Personal Trainer Insurance Quote
Let me guess. You LOVE training your clients. Some of them you even consider friends. You are very careful with their bodies.
Personal training can even be sexy. ????
Or is it?
It won’t be the moment your client gets injured.
It’s one of the most important aspects of your job as a personal trainer… to have personal trainer insurance. JUST in case.
You must have liability insurance for personal trainers. If a client blows out a knee in your session, you better expect that they are going to you for damages. Their body and their health, in many ways, are in your hands. And yup, you are responsible.
But first, here’s a fun snippet of the 7 types of douches you see (and maybe train) at the gym.
If you’re a personal trainer, you’d be a fool not to get personal trainer insurance.
Everybody’s sue-happy these days, and if something happens to a client under your watch, you don’t want that one mishap to spell the end of your business.
But personal trainer insurance covers more than just being sued. Personal training insurance covers a myriad of worst-case scenarios.
I’ll explain personal trainer insurance to you, along with the different types available and scenarios related to how each one can protect you and your business.
What is Personal Trainer Insurance?
Personal trainer insurance is insurance coverage you can customize to meet your personal trainer business insurance needs.
Personal trainer insurance protects you, your business, and your clients.
There are several different types of personal trainer insurances available. But I’ll get into that a little later, along with some hypotheticals to give you an idea of when having personal trainer insurance could save your super-toned butt.
Who Should Buy Personal Trainer Insurance?
So, who should buy personal trainer insurance? Well, if you’re reading this and you’re a personal trainer, the answer is, “you.”
You should have personal trainer insurance coverage if you fit any of these categories:
- You’re a personal trainer
- You’re not immortal or invincible
- You train people who are not immortal or invincible
So, it turns out that your business fits all three of those categories. Imagine that!
I know. I can hear your excuses. You’re safe. You’re healthy. You don’t make enough money to pay for the premiums. But, if you think you don’t have enough money now, wait until the lawyer and medical bills come in.
As a personal trainer, you may not have a storefront and extensive overhead. However, there are always risks involved in running any business. Being a personal trainer is no exception.
The Pros and Cons of Liability Insurance
At the very least, I suggest that you get general liability coverage. Some employers or clients may even require you to have liability coverage and ask to see proof of insurance before they’re willing to use your services.
I always like a good pros and cons list, so let’s do this.
Pros of Liability Insurance
- Covers bodily injury
- Covers property damage
- Covers personal, reputational, and advertising injury
- Covers copyright infringement
- Covers damage to property
- Covers damage to the building you rent
- Makes medical payments
- Can make you more employable
- Can save you from financial ruin.
Cons of Liability Insurance
- You have to pay an insurance premium
- Liability insurance has limitations
The Limits of Liability Insurance
Liability insurance is great, but it can still leave you standing wide open for the unexpected.
Here are some things that liability insurance doesn’t cover:
- Claims resulting from giving bad advice
- Claims resulting from doing your job incorrectly
- Paying to replace items that have depreciated in value
- Monetary losses when you have interruptions in business
- Compensation for medical bills, injuries, and lost wages if you are hurt
- Lawsuits related to your automobile
- Your employees (if you have any)
What Does Personal Trainer Insurance Cover?
Personal trainer insurance can cover as little or as much as you want. It really depends on which insurance add-ons you choose to bundle together in your policy.
Types of Personal Trainer Insurance
I’m going to explain six different types of personal trainer insurance policies for you. I’ve also included a few scenarios to help you see exactly how each of these can work in your favor (or against you).
Personal Trainer Liability Insurance
Personal trainer liability insurance covers the bare basic liabilities related to being a personal trainer.
Here are some things it covers:
- Third-party bodily injury
- Third-party property damage
- Personal, reputational, and advertising injury
- Property damage
- Medical payments
Let’s imagine you’ve been helping Brutus with his weights routine. You suggest that he try adding more weight. He can’t handle it, drops the weights through the floor, injures his back, badmouths you online, and sues you.
General liability insurance will cover his medical payments, pay to repair the floor, and allow you to sue to protect your reputation. However, it won’t cover the lawsuit related to you giving him bad advice. Now, you’re out multiple thousands of dollars related to legal fees.
Professional Liability Insurance
This is sometimes called E & O insurance. Professional liability personal trainer insurance covers you for performing your services. There are two types of professional liability claims that can be made against you:
- Negligence
- Loss of personal information
Professional liability insurance goes the next step in covering negligence related to your professional services and advice. It addresses financial loss rather than injury and damage. Sometimes, you will see professional liability insurance called errors and omissions insurance (E&O insurance).
To summarize, here is what you can expect professional liability to cover:
- Financial loss related to your professional services
- Financial loss related to your advice
Let’s try that scenario again.
You suggest that Brutus try adding more weights to his routine. He can’t handle it, drops the weights through the floor, injures his back, badmouths you online, and sues you.
Liability insurance will cover his medical payments, pay to repair the floor, and allow you to sue to protect your reputation. Since you also have professional liability insurance, it will cover the lawsuit related to you giving him bad advice. Hooray!
As you can see, these two types of insurance work together to protect you. If you choose just one, you could leave yourself wide open for financial ruin. Lawyers like to find loopholes.
Business Owner’s Policy
A business owner’s policy (BOP) bundles two popular insurance policy types: general liability insurance and commercial property insurance.
Combined, a BOP policy will cover all of these possibilities:
- Third-party bodily injury
- Third-party property damage
- Personal, reputational, and advertising injury
- Medical payments
- Any business personal property damage (commercial buildings and movable property the business owns and uses)
- Debris removal
- Loss of income
- Pollution cleanup
If you own your personal training business building, it’s a good idea to get BOP insurance as a minimum. However, you should be aware that it does not cover some extras like building earthquake insurance.
Here’s a scenario for you. You’re helping Emma with her workout routine, and a rogue car crashes into your building. Emma ends up with medical injuries.
Your BOP insurance will cover Emma’s medical injuries, building repairs, debris removal from inside and outside your building, and the income you lose during your building’s reconstruction.
If you think a car running into a gym is an impossible scenario, do a quick Google or YouTube search for “gym car crash.” Yeah. Crazy stuff.
Product Liability Insurance
Product liability insurance can help protect you if you sell a product through your business and someone claims it causes them bodily injury or damages their belongings.
If you sell supplements, shakes, power bars, or exercise equipment through your business, you should strongly consider purchasing product liability insurance.
Even though another company made the product, you are the immediate face behind the product, and they could still sue you if something happens.
To summarize, product liability insurance protects you from the following:
- Bodily injury from a product you sell
- Damages to belongings from a product you sell
You sell a protein shake mix to Anna after her personal training session. She has an allergic reaction, ends up in the emergency room, and sues you because she says you knew she had a nut allergy.
Product liability insurance will protect you in the lawsuit.
Medical Insurance
Medical insurance. Yeah, you might need that, huh? But if you’re working for yourself, you might not have access to a group health insurance policy. Thus, you should buy an individual policy.
Even if you’re healthy as a horse, you need regular medical exams, access to medicine, and access to treatment.
Some medical insurance policies to consider include:
- Major medical insurance
- Short-term health insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- Supplemental insurance
- Telehealth options
I don’t think we need to offer a scenario here. You know the value of medical insurance.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Workers’ compensation insurance can provide benefits for you or your employees if they suffer an injury or illness related to work. Some states even require workers’ comp.
Here are some things that workers’ comp can cover:
- Missed paychecks during recovery time
- Medical expenses related to the injury or illness
- Vocational rehabilitation for ongoing care
- Death benefits and funeral costs in case of a work-related death
An on-the-job injury can be devastating to someone like you who relies on their body for their job.
Sure, you can still help train someone with a broken hand or even from a wheelchair. But, what if your injury puts you in the hospital or requires ongoing physical therapy? What if your employee suffers a heart attack and dies on the job?
Sure, these are worst-case scenarios, but that’s why we buy insurance.
What Does Personal Trainer Insurance Not Include?
Personal trainer insurance doesn’t cover the following:
- Car insurance
- Life insurance
- Earthquakes or floods in earthquake- and flood-prone areas
- Employment discrimination
- Wrongful termination
- Employee benefits
What If You Get Sued?
One lawsuit could mean the end of your business or even bankruptcy. I’ve seen it happen, and it’s not pretty.
Court cases without insurance could cost you $15,000 to over $100,000. Do you have that type of money to spare? I didn’t think so.
Types of Lawsuits
You can be sued for things like sexual harassment. Invasion of privacy. Slander. Who knows what’s going on around the locker room. Here (PDF) are some cases/examples that are directly involved in the fitness industry. They include cases of bodily injury, sexual assault and even a wrongful death case due to a dietary supplement.
How to Find Cheap Personal Trainer Insurance
The best way to find cheap insurance for fitness professionals is to shop around for insurance companies, or let us shop around for you.
How Much Does Personal Trainer Insurance Cost?
Personal trainer insurance can vary based on many factors, such as coverage, claims history, and the needs of the company. At any rate, here are the estimated annual premiums for each type of insurance for personal trainers, fitness instructors or independent contractors:
- Personal Trainer General Liability Insurance: $400-$1000
- Professional Liability Insurance: $500-$1000
- Business Owner’s Policy: $550-$1700
- Product Liability Insurance: $50-$60
- Medical Insurance: $388-$943
- Workers’ Compensation Insurance: $2000-$3000
Get a Personal Trainer Insurance Quote Now
You’ve read enough. You know you need personal trainer insurance, and you need it now.
We’ll save you some time and give you a link to get a personal trainer insurance quote now from Hiscox. If you’re still not sure what you need, answer a few quick questions and find out in just 20 seconds.
Why Hisox?
- They can customized plans for your business and budget
- They’re a middleman, helping you to get some of the best quotes in the industry.
- They can find coverage for you, no matter where you go in the world to train.
- They can provide you with a COI or Certificate of Insurance.
- They’re fast.
- Their website is easy to use.
You have nothing to lose except your business and everything you own. There’s some perspective for you..
YES! Please help cover my butt and show me my personal trainer liability insurance quotes!
Make sure your business has the right coverage. Check out other types of commercial insurance
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