As a personal trainer, you’re no stranger to helping clients achieve their fitness and nutritional goals. But is your insurance as “fit” as the clients you help?
Whether you’re not certified or certified by an accredited institution like the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), a freelance trainer, or work in several gyms at the same time, personal trainer insurance can help protect you if one of your clients claims that they suffered bodily injury or other mishaps as a result of your profession.
But what do you need? Personal trainer liability insurance? General liability? Let’s find out. We’ll explore the definition of personal trainer insurance, the types, who needs it, what it costs and how to get it.
What Is Personal Trainer Insurance?
Personal trainer insurance helps cover your business if lawsuits, financial losses, and/or accidents occur. Personal trainer insurance helps cover any damage your business may incur during these situations.
The nature of personal training means that injuries can occur even with the most comprehensive precautions. Clients can experience body injury from equipment damage or due to the nature of personal training, back, knee, rotator cuff, ankles — injuries all over the body can occur, and chronic pain can also develop as a result of personal training.
Types of Personal Trainer Insurance
Wondering what kind of personal trainer insurance you need? Great question. You may want to consider general liability, professional liability, property and/or disability insurance.
General Liability Insurance
General liability insurance, which you’ll also hear called commercial general liability insurance (CGL), protects your personal training business from the following:
- Bodily injury claims from clients
- Medical costs
- Property damage
Here’s an example of each:
- Bodily injury: A personal training client, Benjie, drops a 50-pound barbell on his foot during one of his training sessions. He breaks his fifth metatarsal when he drops the kettlebell on his foot, blaming his trainer for requiring him to lift the kettlebell, which Benjie claims he could not easily lift. A general liability policy may protect the trainer against claims like Benjie’s up to the limits of your policy.
- Medical costs: Benjie must have surgery on his foot, so the personal trainer’s general liability insurance may cover Benjie’s medical costs.
- Property damage: On a separate day, a personal trainer accidentally drops one end of a 100-pound barbell on a client named Ethan’s glasses. A general liability policy may help the trainer cover the costs of replacing Ethan’s expensive glasses.
Professional Liability Insurance
Professional liability insurance protects you in case of incidents that result from your professional training services, specifically errors and omissions (E&O) insurance or negligence related to your professional training services or advice.
Here’s an example:
A personal trainer client, Kelly, has just had abdominal surgery. As part of her personal training sessions, her personal trainer has her do 100 sit-ups. She later claims that the extreme pressure on her abdomen opened her incision and damaged her abdominal muscles. She files a suit claiming that her personal trainer was negligent.
Professional liability can protect you against alleged malpractice. Note that even if you have professional liability coverage from an employer, you may not be covered entirely. Consider getting a professional liability insurance policy on your own.
Property Insurance
Property insurance (you may also hear it called commercial property insurance), protects the property your business owns, including your building, equipment, etc. It is often combined with general liability insurance and sold as a business owner’s policy (BOP) package.
If a covered event damages your business property, your insurance will cover the repairs or replace your items. Property damage usually covers damage from fire, theft, wind, and vandalism.
However, if losses come from the following, they will not be covered:
- Flooding
- Earthquakes
- Theft
- Environmental damage
- Equipment breakdowns
- Product defects
Disability Insurance
As a personal trainer, you know what it physically requires to be a physical trainer — you must be physically able to demonstrate exercises and spend a lot of time on your feet. So what happens if you get in an accident and can no longer show clients how to do a burpee, power clean or squat thrust?
Disability insurance exists to provide income if you can no longer perform the essential tasks your job requires as a physical trainer.
Who Needs Personal Trainer Insurance?
The National Safety Council reported fewer sports and recreational injuries in 2020. However, injuries increased 20% in 2021 and another 12% in 2022. Specifically, there were 445,642 exercise equipment injuries in 2022.
Seriously consider obtaining general and professional liability coverage to protect your business. You’ll need at least general liability and professional liability insurance to protect you if you are sued, especially if you work as a freelance personal trainer or independent contractor. You need personal trainer insurance if you have a personal training business or a brick-and-mortar business. In addition, to keep your license, you may also need personal training insurance.
You may get insurance coverage from a commercial gym if you are an employee of that gym, but you must ensure that you are covered. Some gym owners require you to carry coverage before you can work in their gym, so you sometimes have no choice but to carry the insurance anyway.
How Much Does Personal Trainer Insurance Cost?
What’s the cost of personal trainer insurance?
Personal training insurance costs depend on a few factors, including the type of insurance you choose. Generally, it depends on the deductible and coverage limits you’re considering. Depending on your insurance type, it will generally cost between $200 and $1,800 per year. For example, professional liability and BOP may cost more — $1,200 to $1,800.
However, getting your own quotes is important to determine the costs for your particular situation. The insurance for personal trainers might not be the same for another personal trainer in your area, particularly due to making different choices among types of insurance available to you.
How to Get Personal Trainer Insurance
First, evaluate your risks. Ask yourself questions like, “What kind of personal training insurance do you need? What will serve you best in your business?” You might need more policies if you need more than just general or professional liability.
Next, get multiple quotes online or contact a local insurance company. No matter where you get insurance for personal trainer coverage, consider comparing several providers before you land on the right option, including costs, types of coverage, deductible, customer service, and coverage limits.
Conclusion
If you’re still wondering whether you need personal trainer insurance, the resounding answer is — you guessed it — yes!
Get your insurance situation in shape by getting personal training insurance for your business. The best personal trainer insurance isn’t the same for everyone, however. Do your research to strike the right balance for the right type of trainer insurance — and your personal situation.
FAQs
Do you need public liability insurance to be a personal trainer?
Yes, and specifically, you may need it to keep your license as a personal trainer. Check with your state’s insurance requirements as a personal trainer. Liability insurance will protect you if an incident occurs in your career as a trainer, including errors and omissions (E&O) insurance or negligence when you provide services or advice.
