. Expert advice from BGi.uk

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Arranging retreats can be very rewarding — but you do need to know what you are doing. In your endeavours to be helpful, to provide the perfect retreat, you can, quite unwittingly, become personally responsible for so many things. When the ‘package holiday’ became popular in the UK, the government identified that many holidaymakers were being left stranded in foreign places or received no help when they faced injury or illness. Airlines went bust, coach companies involved in serious accidents were found to be uninsured, and swimming pools were unsafe. The list goes on and on.

So what does this mean?

If, when arranging a retreat, you include a number of services (whether provided by you or by third parties), you are responsible for anything that goes wrong. Those services could, for example, include meals and accommodation, classes, shows and other activities/events, sightseeing, and travel. In being helpful to your clients, you have become a ‘Tour Operator’ and are subject to all the rules and regulations.

What can you do about it?

It is all but impossible to avoid or evade the responsibilities that fall on anyone arranging a ‘package holiday’. The regulations apply across the globe and will apply to your retreat – whether it is in Calais or Kaza. The only practical (and affordable) solution for those organising retreats is insurance. There are some good deals available – but look out for those that include Emergency Assistance and Crisis Support alongside the usual public and professional liability insurance. Being able to call on professional help if anything goes belly up can prevent something that has gone wrong from becoming a disaster.

The following are some areas where you could be held accountable and legally responsible:
• Death, injury, or damage to the health or wellbeing of customers – for any reason.
• Loss, destruction of, or damage to customers’ property – by anybody.
• Loss of customer enjoyment for any reason, such as changes to travel arrangements
• Financial consequences of providing emergency support or assistance