Personal Trainer Insurance

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