Fitness professionals who work as personal trainers help their clients lose weight, get in shape, train for sporting events, and recover after injuries. Working closely with people and providing them with professional services and advice puts personal trainers and their livelihoods at risk. That’s why it’s critical for them to get professional liability insurance (also known as errors and omissions or E&O coverage) and other types of protection to limit the risks.
This article reveals the top five general liability insurance providers for personal trainers, along with all you must know to get the right coverage for you.
- The 5 best professional liability insurance companies for personal trainers
- Why do personal trainers need professional liability insurance?
- What does personal trainer professional liability insurance cover?
- What other coverages do personal trainers get?
- How much does personal trainer professional liability insurance cost?
- How do I get affordable trainer professional liability insurance?
The 5 best professional liability insurance companies for personal trainers
- CoverWallet: Best for comparing several professional liability insurance quotes
- Simply Business: Best to get connected with reputable insurance companies
- Next: Best online experience
- Thimble: Best for temporary trainer insurance
- Hiscox: Best for personal trainer insurance from a sound company
CoverWallet: Best for comparing several professional liability insurance quotes
CoverWallet is an online insurance broker. It makes it easy for trainers to get insurance quotes from several companies. CoverWallet doesn’t provide business insurance itself. It connects you with top insurers that offer professional liability coverage for trainers and get quotes from these companies for you to compare and choose the cheapest one for you.
PROS:
- If you want affordable insurance coverage, CoverWallet can save you the time of contacting multiple insurers to get quotes to compare cost and coverage.
- Coverage through CoverWallet comes from high-quality insurance companies.
- If you buy your insurance through CoverWallet, you can use its online tools to pay your premiums, file claims, and download your proof of insurance.
CONS:
- CoverWallet doesn’t always provide you with a quote online. Sometimes, you have to call a representative to get your quote.
- You may pay more for your coverage through CoverWallet than purchasing directly from an insurance company.
- You cannot make claims through CoverWallet. You’ll have to do it through the insurer that provides your coverage.
Simply Business: Best to find low-cost coverage for personal trainers
Similar to CoverWallet, Simply Business isn’t a direct insurance provider. Instead, it’s a broker that connects trainers with E&O insurance through companies in its network. As a broker, they focus their efforts on helping you find the lowest rates for your coverage.
PROS:
- Simply Business partners with reputable insurance companies who tend to offer low-cost coverage
- It’s simple to get several quotes from different insurers through Simply Business.
- Simply Business has a complete online library to help you learn about business insurance coverage and preventing risk.
- Simply Business is owned by Travelers, a major insurer based in the United States. You can rest assured that they have strong financial backing and reputation.
CONS:
- Policy underwriting, claims, and customer service is handled by third-party insurers.
- They can only help you get quotes and buy policies from their partners. If you are interested in a company that they do not partner with, you are out of luck.
- You can’t file a claim through Simply Business. It must be done through your insurer.
Next: Best online experience
Next is changing how personal trainers purchase professional liability insurance and other coverage.
PROS:
- The Next operation is focused on delivering the ultimate online insurance experience.
- You can purchase a policy, file a claim or get a certificate of insurance any place, any time, 365 days a year.
- Even though Next is an online insurer, you can get expert help over the phone when you need it.
CONS:
- Next is a relatively new company.
- Old-school trainers may be uncomfortable with Next’s online-centered business model.
- Prices through Next aren’t always the lowest.
Thimble: Best for temporary personal trainer insurance
Thimble calls itself quick-thinking insurance for fast-moving businesses. It’s one of the few insurers that allows you to turn off your coverage when you don’t need it and turn it on when you do. This could be a good option for new or part-time personal trainers.
PROS:
- Next makes it simple to get personal trainer professional liability insurance coverage in minutes.
- It is an A-rated insurer that’s earned a 4.7 out of 5 rating on Trustpilot.
- Its online interface is intuitive and easy to use.
CONS:
- Next is a relatively new company compared to the others on this list.
- Next may not offer the specialized coverages some personal trainers need.
- The company allows you to decide when to pay for coverage, but this benefit could cost you.
Hiscox: Best for personal trainer insurance from a sound company
More than 400,000 small businesses choose Hiscox for their coverage needs. It’s an insurance company that only offers coverage for small companies.
PROS:
- Hiscox will customize coverage to meet the needs of different personal training businesses.
- It is a well-established insurer, offering insurance coverage since the beginning of the last century.
- Hiscox has excellent financial ratings.
CONS:
- Hiscox sells insurance in the United States, but it’s based in the United Kingdom.
- It’s not always the lowest-cost handyman insurance provider.
- The Hiscox website is a bit old-school and challenging to use.
Why do personal trainers need professional liability insurance?
A lot can go wrong when providing training services, even when trainers are focused on safety.
It’s easy for clients to sustain injuries during workouts, be harmed by equipment, or respond negatively to the advice you provide.
While it’s almost impossible for trainers to eliminate risk, there are steps they can take to limit its impact on their bottom lines. One of the most important is to get professional liability insurance. This is essential coverage for not just personal trainers but also massage therapists, nutritionists and dieticians, pilates instructors, yoga teachers, exercise studio owners, coaches, Zumba instructors, and more.
What does personal trainer professional liability insurance cover?
Personal trainer professional liability insurance is also referred to as errors and omissions (E&O) coverage. It pays costs associated with mistakes you make while providing personal training services.
Here are some examples of what it could pay for:
- A personal trainer advises a senior client to push their limits. The client ends up feeling dizzy and experiencing chest pain. He is rushed to the hospital with a heart attack. The client later claims that the trainer caused his heart attack and sues. Professional liability insurance can pay a portion of your legal and settlement costs up to policy limits.
- A personal trainer loses a client file. It contains the client’s address, social security number, credit card number, and other personal information. It was an accident, but the client experienced financial losses. She files a lawsuit. Since this is an example of a professional error, your E&O insurance would help cover legal and settlement costs to make things right.
In both cases, the expenses resulting from the professional incident could be enough to bankrupt a personal trainer. Investing in personal liability insurance is an excellent way to protect your livelihood against simple mistakes that could cost you a lot.
Learn more at the best professional liability insurance companies
What other coverages do personal trainers get?
Most insurance companies require trainers to get general liability insurance, also called commercial general liability insurance (CGL), before they can secure professional liability coverage. This insurance protects your training business from certain claims of bodily injury, associated medical costs, or property damage made by clients.
Examples of what’s covered by this insurance include:
- A client accidentally trips over a stack of mats while entering a personal training studio. He blames the personal trainer for not keeping the area clear. General liability insurance will pay for medical, legal, and settlement costs up to the policy limits. In this case, the incident isn’t the result of a professional mistake. It’s simply an accident that happens on your business property.
- A trainer is at a client’s home providing training services. She accidentally backs into an expensive vase and breaks it. General liability insurance will pay to repair or replace the vase, along with legal and settlement costs if sued over the incident.
General liability insurance provides a good foundation of coverage for protecting your personal training business. Learn more at the best personal trainer insurance companies
How much does personal trainer professional liability insurance cost?
Most personal trainers pay from $29 to $79 per month for their professional liability insurance policies. The average cost is $42 per month.
The personal trainer professional liability insurance costs vary depending on several factors as follows:
- personal trainers’ years of experience
- locations
- the types of training you offer
- coverage limits and deductibles
- size of the gym or number of clients that you have
- Your history of having insurance and claims
Keep in mind that this is just the average, your final rates will be different. Be sure to shop around with a few companies or work with a broker like Simply Business or CoverWalet to compare several quotes to find the cheapest one for you.
How do I get affordable trainer professional liability insurance?
To make sure you get affordable trainer professional liability insurance, you need to get several quotes from the providers on our list to compare their quotes and choose the cheapest one for you. Different insurance companies assess risks differently, getting quotes from them is the only way to know how much their policy would cost you.
Choose the right coverage limits and deductibles for your policy can also reduce your premiums
Maintaining a good insurance record is another way to keep your premiums low. Insurance companies usually charge higher premiums for new customers and lower for existing customers with a clean record. Steady insurance coverage with a clean record will ensure you the lowest rate
