Wisconsin fitness center bonds.
$250 flat.
Wisconsin lets a fitness center collect more than $100 up front for memberships only if it posts a $25,000 surety bond with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). Ours is $250 flat, set by our carrier's rate book for this bond — the price you see is the checkout price, and it protects members' prepaid dues if the club closes.
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How much does a Wisconsin fitness center bond cost?
$250 at the $25,000 amount, the same for every applicant.
Three steps. One sitting.
The fitness center bond is a fixed-amount license bond — about the simplest thing in surety:
Apply online
Business details and an effective date. That is the application. No credit check.
Pay & e-sign
Fixed-amount license bonds like this are among the thousands of bond types that issue right after purchase.
File with DATCP
Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with DATCP so you can start selling prepaid memberships. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What it is and who needs it.
What the bond actually covers
Wisconsin's fitness center law (Wis. Stat. § 100.177) protects consumers who prepay for gym memberships. As a baseline, a center may not collect more than $100 in advance from a buyer before the buyer can use the facilities — unless it files a $25,000 surety bond with DATCP.
The bond is a consumer-protection guarantee. If the center closes, breaches the contract, or fails to provide the facilities and services it promised, a member can recover prepaid amounts against the bond. It's a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety, and the State of Wisconsin and your members (the protected parties).
It is not insurance for you — if the surety pays a claim, you repay the surety. Centers that deliver what they sell treat the bond as the price of admission to take prepayment, not a risk.
You need this bond if you are
Claims, renewal, filing, and what sets the price.
If a claim is made
A claim comes from the party the bond protects, the obligee named on the form, when the duty the bond guarantees is not met.
The surety investigates and pays a valid claim, up to the $25,000 bond amount. You then repay the surety: a surety bond is a guarantee of your performance, not insurance for you.
Renewal and term
The premium covers a one-year term from the effective date you choose; a longer term is the same price per year, chosen at checkout.
Renew before the expiry date to keep the bond in force: the license, permit or contract it backs expects continuous coverage.
How to file it
File with DATCP. Your executed bond arrives by email, ready to file with DATCP so you can start selling prepaid memberships. Wet-ink original mailed on request.
What sets the price
The premium is fixed at $250 at the $25,000 amount for every applicant: the carrier’s rate book prices this bond by the form, not by your credit or your business profile.
No credit check.
One application, issued instantly.
These are the actual issuing fields. No credit check.
Start the application →Common questions.
Other Wisconsin bonds.
Been told you need a different amount?
Price and requirements checked on the carrier’s application, . Page updated .
Start selling prepaid memberships today.
$250 flat, no credit check, bond often issued in the same sitting. Free until issued.