Gym memberships: breaking a sweat or having regrets?

It’s very unlikely that a member could do much if they felt that their gym was too full. The main problem is how you define ‘too full’.

Is it...

• the overall number of members
• the number of members in the gym at any one time
• a waiting time of over X minutes to use a machine
• or which machines are available. It’s fair to say that you will usually find a machine available but it might not be the one you want.

There may however be other ways of ending a gym membership if your contract isn’t ‘rolling’ where you can give one month’s notice.

Generally in fixed or longer term gym contracts, there has to be a valid reason why you want to cancel your gym membership, for example, due to moving away from the area, injury, pregnancy or redundancy. However some gyms will have clauses dealing with these situations that allow you to freeze your membership or move the contract to another gym rather than end it all together. It’s important to check these clauses before signing up.

Other potential issues that may justify cancellation could be if the membership fees rise considerably, or if the gym has downgraded or closed off some of its facilities, which may be considered a ‘fundamental change’.¹

Whilst gyms have been a lot fairer to members over recent years, some members do encounter problems. So it’s always best to be clear about your contractual rights before signing anything to avoid any surprises further down the line. In addition, reading online reviews can help to get a sense for what the gym is like and whether there are any issues with it being too busy.

If a policyholder has reasonable prospects of success in a potential claim against their gym whether arising out of contractual problems or injury sustained on the premises this may well be covered under their Before the Event (BTE) policy.

A gym could be for life or maybe just for Christmas but either way before entering into a legal agreement a policyholder should consider the options open to them.