Friday, June 12, 2009

Personal Trainer Professional Liability Insurance

Liability Insurance for Personal Trainers
Personal Trainer Professional Liability Insurance

Liability Insurance for personal trainers would be crazy to operate your business without personal trainer professional liability insurance. In fact, many gyms will not allow you to operate without giving them proof of business liability insurance. There is a real risk of injury due to the physical nature of personal training.

And now you can discuss the various insurance company options below. See what other personal trainers are saying about their liability insurance policy.


Why do I Need It?

Personal trainer professional liability insurance protects you and any other parties named on the policy in the event that a client suffers an injury while training (or even partially as a result of training). The scary part is that you don't even have to be present when the injury occurs.

Let's say you design a program where the client does 20 push ups each morning. If the client suffers a heart attack while doing the pushups you can get sued. That's where personal trainer professional liability insurance steps in.


So what happens if I get sued?

If you didn't have liability insurance for personal trainers you would have to defend yourself in court. Defending personal injury lawsuits is very tricky and your legal bills would run tens of thousands of dollars. And if you lose the case, you will have to pay thousands more in damages. This would be enough to ruin most personal trainers.

But if you do have personal trainer professional liability insurance, the business insurance company is obligated to defend you in court. They pay all the legal fees and any damages up to your policy limit. So it is always a good idea to have a business liability insurance policy with at least a $250,000 limit. ACE recommends $500,000 in business insurance coverage for its members.


Am I covered by the Gym's Policy?

That's a difficult question to answer. If you are an independent contractor, then the gym's personal trainer professional liability insurance policy is unlikely to cover you (it might cover them).

However, if you are an employee you may be covered on their policy. It’s a good idea to ask to see the policy details to be sure that you are covered. And remember, if you are going to train any clients privately and not through your employer, or if you train clients at multiple locations, you should buy personal trainer professional liability insurance.



What Insurance Company do you recommend?

Liability Insurance for personal trainers has to shop for liability insurance, so let's share our experience and find the best insurance deals.