Massage insurance is such a specialized type of product, you might not even think about carrying it. However, like just about any profession, you could be liable if something goes wrong. For instance, you could give a massage and someone could come back claiming that they have pain after seeing you that wasn’t there before. That’s where massage insurance comes in handy. So below we’ll look at how this product works, where to find it, and how much it costs.
- Top 6 Providers of Massage Insurance
- What does massage insurance cover?
- What kind of insurance does a massage business need?
- How Much Does Massage Insurance Cost?
- Average business insurance costs to a massage business
- Massage therapist liability insurance
Top 6 Providers of Massage Insurance
Massage insurance is interesting because many of its plans are offered through professional organizations. That means you’re often getting the benefits of the organization as a member, as well as having access to insurance products built for massage therapists.
However, that doesn’t mean you absolutely have to join an organization just to find massage insurance. You can also find business insurance that works for massage professionals, as well.
- CoverWallet: Best for comparing online quotes
- Massage Magazine Insurance Plus: Comprehensive coverage
- American Massage Therapy Association: Affordable coverage on top of professional organization member benefits
- Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals: Liability insurance included with membership to organization
- Thimble: Best for part-time massage therapists who only need short-term coverage
- NEXT: Best for an affordable bundled policy, general and professional liability coverage
CoverWallet: Best for comparing online quotes
If you are interested in comparing several quotes online to select the best and the cheapest one for you, you might want to start with CoverWallet. They are a digital broker. They work with several insurance companies and are able to pull quotes from these companies for you to compare in one place.
You can choose to compare quotes of professional liability insurance and general liability insurance since these are the two most popular insurance policies that a massage therapist needs.
CoverWallet also offers several great digital features so that you can manage your policies conveniently. You can download the certificate of insurance, renew the policy, and file a claim in a min on their digital dashboard.
CoverWallet is a subsidiary of Aon, one of the largest business insurance brokers in the world, they have good financial backing. They also earn excellent consumer ratings (A).
Below is a quote sample from CoverWallet for a massage therapist based in Miami, Florida
Massage Magazine Insurance Plus – Best Comprehensive Coverage
The fact that this company advertises itself as a magazine can be a little off-putting. But it also offers one of the most comprehensive insurance plans in the massage therapy industry, which is issued by the Healthcare Professionals Purchasing Group. As our example policy, we covered above what the plans all entail and what you can expect for costs. The company also has additional member benefits, like industry discounts.
American Massage Therapy Association: Affordable Coverage and Professional Member Benefits
Another way to source plans is to find them through professional organizations, such as the American Massage Therapy Association. This organization offers liability insurance to massage therapists for only $20 per month when they become members.
Thimble: Best for part-time massage therapists who only need short-term coverage
Thimble is a newer insurance company, pioneering to provide short-term coverage to small businesses or gig workers. They make it possible for you to buy coverage for just a few days, or a few weeks. You don’t need to buy a traditional policy which lasts for the entire year. If you are a part-time massage therapist and only need insurance coverage for a short-period, this option will save you a lot of money.
Thimble is also known for a delightful online experience. Getting a quote and buying a policy from them just takes literally a few minutes. You can immediately download the certificate of insurance right after buying.
NEXT: Best for an affordable bundled policy, general and professional liability coverage
Next is an insuretech, specializing in selling small business insurance completely online. By doing so, they are able to cut costs and reduce their prices, making their policy more affordable to their customers.
They focus on providing the most common insurance policies that small businesses need, which are general liability and professional liability coverage. A massage business should have these two coverage to protect their business. NEXT makes it even more affordable and convenient for massage businesses to obtain both coverage through a bundled policy.
Getting a quote online from NEXT only takes a few minutes. You owe it to yourself to obtain a quote from them.
What does massage insurance cover?
Massage insurance is an umbrella term that covers the type of business insurance a massage business or a massage therapist should carry. Under this insurance type, you’re typically covered in terms of professional liability and general liability.
Professional liability is sometimes labeled as malpractice liability in relation to massage therapists, according to Massage Magazine Insurance Plus, a major insurer of massage therapists. This covers you in the event that someone claims harm in relation to the services you performed.
>>MORE: Best Professional Liability Insurance Companies for Small Business
General liability offers broader coverage against a wide variety of damages and injuries. It’s often called “trip and fall” insurance because it’s common for people to know it as the insurance type that covers people when they fall in a building and sue the business owner.
>>MORE: Best General Liability Insurance for Small Business
You might also find other specialty products for massage therapists, like rental damage coverage and stolen equipment coverage. Basically, if it affects a massage therapy office, you could find coverage for it.
Some types of massage therapy insurance also require that you have a certain number of hours logged as a professional, certified or practitioner massage therapist to qualify for coverage, so that’s an important aspect to keep in mind.
What kinds of insurance does a massage business need?
A massage business functions as a small business. They are exposed to different types of risks that business insurance can protect. Below are some coverage a massage business should consider:
General liability insurance
General liability insurance covers you from claims related to bodily injuries and property damages caused to your customers at your workplace or your client’s home. For example, if you client trips and falls at your business location, they can use you. Or if one of your massage therapists that you sent to your client’s home accidentally breaks a valuable vase as she sets up her massage bed, your client can use your business. In both cases, a general liability insurance will cover you and pay for defense expenses and settlement costs.
Learn more at general liability insurance cost and the best general liability insurance companies
Professional liability insurance
Professional liability insurance protects you if your clients decide to sue you because they believe you are negligent, misinform, misrepresent, or make a mistake or omission in providing them with your services. Professional liability insurance policy will help you defend and pay for settlement, if any, in relation to these claims. If one of your clients believe that you massage causes their neck to hurt, they can sue you. A professional liability insurance will protect you in this case.
As a massage business owner, you can choose to provide this coverage to all massage therapist that work at your salon. You can buy a professional liability insurance policy for your whole massage business and add all of your therapists to the policy as additional insured or you can ask your massage therapist to have this coverage before working at your massage salon.
Learn more at professional liability insurance cost and the best professional liability insurance companies
Commercial property insurance
If you rent a property to run your massage business, it is very likely that your landlord requires you to have commercial property insurance. It protects the building and its belongings if they are damaged due to a covered perils such as flood, storm, vandalism, theft, etc.
Learn more at commercial property insurance cost and the best commercial property insurance companies
Workers comp insurance
If you hire any full time employee, in all states except Texas, you are required by law to have workers comp insurance for your full-time employee. Workers comp insurance provide benefits to employees if they are injured or become sick at work. It will pay for medical expenses, lost wages, and other associated expenses.
Learn more at workers comp insurance cost and the best workers comp insurance companies
How Much Does Massage Insurance Cost?
Costs can of course vary, based on how much coverage you choose to have and the types of coverage you select. As an example, Massage Magazine Insurance Plus gives a basic price quote of a $159 per year fee for professionals. This can cover:
- Occurrence-form coverage
- Professional liability insurance
- General liability insurance
- Products individual annual aggregate
- Rental damage coverage
- Stolen equipment
- Identity protection plan
As you can see, it’s important to review what your annual premium is all covering for massage insurance.
Limits are also an important consideration, as many plans will cover millions of dollars in per incident and aggregate limits, many differing by millions of dollars. It’s common to see $2 million to $6 million in per limit or aggregate amounts.
Some facets of the plans will also come with deductibles. For instance, the stolen equipment part of Massage Magazine Insurance Plus’ plan has a $250 deductible. This is important to keep in mind, as it means the amount you’ll pay out of pocket for coverage to take effect.
Average business insurance costs to a massage business
A massage business pays, on average, $72 per month, or $864 per year, for their massage insurance policy. The policy includes general liability and professional liability coverage only.
If you add more coverage, you will pay more. Below are the average costs of different massage insurance coverage:
| Massage insurance coverage | Average costs |
| General liability | $38 per month |
| Professional liability | $46 per month |
| Commercial property insurance | $92 per month |
| Workers comp insurance | $67 per month |
Keep in mind that these are just the averages. Your rate can be much lower or higher depending on several factors. Be sure to shop around with a few companies or work with a top broker like CoverWallet or Simply Business to find the cheapest one for you.
Massage therapist liability insurance
If you are a massage therapist working as an independent contractor at a massage salon, it is likely that the massage business owner will ask you to have your own liability insurance. In such case, you need to buy a professional liability insurance policy for yourself.
If you also visit your clients at their homes, you may also want to have a general liability insurance policy. This coverage will protect you if you accidentally break something at your clients’ homes.
Massage therapist liability insurance cost
The average cost of a message therapist liability insurance policy is $45 per month, or $540 a year. This includes both general liability insurance and professional liability insurance coverage.
Final Thoughts
- Massage insurance is an important product to carry, since it can cover you against a wide variety of liability claims and property losses.
- Costs range all over the board, depending on the amount of coverage you select or what type of coverage you opt for.
- You can either get your coverage through a professional massage therapy organization or companies that offer insurance for small businesses and massage professionals.
