Even online personal trainers need protection. A single client injury or claim of negligence during a virtual training session leads to expensive medical bills, medical costs, and legal fees. That’s where online personal trainer insurance comes in.
With personal trainer insurance from Insure Fitness Group, you get professional liability insurance, general liability insurance, personal & advertising injury coverage and identity theft protection in one personal training liability insurance policy. This professional liability coverage offers instant coverage, generous coverage limits, and a competitive personal trainer insurance cost, perfect for fitness professionals, fitness instructors, and wellness coaches running online sessions or in person sessions.
Do You Need Insurance to be an Online Personal Trainer?
When you’re expanding your fitness career into virtual training, it’s easy to overlook risks that come with working online. But personal trainers offering online sessions face many of the same challenges as those working in fitness facilities or health clubs. A client can still claim bodily injury or improper guidance, which can lead to medical expenses, legal fees, and other costly issues.
A solid personal trainer insurance policy, like the one offered by Insure Fitness Group, provides general and professional liability protection, making sure that fitness professionals, wellness coaches, and fitness instructors are covered. This personal training liability insurance not only offers professional liability coverage but also includes benefits like identity protection plans and instant coverage with generous coverage limits.
With personal training insurance, you can focus on building your fitness business and delivering results without worrying about unexpected claims. Affordable personal trainer insurance cost options and the flexibility to cover both online personal trainers and in person sessions make it a necessary part of any trainer’s toolkit.
What’s Included with Online Personal Trainer Insurance from IFG?
Online personal trainer insurance from Insure Fitness Group kicks it up a notch with a host of additional protections today’s professionals need in order to effectively mitigate the many risks facing them. With our personal trainer insurance, for $189 per year professionals get:
- General and Professional liability insurance; $3 million annually, $1 million per occurrence
- Personal Injury & Advertising Injury: $1m base protection if you’re accused of slander, libel, or copyright infringement in your marketing.
- ID Theft Protection: Get up to $25,000/year if your identity is stolen or used fraudulently online or offline.
- IFG-exclusive Insurance Marketplace, including access to :
- Telehealth (with $10 co-pay)
- Vision and Dental add-on plans from MetLife
- ACA-qualified Health Insurance
Not only that but our programs also include a free professional website to promote your new online personal trainer services, discounts from leading names in fitness, and expertly curated content from prominent fitness pros from around the country. You also get the benefit of full portability, meaning no matter where you offer services – in a gym, online, or even in the client’s home – you still have full insurance coverage under our program.
NOTE: As with most coverage options, IFG’s policy covers online trainers and fitness instructors in the United States only. If you have questions as to whether or not your practice would be covered, please call our licensed agents at 800-379-7799.
Lastly, make sure you do a quick comparison of different personal trainer insurance programs. Be sure to look specifically at coverage limits, affordability, and even ratings and reviews for the company. Remember, not all personal trainer insurance programs are created equal.
How to Become an Online Personal Trainer
Jumping right into a whole new way of offering services without doing some basic research and planning is not the best long term business plan to becoming an online personal trainer. By following a steady, systematic approach to becoming an online personal trainer, you can increase your chances for continued success.
1. Get Your Certified Personal Trainer (CPT) designation
For existing CPTs, you already have a great head start towards offering services online. Students studying to become a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), and even those just considering whether online personal training is right, the first step is to get certified. There are many different accrediting services out there offering various levels of certification. Make sure you understand the requirements to get certified. For example, to get CPT certification through NASM you need a high school diploma or GED, as well as CPR and AED certification.
2. Identify Your Ideal Clientele
Decide what services you are really good at and then start matching those services to the types of clients the services most apply to. Doing just a little market research can really help you focus your efforts on the right crowd. The “shotgun” approach rarely works and it can be extremely wasteful. Make the investment count and look at your existing client base and your ideal client base – do you do your best work with athletes? Seniors? Once you identify your niche, you can start targeting this unique group.
3. Start Marketing Your Services
Now that you have identified who you want to target it’s time to start marketing your online personal training services. Email newsletters, ads on social media, targeted web content, and other tactics can help put your unique services in front of the people already searching for your unique offering. Don’t forget to leverage your existing network as well. Make sure your current clients know you are offering this new service and consider offering some form of incentive to get more referrals.
4. Industry Growth Trends in Online Personal Training
Personal training can be an extremely rewarding and also lucrative career. The average salary for a personal trainer is $42,900 to about $73,000. Compared to other jobs out there, that’s a fairly decent average – the opportune word being ‘average’. The sky really is the limit with online personal training. You have the ability to leverage your unique skill set far beyond the physical confines of a fixed location and you can target specific clients across the country and even around the world.
Online personal training is growing rapidly and is expected to continue expanding. IBISWorld, a global economy statistics company, estimates a growth rate of 2.8% per year for personal training. Let’s look at some key aspects in the economy and in society that are driving the increase in demand for online personal training.
- Increased Income/Lower Unemployment Rates: a boom in the economy means more people are working and are generally being paid more to do so. Having greater discretionary income means a greater availability of clients willing/able to pay for your online personal training services.
- Greater connectivity: according to Pew Research some 8 out of 10 Americans now own a smartphone. Having more people online means you have more potential clients seeking the unique services you offer. With Insure Fitness Group, our personal trainer insurance program includes a free professional website so you can capture more of this online traffic.
- Increase in ‘health focus’: while obesity rates in the U.S. have not declined much in the past few years, and in some states has even increased, there has been a significant increase in health and wellness spending. As a society, we are becoming more conscious of what we eat and where it comes from. Greater emphasis on “eating clean” and balancing meals has helped Americans overall make better choices when it comes to their diets. All of this focus on health and wellness means more opportunities to capture the clients that want to add personal training to their overall healthy-living regimen.
With the industry growth we have seen in personal training and the explosion in online personal training specifically, now is a tremendous opportunity to start a great new career or add an entirely new way to offer your training services to clients.
5. New Online Personal Training Tools to Use Right Now
- Get Up with Fitness Trackers/Wearable Tech: Fitbit®, Apple Watch®, Garmin®, and a host of imitators now pervades the wearable fitness tracker market. Use this hype to build up your sessions. A great way to do this is to develop a group and then make it a competition to see who can beat a certain amount of steps, distance, etc. Wearable tech can also help build an online community, which can help your clients’ overall success. Since you don’t have a physical location, everything you can do to bring people together is a positive push for your business.
- Offer High Intensity/Short Duration Workouts: HIIT is nothing new but capitalize on its popularity to offer shorter sessions of intense activity. Attention spans today are shorter than ever, HIIT training allows you to develop a quick program to achieve maximum results. Results make people want to show off their new physique, which in turn makes your clients some of your best marketers.
- Be an Online Information Source: we have already covered the vitality of having an online presence in today’s competitive landscape. By delivering fresh, relevant, and insightful posts to social media and your website, you can build a following as an educator. This helps build your reputation and in turn helps attract clients already familiar with your brand of training services.
- Connect with a Gym: while online personal training may be increasing in popularity, the traditional brick and mortar workout facility still holds the majority of the market share for personal training. However, there are many current gym goers that might still want to take an online class from time to time or who are considering switching altogether. Connect with a gym that sees viability in being able to showcase a new form of service and capitalize on their existing client base.
- Attend at Least One Tradeshow Event Per Year: there are so many opportunities at top trade shows to network, learn new techniques, test new products, and meet vendors that can be partners in your success. Set aside a budget each year to attend at least one tradeshow that gives you the best bang for your buck.
Getting Covered with Online Personal Trainer Insurance
Personal trainer insurance through Insure Fitness is your one-stop-shop to peace of mind while offering great physical training services to clients. Whether you offer services in-person or online, personal training will still carry liabilities. With our professional liability insurance policy developed both for traditional personal training, as well as for the online personal trainer, you can be assured you have great coverage through every step of your career.
FAQs About Online Personal Trainer Insurance
What is fitness insurance, and why do personal trainers need it?
Fitness insurance is designed to provide coverage for personal injury or claims arising from training sessions. For personal trainers, health coaches, and pilates instructors, it acts as protection against negligence claims or claims related to their work. Without it, you could face high costs from medical expenses or legal issues.
How much do personal trainers cost for insurance coverage?
The personal trainers cost for insurance varies depending on insurance providers, coverage limits, and extras like additional insured options. With IFG, you can get individual coverage starting at an affordable annual rate with flexible annual payments.
Does personal trainer insurance include malpractice insurance?
Yes. A comprehensive personal trainer insurance policy often includes malpractice insurance, which protects you from claims related to mistakes or errors in your training programs that may result in personal injury.
Are there coverage examples for different fitness professions?
Absolutely. IFG’s coverage examples include protections for physical therapy-inspired sessions, group fitness, pilates instructors, and health coaches, with benefits like advertising injury coverage and options for additional insured business partners.
Can I get same day coverage?
Yes, IFG offers same day coverage, so you can start training with confidence the moment your policy period begins. Many fitness professions rely on this quick turnaround to avoid delays in their work.
Does online personal trainer insurance cover online chat and virtual training?
Yes, virtual sessions, whether delivered via video or online chat, are covered. This assures that any claims arising from remote personal training or physical therapy-style workouts are protected.
What if I need individual coverage or additional insureds?
IFG offers flexible plans that include individual coverage for personal trainers, with the option to add additional insured parties, such as fitness facilities or business partners.
