As a Pilates instructor, liability insurance is a must-have to keep you and your business protected. In this post, we’ll break down Pilates liability insurance—why it’s important, what it covers, and how to find the right policy for you. With the right coverage, you can focus on guiding your clients confidently, knowing you’re safeguarded from unexpected costs and providing peace of mind in every session.
10. Pilates Teacher Insurance Transfers Risk
Insurance is the best way to help mitigate, or transfer, risk away from yourself and onto an insurance carrier. This means claims that might arise and that fall under the specific terms of the pilates insurance policy are covered, up to whatever predetermined coverage limits are present. Rather than having to pay out of pocket, you have the financial backing of your insurance carrier for covering the costs of covered claims.
As an instructor of a fitness discipline like Pilates, you are helping clients of all backgrounds work towards their health goals. Pilates involves using a lot of different pieces of specialized equipment to follow the set workouts. Clients trust their instructor to provide a safe environment for the class and when an injury or damage to their property occurs, can legally hold their instructor responsible for covering some, if not all, of the costs to make them whole.
9. Pilates Instructor Insurance is Cheaper than the Cost of a Claim
For $189 per year or around $17 a month when you choose to finance, Pilates instructor insurance is hands-down cheaper than almost any form of liability claim or other loss event that might occur. Let’s consider an example. A client is trying to do a new move you’re showing the class on the Reformer machine. The client pushes themselves too hard and tears a muscle in the process. Between their medical bills, rehab, lost wages, and other costs, they decide to sue for thousands.
Even if a claim against your pilates instruction is entirely without merit, you’ll still need to shell out money for legal defense. At just $189 per year, a claim like this would be covered all the way up to the $1 million per occurrence coverage limit for general and professional liability.
8. Pilates Liability Insurance Provides Many Forms of Protection
At IFG, we don’t believe in half-assing anything in your business and pilates liability insurance is no exception. The program we’ve developed for pilates instructors is one of the most comprehensive on the market today to provide an effective safeguard for practicing instructors.
Pilates instructor insurance protects in many different ways including:
- General Liability Coverage: this protects instructors from claims for injuries or property damage that occur in class or around the business property. You’ll hear this coverage called slip and fall insurance since this type of claim is unfortunately all-too-common.
- Professional Liability Coverage: professional liability is called malpractice insurance or errors and omissions insurance (E&O). This covers accidents resulting in injuries or property damage during, or as a result of, the pilates instruction you provide to your client.
- Product Liability Coverage: Pilates relies on several different pieces of equipment to provide a physical workout. When one of these pieces malfunctions and injures a client, they may decide to hold you responsible for paying all of their medical costs.
- Rental Damage Insurance Coverage: additional protections like rental insurance should always be included in a comprehensive insurance plan. As many pilates instructors decide to rent space from a gym or a studio to conduct classes, damages to the space are commonplace. As with most leases, any damages that occur during this tenure can be placed on the tenant to cover. Rental damages coverage helps provide for the costs of repairs.
- Stolen Equipment Coverage: pilates instructors can spend megabucks on outfitting their space with the best pilates equipment available. When a robbery-by-force leaves you without vital equipment, the results can be devastating personally, as well as professionally. This coverage is a safeguard for the equipment necessary to continue providing your services.
- Identity Protection: today’s fitness professionals rely on the internet more than ever to communicate, market, and even provide sessions. With so much activity, the threat of cybertheft has never been higher. If a cyber event puts your identity at risk, you have all the way up to $25,000 to cover the costs of work performed by identity restoration experts.
Many pilates teacher insurance programs out there stop with covering just a few different big liabilities, but this can leave a professional dangerously exposed to the risks that face the modern pilates teacher.
7. Pilates Insurance Provides Additional Benefits
Insurance for pilates instructors needs to provide great coverage but it also needs to come with a variety of additional benefits that add value to the investment. Even at just $189 per year for professional pilates teachers, our insurance program is designed to maximize the investment made. That’s why we include some of the very best benefits offered by pilates insurance programs today. We strive to build key relationships with the top names in fitness gear, service providers, and even event companies to provide the best in early-access deals and promotions.
We also provide access to free business resources and a library of curated content by fitness pros, for fitness pros. We don’t see insurance as a just a “one and done” event that you throw in the filing cabinet and don’t use till there’s a problem. We believe insurance should be dynamic, working just as hard in the day-to-day as you do in your classes.
6. Pilates Insurance is Necessary to Operate in Many Locations
When you choose to rent space to start classes, most often a landlord will ask to see a Certificate of Insurance (COI). This is also true at industry events where you might be signed up to teach a class. A COI is proof of your current insurance coverage and helps the landlord, event organizers, and other parties know that you have the financial backing of a reputable insurance carrier should an accident or damage occur within the rented space. With IFG, you can sign up for coverage and produce a full and complete COI in just a few minutes.
5. Pilates Insurance Provides Instructors Peace of Mind
This may seem like a no brainer, but insurance gives you that safety net that lets you know you’re covered for something you might have absolutely no control over. Accidents happen when you least expect them to. Sometimes a student doesn’t go over their health history with enough detail and they get hurt in class, or someone slips on some water moving from one apparatus to the next; however an accident occurs they are extremely difficult to predict.
Pilates insurance helps you know that for a low, annual rate, you can have an all-encompassing insurance program covering you from a variety of angles. Added benefits for the program help you feel confident you’re getting a good value for the investment.
4. Pilates Insurance Provides Business Continuity
As a pilates instructor, the knowledge inside your head and the equipment you’re using are arguably the most valuable assets in your business. Your teaching style attracts clients and your equipment helps progress them forward in their fitness goals. Since pilates liability insurance protects you personally, as well as the equipment you use to conduct classes, even when an unexpected event crops up, your business operations can continue unhindered. Without insurance, a judgement against you could put your personal finances and business assets in jeopardy.
3. Pilates Insurance Covers More than Just Pilates
At IFG, our program is designed to be as flexible as our members are and covers a wide range of different fitness instruction, group classes, and health and wellness activities. HIIT, Zumba, Dance, and many others are all under one comprehensive insurance program.
2. Pilates Insurance Distinguishes Your Services
Being able to show potential clients that you’re properly accredited, as well as insured demonstrates that you are a professional who is taking your role seriously. Insurance provides peace of mind for both instructors and students participating in hands-on fitness classes like Pilates.
1. Pilates Instructor Insurance is Your Personal Safeguard
Even when working in a gym with it’s own insurance, the best way to protect yourself is to have your own pilates insurance coverage. For around $17 per month, this relatively inexpensive safeguard can pay huge dividends whenever an accident occurs. Rather than taking a bling chance, investing in insurance helps pilates instructors have a roadmap for long-term success.
Know Your Rate, Know Your Coverage, Get Insurance in Minutes
IFG designed insurance for fitness professionals to be transparent and accessible. You never have to fill out a long questionnaire to find out your rate or what’s covered. Simply go online, fill out an application, check out, and enjoy full coverage with immediate access to your plan documents. See our blog on other reasons to have pilates insurance for more information.
