Getting insurance is essential if you’re working in Australia as a personal trainer. You are the first point of contact for people who want to get a handle on their health. The Australian Health Survey found that obesity rates in Australian adults are on the rise, with 63% now classed as overweight or obese. It also found 67% of Australians perform little to no exercise and only 5.6% of Australian adults had an adequate daily intake of fruit and vegetables.
Personal Trainer Insurance in Other Countries
There’s clear evidence that in an increasingly unhealthy population, they would benefit from the guidance of a fitness professional. However, for many adults joining the gym for the first time, taking on a fitness goal might be new to them. Many adults haven’t exercised since they left school and in the unfortunate case where someone might get hurt, having proper insurances in place can protect you, the commercial gym and the client.
You can protect yourself with public liability insurance. In the event that one of your clients hurts themselves while training, and alleges that it’s your fault, this is the insurance that will protect you financially. It covers the claimant’s medical expenses, any lost earnings because of the injury, and any legal fees. It includes the equipment used in the course of a training session too.
Whether you work in a mainstream commercial gym, in a boutique studio offering specialist fitness packages, or you work with clients in a different way - you are required to have insurance. Sometimes you will be covered by your employer’s insurance policy, but this isn’t always the case. And you’re not always directly employed - so having your own insurance is a good idea. If additional paperwork is required, such as council permissions to train clients outdoors or in public facilities, insurance is a pre-requisite of obtaining the permissions you will need.
As you’re considering the policies which are right for you, you might want to make sure that the type of insurance cover needed is included in your policy. In Australia, the types of cover available from different companies are very similar but may vary slightly in terms of the level of protection available for professional instructors of contact sports such as the martial arts and outdoor pursuits. You may want to consider the following types of cover in your research:
- Public liability insurance will protect you if you get hurt, a client gets hurt, or if gym equipment gets damaged during a session.
- Professional indemnity insurance protects you against legal action if your clients get hurt based on the advice you’ve given them.
- Sports equipment cover allows you to make a claim if your equipment is lost, stolen or damaged. This can be especially useful if you own your own stuff, and take it to clients homes or to boot camps.
- Personal accident cover is for you as the trainer. If you get hurt and can’t work, this can pay for physio or rehab.
- Loss of earnings cover is used if you were to become sick or injured and unable to earn money. This would help to cover your expenses until you’re well enough to go back to work.
- Employers liability insurance is relevant if you employ other trainers, and would cover any claims made against your business by them.
In Australia, if you work with clients outdoors in small groups (like a bootcamp) or in a one to one personal training setup, you must get permission from the local council to train them outdoors. You will not be able to get a council permit if you do not have adequate insurance in place.
Here are some of the industry leaders in providing insurance for personal trainers in Australia. You may want to make a particular note of the excess you have to pay in your policy. That means that if you have to actually make a claim on your insurance, this is the amount you have to cover yourself.
Insurance for Exercise Professionals by Guild
The policy is endorsed by Fitness Australia and is fulfilled by Insurance for Exercise Professionals Guild Insurance. They offer desirable elements of cover that aren’t always included as standard, including:
The policy is broad, offering Professional Indemnity, Public Liability and Products Liability cover. Attractively, there is one set excess fee of $250 no matter what level of cover you opt for. There are a range of other, minor insurances included, all in a single policy. This makes it extremely easy to retain all your important documents in one place. This policy includes:
This insurance company is also able to cover students who are yet to fully qualify, provided they are registered with Fitness Australia.
- Good Samaritan cover. This protection relates to when you may be called upon to provide first aid or assistance in an emergency situation which then goes wrong.
- You’re covered for property damaged when you’re working at a third-party location such as a client’s home, and you’re not limited to equipment used at a single designated gym location.
- Breach of confidentiality cover following an alleged or actual unintentional breach of confidentiality by you.
- Liability cover if you lose important documents, such as client records or other sensitive information. If you are legally liable for your clients’ health records, this cover protects you when you are held responsible for damage or loss of third party documents up to the value of $250,000.
- 24/7 claims support via a dedicated phone number.
The policy is broad, offering Professional Indemnity, Public Liability and Products Liability cover. Attractively, there is one set excess fee of $250 no matter what level of cover you opt for. There are a range of other, minor insurances included, all in a single policy. This makes it extremely easy to retain all your important documents in one place. This policy includes:
- $5 million professional indemnity
- $10 or 20 million public liability
- $10 or 20 million products liability
- $100k property in your care cover
- Dedicated personal account manager
- Fast claims service with outstanding customer service
- Dedicated risk management website
This insurance company is also able to cover students who are yet to fully qualify, provided they are registered with Fitness Australia.
JLT Sport
This insurance is offered through Physical Activity Australia. They offer comprehensive and affordable public liability and professional indemnity insurance cover protecting you from $5 million to $20 million, ranging in cost from $100-$130 annually. Uniquely, they have no excess payable on their policies!
This policy is suitable for personal trainers, fitness instructors, yoga instructors, pilates instructors, boot camp trainers, CrossFit coaches, and all registrants of qualifying fitness associations including Physical Activity Australia, FIA Fitnation, Fitness Australia and Australian Fitness Network.
The insurer requires that you meet the following standards in order to be covered by their policy:
Although the JLT insurance is offered through Physical Activity Australia, it’s actually underwritten by Marsh. Marsh is the number one insurance broker in the world, and have risk advisers and analysis experts in over 130 countries globally. You can also buy personal trainer insurance directly through them.
This policy is suitable for personal trainers, fitness instructors, yoga instructors, pilates instructors, boot camp trainers, CrossFit coaches, and all registrants of qualifying fitness associations including Physical Activity Australia, FIA Fitnation, Fitness Australia and Australian Fitness Network.
The insurer requires that you meet the following standards in order to be covered by their policy:
- Have completed a fitness qualification (minimum Certificate 3 in Fitness)
- Hold a current Senior First Aid and CPR certification
- Hold a ‘License to Practice’ as a professional from at least one of the following entities: Physical Activity Australia, FIA Fitnation, Fitness Australia and Australian Fitness Network
- Be committed to ongoing professional development
- Be eligible for professional insurance cover
- Ensure that all of my clients who participate on online courses are provided with a disclaimer stating that the client is responsible for their own duty of care whilst undertaking the online program.
Although the JLT insurance is offered through Physical Activity Australia, it’s actually underwritten by Marsh. Marsh is the number one insurance broker in the world, and have risk advisers and analysis experts in over 130 countries globally. You can also buy personal trainer insurance directly through them.
Marsh Advantage Insurance
Marsh Advantage is an insurance broker that offers competitive rates of cover for a range of fitness professionals. Marsh is the world’s leading insurance broker and risk adviser with risk analysis experts in over 130 countries. But they are not specialists in fitness-industry insurance.
They do have a decade’s experience working with personal trainers, fitness instructors, boot camp instructors (remember if you’re training clients outdoors you need permission from the local council), yoga teachers and Pilates instructors. They also mentioned that they cover dance instructors, cheerleaders, and boxercise instructors - as well as nutrition cover and allied health and beauty services.
Premiums start at $141 and you can make your application online and apply for a digital certificate to be sent to you within minutes. It’s worth making particular enquiries if you offer martial arts or contact sport training as these are not mentioned on their website.
They do have a decade’s experience working with personal trainers, fitness instructors, boot camp instructors (remember if you’re training clients outdoors you need permission from the local council), yoga teachers and Pilates instructors. They also mentioned that they cover dance instructors, cheerleaders, and boxercise instructors - as well as nutrition cover and allied health and beauty services.
Premiums start at $141 and you can make your application online and apply for a digital certificate to be sent to you within minutes. It’s worth making particular enquiries if you offer martial arts or contact sport training as these are not mentioned on their website.
Express Insurance
Express Insurance offers insurance premiums to protect personal trainers from legal action taken in the event of:
Which seems pretty standard compared with other insurance providers. However, their prices are determined by your annual turnover and insist on a minimum premium - which is not standard. Their minimum total premiums for Professional Indemnity starts from $602, which may be prohibitive for new trainers, or those working in the fitness industry part-time. This Public Liability Insurance covers you for up to $5 million and prices start from $295 annually. This cost is also significantly higher than most other providers and it isn’t clear from their website what additional features and benefits of their service that you get to justify this significantly higher cost.
- Incorrect guidance and advice in relation to dietary plans and diet modifications, and food selection and preparation.
- Creating training plans that are unsuitable for a client which could injure them.
- Giving the client incorrect advice.
- Bodily injury while training due to negligence of personal trainer.
Which seems pretty standard compared with other insurance providers. However, their prices are determined by your annual turnover and insist on a minimum premium - which is not standard. Their minimum total premiums for Professional Indemnity starts from $602, which may be prohibitive for new trainers, or those working in the fitness industry part-time. This Public Liability Insurance covers you for up to $5 million and prices start from $295 annually. This cost is also significantly higher than most other providers and it isn’t clear from their website what additional features and benefits of their service that you get to justify this significantly higher cost.
AON
AON provides insurance coverage for personal trainers and group fitness instructors - with a quite broad definition of the health sector, you can check if your particular role is covered here.
Their insurance policy will not include strongman lifting, sparring or other martial arts, and they do not extend their cover to the coaching of professional athletes.
Professional Indemnity covers personal trainers for:
Public and Products Liability covers personal trainers for:
Prices start from $159.50 with no excess to pay if you have to make a claim. They are currently offering 15 months cover for the price of 12 months. This policy includes two hours of free, fully confidential legal advice. That means you can speak honestly to their legal team without it having an impact on a claim you may be making with AON - although curiously, you’re not allowed to talk to their legal team about your policy. This sounds like it could be useful for more general legal advice, rather than the legalities of your specific policy. You’re even covered for claims made up to 7 years after you finish working in the fitness industry - called “run-off cover”.
AON also have a feature in their policy called “Unlimited retroactive date” which means that you are covered for claims relating to events that happened before you purchased cover with AON, as long as you weren’t aware of a claim pending against you before you purchased the policy with them. You buy your insurance policy online, and you get your certificate within minutes.
Their insurance policy will not include strongman lifting, sparring or other martial arts, and they do not extend their cover to the coaching of professional athletes.
Professional Indemnity covers personal trainers for:
- Claims made against you and notified to the insurer during the period of insurance resulting from certain errors or omissions in the conduct of your professional services.
- Legal fees, settlements and court attendance costs associated with any such claim.
- Flexible policies which can be adjusted to payout: $1 million, $2 million, $5 million, $10 million or $20 million.
Public and Products Liability covers personal trainers for:
- Third-party injury or property damage arising as a result of your business that occurs on any premises you work from, in most parts of the world.
- The sale or supply of a product that causes bodily injury or property damage.
Prices start from $159.50 with no excess to pay if you have to make a claim. They are currently offering 15 months cover for the price of 12 months. This policy includes two hours of free, fully confidential legal advice. That means you can speak honestly to their legal team without it having an impact on a claim you may be making with AON - although curiously, you’re not allowed to talk to their legal team about your policy. This sounds like it could be useful for more general legal advice, rather than the legalities of your specific policy. You’re even covered for claims made up to 7 years after you finish working in the fitness industry - called “run-off cover”.
AON also have a feature in their policy called “Unlimited retroactive date” which means that you are covered for claims relating to events that happened before you purchased cover with AON, as long as you weren’t aware of a claim pending against you before you purchased the policy with them. You buy your insurance policy online, and you get your certificate within minutes.
Wrapping Up
Most Australian insurance providers boast a pretty flexible attitude to your policy, with options to increase cover as and when it’s required. If you’re a trainer that uses outdoor spaces to train your clients, it’s important that you’ve had permission from your local council to do that which requires insurance before you apply.
Making sure that you have insurance in place before you step foot on the gym floor will be essential for a personal trainer working in Australia. Gyms will insist on seeing valid insurance documents, along with your relevant qualifications before letting you take classes or train clients.
When deciding which policy you need, it’s probably smart to check first if your particular job role is covered specifically by the policy (especially if you aren’t a traditional personal trainer or fitness instructor at a gym), how much the premium costs, and whether you have to pay an excess to make a claim.
Making sure that you have insurance in place before you step foot on the gym floor will be essential for a personal trainer working in Australia. Gyms will insist on seeing valid insurance documents, along with your relevant qualifications before letting you take classes or train clients.
When deciding which policy you need, it’s probably smart to check first if your particular job role is covered specifically by the policy (especially if you aren’t a traditional personal trainer or fitness instructor at a gym), how much the premium costs, and whether you have to pay an excess to make a claim.
