Working as a personal trainer at a gym comes with risks. These risks affect owners, clients, and workers. While gym members usually sign standard waivers, some gym owners buy various types of liability insurance. Why? Because injured members can file a lawsuit against the personal trainer or the gym owner. If you’re a self-employed trainer renting a space in the gym, you’re covered against any claims filed against you.
Experienced and new personal trainers may not pay much attention to matters to do with liability insurance. If a trainer is found guilty of injuring a client, it can be disastrous. Liability insurance will protect you and your assets after a mishap.
Does a Personal Trainer Need to Have Insurance?
Do I need a carry insurance to train people? Most people ask this question.
Individuals who want to rent time with a gym could be required to have insurance before they’re allowed to accept clients. Other gyms would not, however, require you to carry insurance.
Different gyms have different policies. Depending on where you’re located, you may be required to carry insurance. For instance, if you’re looking to train individuals at a community center, you might be required to have insurance.
If you’re training people from home or at a public place, you could do without insurance. But some customers could only prefer to work with a trainer who carries insurance. So, depending on your circumstances, you may be required to have insurance. You should also check the local laws in your state to know whether it is mandatory.
But whether it’s mandatory or not, there’s no reasonable explanation for not buying personal trainer insurance. Most reputable fitness professionals prefer to carry professional liability insurance that at least meets their Coverage Need – or even goes beyond this!
Having standard general liability insurance is right for some businesses, but given the nature of personal training and the risks involved, we would advise you to go for personal trainer insurance.
Imagine if a customer tore a hamstring due to your mistake, you’d be required to pay the medical bills, and pay for the customer’s pain and suffering, among others. If you have a policy in place, it will cover all these expenses.
Whether or not a personal trainer should have insurance is debatable. But buying insurance is recommended where clients are involved in physical activities and exercises.
Understanding Negligence
A trainer is said to be negligent if they did or failed to do something, leading to a customer’s injury. Just because a customer suffered an injury is not enough to conclude that the trainer was negligent.
Negligence can take various forms. Training a client without letting them fill out a health questionnaire could be disastrous. Giving clients poorly maintained equipment or adding excess weight to a barbell, leading to injury, can also be termed as negligence on the trainer’s side.
Basic Personal Trainer Insurance Options
Reviewing and examining insurance options should not cause you a headache. There are three basic coverage options:
Personal Injury Liability
This type of coverage for trainers works the same way as the liability coverage for homeowners or auto policies. Personal injury liability covers a claim when a client suffers bodily injury due to negligence.
With this policy, you don’t have to worry about legal fees in the event of a lawsuit. It might also cover other perils such as slander and libel. To get the best personal injury liability policy, be sure to review various policies.
Product Liability
As a personal trainer, you might be selling nutritional supplements, equipment, and other products to make extra money. But have you ever thought about what could happen if a defective product harms a person?
For instance, a snapped bungee cord could cause bodily injury to your customer, leading to a lawsuit. If you have the right insurance, the policy would cover all expenses related to an inferior product.
Sexual Harassment and Abuse
We would advise trainers not to ignore this coverage because even miscommunication can be regarded as sexual harassment sometimes, leading to a lawsuit.
Defending yourself even against false charges can be costly. If you find yourself in this situation, you will need to find legal representation as soon as possible – click here for more information. If you’re financially and professionally prudent, you might want to have this policy.
Costs and Coverages
Personal trainer insurance is not costly. You can make a smart business decision by looking for affordable coverage from a reputable company. By paying a nominal yearly fee, you’ll be covered against various incidents that could bring loss.
Be thorough when reviewing and examining policies and insurance companies to ensure you get the best deal. Purchase your policy from an insurance company with solid financial strength.
