Public liability insurance, also known as general liability insurance or slip and fall insurance, is important for personal trainers. This type of liability insurance covers costs related to accidents or mishaps that may occur at training facilities, such as injuries, property damage, or even deaths.
Although “public liability insurance” is an older term, it accurately describes the insurance because it deals with claims made by the general public. This article will explain what public liability insurance does for personal trainers and why it’s so important.
What is Public Liability Insurance, Exactly?
Public liability insurance aka general liability insurance covers personal trainers in the event that someone is injured or has their property damaged anywhere in or around the property of the business.
Understanding risk means looking a little closer at what public liability insurance covers including:
- Injuries: personal trainers carry a liability (or risk) of having to pay for costs like medical bills, doctors visits, ambulance costs, rehab, and even the injured party’s lost wages when someone is injured in or around the training facility due to what’s deemed to be a trainer’s negligence. Negligence is a legal term that means you didn’t do everything you were supposed to to prevent an injury from occurring. Maybe it was a leak in the roof that caused a wet spot or leftover chalk you forgot to clean up in a power rack, but accidents that cause bodily injuries can happen in an instant, even to the most careful trainer.
- Property damage: clients and visitors to a training session can also see their property damaged in an incident. Whether that’s an expensive new iPhone, a pair of Air Jordans, or a million and one other pieces of property, when that property is damaged at your facility and the law says you didn’t do enough to prevent the incident, you may face a lawsuit. General/public liability protection covers both the costs related to the damaged property and any legal costs that might ensue.
It might seem far reaching, but accidents happen all the time in so many different ways. Slip and fall injuries are common which is why this event is sometimes used to describe general liability coverage as a whole. Far from mundane, slip and falls can severely injure and have even killed people.
When the unthinkable happens and suddenly some injured party is demanding you cover all their costs, general liability insurance kicks in to shield the trainer themselves. General liability insurance covers the costs of the injuries, property damage, and even covers legal defense fees if there’s a related lawsuit.
Do Personal Trainers Need General Liability Insurance?
In short, absolutely, and here’s why. Personal trainers work in a fast-paced environment full of heavy objects, clanking machines, cardio equipment, and a bunch of moving bodies. There’s a lot of traffic in and out, a lot of people exerting themselves, and generally just a lot of risks in the health and fitness industry.
That’s where a comprehensive personal trainer insurance policy that includes tough-as-nails general liability coverage is so important for career-spanning protection. General liability is one vital aspect to insurance for personal trainers, but it’s only one side of a trifecta of liability protection necessary for trainers to practice what they love with confidence. IFG also builds in professional liability and product liability coverage, along with a host of other protections, so our members have a spotter through every rep, every session.
By investing in what’s called risk mitigation, a personal trainer can effortlessly transfer the risk of having to pay for injuries or property-damage a client or visitor to their facility sustains. For probably less than what you’re paying in monthly gym dues, you can have complete peace of mind knowing you have millions in coverage and a tailored policy just for the personal training profession.
What Instant Coverage Means
One of the most advantageous aspects of IFG’s personal trainer insurance is that coverage for things like general liability, professional liability, and all of the other coverage areas included with the plan kick in instantly the moment the policy is secured. We also put all of the information up front like what’s covered, how high your limits are, what benefits are received, and most importantly, how much personal trainer insurance costs. There’s never a long and tedious questionnaire to fill out just to get a quote. Know what you’ll pay and see what you’ll get, select your payment options, check out, and pay—that’s it.
As soon as you’re done (typically below a five minute endeavor) you have instant coverage and immediate access to everything that comes with the policy. Show off your shiny new personal trainer insurance COI, access your beneys, and feel secure knowing your insurance plan just launched a forcefield of protection around your entire career. To see what personal trainer insurance covers, check out our blog.
Bulk Up Your Insurance With Added Perks
Personal trainer insurance without benefits is like peanut butter without jelly. In order to make an insurance policy that provides great support from day one, Insure Fitness Group set out to build an awesome suite of member benefits you’ll start using the moment you secure your new coverage.
For a sneak peek on a few of these awesome benefits, check out the following:
- Free playlists for powering through tough workouts.
- A personal trainer resume builder.
- Libraries of fitness-related articles and ideas on how to grow your business.
- Members-only discounts and deals from top fitness companies, organizations, and brands in fitness training today.
- And so much more all included for free with your personal trainer insurance plan from IFG!
When you have a benefits plan that’s worth hundreds all by itself, with perks you can instantly use to support and grow in your career, you can really tap a ton of value inside your insurance program.
A Closer Look at the Cost of Liability Insurance for CPTs
When you click “Get Insured” on IFGs personal trainer insurance page, you are transported to a super easy check out process. You’ll see options for selecting your profession, an overview of the Insure Fitness policy you’ll get, and then payment options.
Some companies make you put in a bunch of information to get a quote or worse have you input all the information and say one of their sales agents will then call you. We didn’t feel like pros deserved a lot of run around just to get great insurance from us so put payment information right up front. You’ll also see options like getting a discount for paying the premium all at once, as well as the ability to spread out payments into low, monthly amounts. There are discounted programs just for students and even the option to get the great benefits plan all by itself.
From there, input your personal info, review, and check out. In the end, how much your liability insurance for personal trainers costs should be weighed against how much coverage you receive, what kind of benefits are included, and how accessible your plan is.
What Happens if You Move During Your Policy Term?
Portability is the name of the game in a solid public liability insurance policy these days. That’s because many trainers move gyms and even move states at some point in their career. Portability is a provision of the policy that says you can move anywhere you like in all 50 U.S. states and as long as you’re following local laws and regulations, your policy will remain 100% in effect. Fully mobile coverage from IFG means you’re covered in the gym, on-site (at a client’s or workshop, for example), or wherever you provide personal training.
Studying to Become a CPT? Insurance for Students
If you’re studying to become a CPT or a personal trainer in general, there’s a great option from Insure Fitness to consider. You can get a students-only policy that comes with a full year of coverage at a super discounted price. IFG provides this option to support and grow the next generation of leaders in the fitness industry.
Where Can You Compare Personal Trainer Insurance Plans?
Last up, if you’re looking at your insurance options (which we strongly suggest), it can get messy to keep all the info straight. That’s why we created an entire page with a complete comparison grid of our plan stacked against other top choices. We do this to help our members easily run through what makes our plan special and decide for themselves which plan is going to be right for their situation.
Fastest Way to Get Personal Trainer Insurance
At Insure Fitness, we’re all about helping trainers get in, get insured, and get back to training as quickly as possible. Our streamlined online application only takes a few minutes and you’ll enjoy every aspect of the plan instantaneously upon checking out. That’s no-nonsense insurance for today’s personal training professionals.
