Personal Trainer Insurance

Personal Trainer Insurance

Personal trainer insurance provides protection from the costs associated with lawsuits or claims against you or your business.

Zensurance - Personal Trainer

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Personal Trainer

Insurance for personal trainers

As a personal trainer, you offer a service everyone can benefit from regardless of age, location, or lifestyle. However, the hands-on nature of your business means you may be liable for injuries or damage that occur under your instruction. Whether you train advanced-age clients at a local gym or sell an online fitness program, getting tailored personal training liability insurance is essential to your business’s survival.

Different factors, such as specialization, location, and additional services (e.g., nutritional counselling), may make it challenging to find comprehensive coverage for your training practice.

Our personal trainer insurance policy packages are specially designed to accommodate the full range of personal training services and protect against specific risks associated with providing fitness services, such as injuries or malpractice.

Every personal training professional is unique, and insurance requirements may vary; however, a comprehensive personal trainer insurance policy will typically include the following coverages:

  • Commercial General Liability Insurance (CGL): Commercial general liability insurance protects your business against everyday risks you may encounter, such as third-party bodily injury or property damage that occurs in your studio or under your direction. CGL can cover medical fees and legal expenses, regardless of the lawsuit’s outcome.
  • Product Liability Insurance: Product liability coverage covers claims alleging a product you distribute, manufacture, or sell caused bodily injury or property damage. Damages covered by product liability are usually the result of a design, manufacturing, or marketing defect, such as incorrect labelling and safety warnings. Covered products may include any wearable technology, supplements, or equipment you sell to your clients. Our friendly broker team can help you determine whether or not you need product liability coverage.
  • Professional Liability Insurance: Also known as Errors & Omissions Insurance (E&O), PLI offers coverage for misconduct, negligence, or failure to deliver a service as advertised. Whether you teach in-person or digitally, if a client feels the instruction you provided didn’t have the expected results, they could sue. For example, a client who follows your at-home workout routine claims the exercises made an existing injury worse and sues you for negligence. Professional Liability Insurance could cover legal fees and damages, including monetary judgments.
  • Commercial Property Insurance: Commercial Property Insurance is critical for personal trainers as it protects your property (i.e., gym, equipment, inventory) from an insured event, such as a fire or theft. Your broker could walk you through the policy to ensure you understand what events and items are covered by your commercial property insurance. Commercial Property Insurance policies often include business interruption (a.k.a. business income) coverage, which provides reimbursement for net income lost following an insured event.
    • Please note, business interruption coverage will not cover income lost due to a pandemic, infectious disease, or government-mandated closure.
  • Cyber Insurance:  Digital training sessions and fitness apps are growing in popularity, allowing your clients to access your program anywhere. Whether you offer courses online as part of your business model or if you store client data (e.g., financial, medical), you are liable to protect this information. Cyber insurance covers the costs (i.e., notification costs, legal fees) associated with cybercrimes (e.g., cyber hack) involving your technology systems.

Please note that personal trainers’ policy does not typically cover those who train professional athletes, aerial or aquatic athletes, or minors. Speak with your broker to confirm your specialization is covered.

Any individual or business providing personal training services online or in-person should protect their company with a tailored Personal Trainer Insurance policy package.

Not only will it protect you from financial loss, but it also helps in securing contracts. In today’s litigious society, clients and employees want to see that they have an adequately insured trainer.

We’ve insured 1000s of fitness instructors; some of our clients in the industry include:

You can anticipate premiums starting from $330 on an annual Commercial General Liability and Professional Liability Insurance package with a combined limit of $2M.

When you complete our online application, we will ask you some clarifying questions to provide the best options for your specific business needs. The following factors are taken into consideration when determining the best policy options for you and your business:

  • Training, Certifications, and Experience
  • Annual and Projected Revenue
  • Services Provided
  • Number of Employees
  • Past Insurance Claims

We’ve partnered with over fifty insurance providers to offer you different options that suit your business needs at the best price.

Freelance Personal Trainers

One of the many benefits of working as a freelance personal trainer is the ability to be your boss; you can set your schedule, increase your value with specialized offerings, and contribute your expertise at various events.

Personal trainers’ career opportunities are bountiful; however, operating as a freelance personal trainer can be risky from an insurance perspective. Unless you are working full-time at a gym or fitness center, you are unlikely to be covered by an employer, meaning you need comprehensive insurance that goes with you wherever you train. If you provide training at multiple locations, including the client’s home, general liability insurance is necessary to cover any injuries resulting from a session, as well as potential property damage.

If you sell or manufacture products, such as a wearable tracking device, product liability insurance is required to cover claims alleging bodily injury or property damage due to your product. Professional liability insurance could provide coverage for any claims of negligence or malpractice, such as a training program that exacerbates an old injury. If you sell sessions or fitness programs online, cyber liability insurance may provide coverage in the event of a cyberattack.

Suggested Coverage:

  • Commercial General Liability Insurance
  • Product Liability Insurance
  • Professional Liability Insurance
  • Cyber Liability Insurance

Fitness Studio Owners

Comprehensive coverage covering training clients, managing employees, and general business liability risks is essential to your fitness center’s success. While you likely already carry the required general liability and commercial property insurance to rent or lease your space, several other policies can protect your business from claims and lawsuits. Most commercial property insurance policies include contents coverage, which covers loss or damage to your stock, inventory, or equipment in the event of an insured loss, such as a fire or flood.

Fitness center owners who sell or distribute products are advised to look into adding “product liability insurance” to their policy, which covers injuries or property damage resulting from a product you manufacture, sell, or distribute. These types of injuries are commonly the result of a label, marketing, or design defect. A professional liability insurance policy could protect your business from claims alleging negligence or misconduct. If you store any client data, use a Point of Sale or scheduling software (e.g., Zen Planner, MindBody), Cyber Liability Insurance could help your business recover from a cyberattack and associated legal fees.

If you have full-time employees working at your studio, they are likely covered by your liability insurance. Please note that your coverage limit applies to all employees of your business, not each employee (e.g., $2M for all 50 employees vs. $2M per employee). To accommodate all of your employees, you may wish to increase your limit. An alternative is to hire freelance instructors that carry liability insurance.

Suggested Coverage:

  • Commercial General Liability Insurance
  • Commercial Property Insurance
  • Product Liability Insurance
  • Professional Liability Insurance
  • Cyber Liability Insurance

Online Instructors

If you offer online classes or sell your workout programs as passive income, you may be surprised to know you run the same risks as those who teach in person. If you train clients virtually, you are providing an online service. You will want to protect your business against negligence claims or failure to deliver as advertised with professional liability insurance. For those selling products alongside their digital offerings, product liability insurance protects against lawsuits alleging bodily injury or property damage due to a product you sell or manufacture. Of course, anyone collecting and storing information about their clients (e.g., financial, health) will need to protect their business with cyber liability insurance in the event of a cyberattack.

Suggested Coverage:

  • Product Liability Insurance
  • Professional Liability Insurance
  • Cyber Liability Insurance

Getting insured is quick and easy!

Complete our 5-minute online application for a free personal trainer insurance quote.

Common claims scenarios

Developer working on mobile shopping cart

Problem: One of your clients trips on a plyometric box while exercising, falls over, and fractures a wrist. They sue you for third-party bodily injury.

Outcome: Your commercial general liability insurance may cover your legal expenses to defend yourself in court, any court-ordered monetary settlement, and your client’s medical expenses.

injured client

Problem: A workout routine you designed for a client aggravates an existing hamstring injury they have. The injury results in them missing work and losing income because they are unable to perform their job. They accuse you of negligence and sue you for damages.

Outcome: Your professional liability insurance may pay for your legal defence fees, and any resulting remedy ordered by the court.

Massive amount of software code

Problem: Your exercise studio is broken into overnight. Several pieces of exercise equipment and a laptop computer were stolen.

Outcome: Your commercial property insurance may pay for the damages to the building caused by the break-in and replace your stolen exercise equipment and laptop computer.

Frequently asked questions

Will my home insurance cover my training classes at my home-based gym?

No. A personal home insurance policy is not a business insurance policy. It is not designed to cover the cost of a third-party bodily injury or professional liability lawsuit due to your services. Speak to a licensed broker about getting a business insurance policy that includes commercial general liability and professional liability coverages.

My clients sign consent forms. Do I still need insurance?

Yes. Even though your clients sign consent forms acknowledging the possible risks they face by participating in your workout classes, you still require business insurance to protect yourself from third-party allegations and lawsuits of wrongdoing, negligence, or misconduct, or if they are injured by your exercise routine. Although a waiver or consent form can be helpful, they cannot prevent one of your clients from suing you. If they do, and you do not have business insurance, you are still responsible to pay for your legal defence costs.

If I provide nutritional advice to my clients, will my personal trainer insurance cover me?

It depends. If you have professional liability coverage (also known as errors and omissions insurance) as part of your overall policy, you are covered for claims of negligence, third-party bodily injuries, or accusations of wrongdoing related to the advice you provided. If you do not have that type of coverage in your policy, you are leaving yourself exposed to the risk of having to pay thousands of dollars in damages if you are successfully sued by one of your clients. Zensurance can provide you with a policy that covers both nutritional advice based on the Canada Food Guide, as well as coverage for certified nutritionists and dieticians.

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You’ve built a career out of helping people become the best version of themselves; you deserve a broker dedicated to providing you with the same focused attention.

At Zensurance, we simplify the process of getting personal trainer insurance so that you get the coverage you need, quick and easy!