What kinds of insurance do personal trainers need?

Personal trainers’ insurance needs are pretty simple. Whether you deliver sessions in people’s homes, parks, beaches, in a gym, or a studio, you want:

• Professional liability insurance to protect you from legal claims made as a result of your training
• General liability insurance to protect you from claims you accidentally caused injury to someone or damaged their property.

Depending on the way you run your business, there’s other coverage you might want too.

If you have any employees, for example, you’ll need workers’ compensation insurance. If you take your own equipment with you to training sessions, you’ll want business personal property insurance. And if you own a website, use email, or transfer money online, cyber insurance is a must.

We’ll cover those policies later in this post. First, let’s talk about the essential personal trainer insurance policies and why you need them.

Professional liability insurance – why personal trainers need it

Because you charge for your training service that makes you a professional. And as a professional, you can be sued if you make a mistake. In fact, you can be sued even if you haven’t done anything wrong.

Let’s say you have a client whose goal is to lose six inches from her waist. After a year of twice-weekly workouts with you, she achieves this. She’s delighted and so are you. A happy customer (or, so you think).

Until she slaps you with a claim saying you didn’t train her properly. Turns out she got her entire family to come and watch her run a marathon but never made it over the finish line. Never mind you helped her shave those inches off her waist. To cover her embarrassment, she’s blaming you.

Now, you know you delivered what she asked for. But in this sort of situation, you have to defend yourself: your reputation is on the line. And the trouble is, that’s going to cost you. You’re looking at attorney’s fees, court costs, and compensation, too, if the case doesn’t go your way.

To make matters worse, claims like these can see your stress levels soar and take up your valuable time. And if word gets out, it could even cost you a client or two.

What does personal trainers’ professional liability insurance cover?

As long as you have a valid trainer’s license or certificate, professional liability insurance covers you for claims of:

• Negligence (make a mistake, give the wrong advice, or fail to deliver what you promise)
• Bodily injury caused by your training
• Sexual misconduct and abuse
• Libel or slander.

Even if a claim is groundless, it can pay your legal costs, plus compensation, if it’s due.

But that’s not all a professional liability policy covers.

It can pay up to $25,000 towards an HIPAA fine if you accidentally lose sensitive client data (it happens). And up to $5,000 if you should ever find yourself facing disciplinary action.

What’s more, if you’ve had continuous cover previously, you can make your coverage retroactive. (That means it covers claims made by clients you’ve trained in the past, too.) When you buy your policy, just pick the date you want your cover to go back to. Simple.

General liability insurance – why do personal trainers need it?

Unfortunately, however careful you are, accidents happen. You could be training a client in his home and accidentally spill your protein shake over his laptop. Or he might trip over a piece of your equipment and need hospital treatment for his injury.

Either way, you could find yourself facing a legal claim. Which means you’ll be looking at replacement costs or medical bills, plus legal fees and compensation if the case goes to court.

Without general liability insurance, you’ll have to find the money for this yourself. And as slip and fall claims come in at around 5 or 6 figures, that’s a serious stretch.

What does personal trainers’ general liability insurance cover?

General liability insurance for personal trainers can cover:

• Claims of accidental damage caused to someone or their property (including fire damage at premises you rent)
• The cost of medical treatment, legal defense fees, and compensation if it’s due (regardless of fault)
• Claims made worldwide – as long as they’re registered in the US or a US territory.

You’ll also get up to $250 a day to help with lost earnings and extra expenses while a claim’s being settled.

OK, so those are the personal trainer insurance essentials, now what about those nice-to-haves?

Workers’ compensation insurance

If you run a solo operation, you may choose to skip this policy. (Although there are good reasons why sole proprietors might want workers’ compensation insurance anyway.) But if you have any employees, it’s a must.

Workers’ compensation is a legal requirement in most states. (It’s worth checking yours as penalties can be severe.) It’s a really useful policy to have anyways as it protects you from the cost of employee claims for injury or illness.

What does workers’ comp insurance cover?

Workers’ compensation insurance protects you from employee claims for:

• Injury or loss of limbs
• Repetitive motion injuries
• Work site accidents
• Medical treatment
• Lost wages (up to limits)
• Death and related costs.

It can also protect your business from the cost of injured employee lawsuits.

Business personal property insurance

Do you take your own fitness equipment with you to training sessions? If so, a business personal property policy (BPP) is good to have. It protects your kit (including laptops and mobiles) from loss, damage or theft.

Because, let’s face it, when you’re out and about going from one PT session to the next, things are more likely to get lost, stolen or damaged. And replacing them isn’t just expensive, it takes time. It could even cost you a few sessions too.

BPP insurance also protects your moveable equipment at home — everything from your calipers and kettlebells to your slip plates and potted plants. So whether you just keep your stuff at home or train there too, it’s an ideal policy to have. Add it to your general liability insurance in a couple of clicks.

Cyber insurance

Now because you’re a small business owner, you might think you could skip getting cyber insurance. Sadly, you’d be wrong. With less money for tough cyber defenses, you’re an easy target.

And nowadays, it’s not just a case of hackers holding your website to ransom. Email and wire transfer fraud are on the increase.

If you use email, transfer money online or own a website, you need cyber liability insurance. It doesn’t just give you the financial resources to recover from an attack, you’ll get 24/7 technical support to help deal with it. So you’re back on your feet doing business again fast.

Personal trainer insurance cost

Insurance costs vary from business to business. The price you pay is affected by things like:

• Your firm’s location
• The size of your business
• The limits you choose.

There are ways to reduce your premium. For example, you could choose a higher deductible (the amount you’ll contribute if there’s a claim). You just want to be sure you could actually afford that figure if it comes to it.

Whatever the cost, we have a package to suit your particular needs. There are payment options, too. You can spread the cost and pay monthly or quarterly, or in one lump sum. The choice is yours.

Personal training business insurance quotes

Ready to get your quote? Quote online now.

But if you’re still not sure which personal trainer insurance policies you need, there’s more information on our website. Or call us at 978.344.4215. We’ll be happy to talk you through your options.