General Liability Insurance protects your small business against claims of third-party bodily injury and property damage, reputational harm and advertising injury. It covers medical bills, repair costs & legal fees.
Commercial Property Insurance will provide coverage for your properties in case damage renders them impossible to rent or lease.
Workers Compensation covers your employees' medical costs and lost wages while recovering from a work-related injury or illness. The employee gives up the right to sue your company in return for receiving cash and benefits from Workers Compensation. In some states it’s mandatory for businesses!
Small business Health Insurance helps you offer your employees more inexpensive access to medical insurance. Everyone can benefit from lower rates or better coverage.
Product Liability insurance covers your business if you need to recall one of your products. It covers your costs for retrieving the defective product from the manufacturer or seller to prevent any further bodily injury or property damage.
Professional Liability Insurance (or E&O Insurance), protects your small business from claims of mistakes, negligence or malpractice made when providing your services that caused somebody financial loss. PLI covers your legal defense costs, damages and settlements.
What are the risks associated with being a personal trainer?
There are various reasons why personal trainers must be certified to work legally in their field. For example, without proper knowledge of human anatomy, a personal trainer may give advice to clients which results in bodily injury. In this case, a client may seek out compensation to cover any costs associated with medical or surgical treatment. This is why it is important for personal trainers to invest in insurance to ensure that they have adequate coverage if anything goes wrong.
It is incredibly important for personal trainers to demonstrate to clients that they are equipped with the proper training to ensure that clients are safe. Without adequate training and knowledge, personal trainers can prescribe programs for clients that have not taken into account the variety of unique characteristics individual to a single person. If a person has a pre-existing medical condition, this is something that the personal trainer will want to know. With this information in hand, a personal trainer can provide safe services to clients.
Even if a personal trainer is certified, is equipped with training and knowledge and is well-versed in the unique characteristics of an individual, situations may still arise in which one needs insurance. Sometimes, even with significant foresight, a personal trainer may prescribe a personalized program which results in bodily injury. In such an event, professional liability insurance protects personal trainers by providing coverage for any advice given to clients which results in bodily injury.
When working with clients to achieve their personal health and fitness goals, there is the potential that they may not be pleased with their results. Everybody functions differently and as a result, some may get the results they are looking for quicker than others. If an individual is displeased with the services one has provided, they may file a malpractice claim. If a malpractice claim is submitted, there may be significant financial consequences, such as hiring a defense attorney. An investment into malpractice insurance would be beneficial under these circumstances.
In addition to the financial consequences associated with a client submitting a malpractice claim, one may suffer damages to their reputation. As a personal trainer, it is important to build up a strong reputation so that clients hear of your success through other clients that have used your services. If someone hears that you have not provided adequate services, they may think twice about hiring you. In this scenario, malpractice insurance would also be beneficial.
How can one mitigate risk as a personal trainer?
Working closely with others to achieve their health and fitness goals can be a very intimate experience. In many instances, personal trainers will find their careers rewarding as they positively impact the lives of others. However, this may not always be the case, as some may struggle to reach their goals or blame the personal trainer for not seeing the results they want quickly enough. Personal training in a high-stress environment can impact one’s mental health. Therefore, investing in insurance that protects not only a client from bodily injury or your own personal finances and reputation, but also your own mental health and wellbeing is important.
There are many different circumstances in which investing in insurance is beneficial for personal trainers given the risks described above. Protecting yourself and your clients is an important decision for any personal trainer to make.
Can a personal trainer be covered by insurance?
Yes. There are insurances made specifically for personal trainers. The insurance will protect you, as a personal trainer in the event that your client suffers injury while training.
How can I add my gym as an additional insured?
Your liability insurance policy usually offers you to add your gym to additional insured. In fact, you can add as many gyms as you like in your insurance policy, but this still depends on your insurance carrier. To add your gym, simply fill in the details of the gym you want to add, like the name and the address and the additional insured documents will be delivered to you as a confirmation. Make sure to have this copied and sent to the gym you added.
Do I need to get a personal training certificate to get insurance?
Yes. You need to be certified as a personal trainer or have at least a four-year degree in a health and fitness related field to get a personal trainer insurance.