What insurance do all of you use?

[GBLynden]

I plan to do freelance work and work in their homes or out of the gym in my apartment, etc.

[PeteratCastle]

I plan to do freelance work and work in their homes or out of the gym in my apartment, etc.

In the UK it's just the standard liability insurance you need. Value is upto £5mill, though you can get it for upto £10mill for an extra £20 or so.

[GBLynden]

Thank you for your response. Do you really think you need insurance levels that high?

This is what I am looking at with the one my certification provider suggests:

LIMITS OF LIABILITY/RATES:

1 Year Policy
$1,000,000 / $2,000,000 – $172/Year
$2,000,000 / $3,000,000 – $217/Year
$5,000,000 / $6,000,000 – $261/Year

Would you go for the top tier of coverage?

Repped for your help.

GB

[SageFit]

Thank you for your response. Do you really think you need insurance levels that high?

This is what I am looking at with the one my certification provider suggests:

LIMITS OF LIABILITY/RATES:

1 Year Policy
$1,000,000 / $2,000,000 – $172/Year
$2,000,000 / $3,000,000 – $217/Year
$5,000,000 / $6,000,000 – $261/Year

Would you go for the top tier of coverage?

Repped for your help.

GB

Lowest is fine. Only reason I ever get higher is per rules of the landlord.

[PeteratCastle]

Thank you for your response. Do you really think you need insurance levels that high?

This is what I am looking at with the one my certification provider suggests:

LIMITS OF LIABILITY/RATES:

1 Year Policy
$1,000,000 / $2,000,000 – $172/Year
$2,000,000 / $3,000,000 – $217/Year
$5,000,000 / $6,000,000 – $261/Year

Would you go for the top tier of coverage?

Repped for your help.

GB

I need that level as it's pretty much the law in the UK, it's also only about 87£, so $150'ish, a year. We don't have the seeing culture in the UK that you do in the states but for some reason we have to get ridic cover. (we would only ever get sued if we really screwed up, say by having someone with ridic high blood pressure do isometric exercises etc or not have them consult a doctor.

Sage says below that you should be OK with the lowest so would go with his advice as he has the local knowledge you need.
Expensive though @172 a year.

[SFT]

Call me crazy, but I say go with the highest. $90/year to me is nothing. That is $0.25 per day to give me that extra peace of mind.

$4.4 million dollar lawsuit for slipping on water - They had some proof to show that there was negligence, that they knew that there was a problem with a leaky roof. A doctor says at 30, his physical capacity is now close to that of a 60-70 year old because he has a limp due to ankle problems. Medical bills apparently amounted to $125,000, so I'm guessing he sued for a loss of future income potential?
http://sportinlaw.com/2012/03/04/pla...t-l-a-fitness/

Now I'm sure there are plenty more out there. If you were truly a complete moron, as in the case of that $320 million dollar lawsuit because a personal training prescribed supplements to someone who was hypertensive, then no amount of insurance is going to save you or your business. That being said, if you aren't filed as an LLC or corporation, then there is no barrier between the person trying to sue you, and your assets. Even if you have that barrier, anything over $1,000,000 is enough to wipe out your business that you have worked so hard at.

Now someone will surely suggest that if you do everything by the book, or if you're not a complete idiot, then you won't get sued. I was reading about the topic of fitness clubs/professionals and lawsuits. The statistics say that there are still people out there not screening clients, asking for physician clearance, not having properly planned and practiced emergency procedures, among other things that is just asking you to be sued.

I think that a multi-million dollar lawsuit is too real of a possibility these days to settle for the lowest end insurance out there. Maybe I'll be the idiot spending the extra money for the rest of my life, but I'll sleep better at night. I am very careful when working with clients, but a freak accident can always happen.

By the way, who gave you those rates?

[GBLynden]

Call me crazy, but I say go with the highest. $90/year to me is nothing. That is $0.25 per day to give me that extra peace of mind.

$4.4 million dollar lawsuit for slipping on water - They had some proof to show that there was negligence, that they knew that there was a problem with a leaky roof. A doctor says at 30, his physical capacity is now close to that of a 60-70 year old because he has a limp due to ankle problems. Medical bills apparently amounted to $125,000, so I'm guessing he sued for a loss of future income potential?
http://sportinlaw.com/2012/03/04/pla...t-l-a-fitness/

Now I'm sure there are plenty more out there. If you were truly a complete moron, as in the case of that $320 million dollar lawsuit because a personal training prescribed supplements to someone who was hypertensive, then no amount of insurance is going to save you or your business. That being said, if you aren't filed as an LLC or corporation, then there is no barrier between the person trying to sue you, and your assets. Even if you have that barrier, anything over $1,000,000 is enough to wipe out your business that you have worked so hard at.

Now someone will surely suggest that if you do everything by the book, or if you're not a complete idiot, then you won't get sued. I was reading about the topic of fitness clubs/professionals and lawsuits. The statistics say that there are still people out there not screening clients, asking for physician clearance, not having properly planned and practiced emergency procedures, among other things that is just asking you to be sued.

I think that a multi-million dollar lawsuit is too real of a possibility these days to settle for the lowest end insurance out there. Maybe I'll be the idiot spending the extra money for the rest of my life, but I'll sleep better at night. I am very careful when working with clients, but a freak accident can always happen.

By the way, who gave you those rates?

Thank you very much for this post. You make some very valid points and even though I am very conservative, **** happens.

I clicked on a link off of the NASM insurance page and it linked to this company. It is called Insureyourclub.com. It is the one they recommend apparently, but I just called them for a list of other options in the US.

These are the options in the e-mail I just received:

NASM does not provide insurance but we do recommend the following insurance carriers. Please contact them directly to receive more detailed information.

Fitness and Wellness Liability insurance for only $172/year

IDEA
800.999.4332
www.ideafit.com

Sports & Fitness Insurance800.844.0536
www.sportsfitness.com

K & K Insurance
800.648.6406
www.kandkinsurance.com

National Health Club Association
800.765.6422

Regards,

NASM Staff

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Does anyone have/use coverage from one of these companies?

Thank you,

GB

PS: What is this abuse and molestation coverage all about? Who would do anything to their clients while they are training them?

[GBLynden]

So I ended up speaking with InsureYourClub.com on the phone and the folks I spoke with had horrible customer service skills.

Does anyone else go through this company for their insurance?

[rockangel]

Call me crazy, but I say go with the highest. $90/year to me is nothing. That is $0.25 per day to give me that extra peace of mind.

$4.4 million dollar lawsuit for slipping on water - They had some proof to show that there was negligence, that they knew that there was a problem with a leaky roof. A doctor says at 30, his physical capacity is now close to that of a 60-70 year old because he has a limp due to ankle problems. Medical bills apparently amounted to $125,000, so I'm guessing he sued for a loss of future income potential?
http://sportinlaw.com/2012/03/04/pla...t-l-a-fitness/

Now I'm sure there are plenty more out there. If you were truly a complete moron, as in the case of that $320 million dollar lawsuit because a personal training prescribed supplements to someone who was hypertensive, then no amount of insurance is going to save you or your business. That being said, if you aren't filed as an LLC or corporation, then there is no barrier between the person trying to sue you, and your assets. Even if you have that barrier, anything over $1,000,000 is enough to wipe out your business that you have worked so hard at.

Now someone will surely suggest that if you do everything by the book, or if you're not a complete idiot, then you won't get sued. I was reading about the topic of fitness clubs/professionals and lawsuits. The statistics say that there are still people out there not screening clients, asking for physician clearance, not having properly planned and practiced emergency procedures, among other things that is just asking you to be sued.

I think that a multi-million dollar lawsuit is too real of a possibility these days to settle for the lowest end insurance out there. Maybe I'll be the idiot spending the extra money for the rest of my life, but I'll sleep better at night. I am very careful when working with clients, but a freak accident can always happen.

By the way, who gave you those rates?

I would say the opposite, the chances of you getting sued for multi million dollare is highly unlikely. The case you cited was for LA Fitness, a large well known and profitable gym chain. Not some little PT who does it out of their home. What lawyer is going to take a case and seek that kind of money from an indivifual who makes very little money, has little assets, and the case has little chances of making money.
As you said, no insurance i know of covers supplements or nutirion, so your sol their anyways.
But each person has to assess what they are willing to risk, so if it makes you feel better, add more. If you think you can live with the risk, than keep it low or moderate. Me personally i go the moderate route because i know how high medical bills can get.

[GBLynden]

So are you guys not willing to talk about what insurance company you are going with?

[SFT]

Right now I have a $1/3 million policy from Philadelphia Insurance Company, through Ideafit. You basically have to join Ideafit, which I otherwise wouldn't do, but you still get a decent rate. At the time, it was the cheapest that I could find from a legitimate looking business. Unfortunately they don't offer the rates that was mentioned above.

$1/3 million is the least I'm willing to live with, but when I renew this year I will be looking into a $2 million per incident if they will offer it at a good rate.

[GBLynden]

Right now I have a $1/3 million policy from Philadelphia Insurance Company, through Ideafit. You basically have to join Ideafit, which I otherwise wouldn't do, but you still get a decent rate. At the time, it was the cheapest that I could find from a legitimate looking business. Unfortunately they don't offer the rates that was mentioned above.

$1/3 million is the least I'm willing to live with, but when I renew this year I will be looking into a $2 million per incident if they will offer it at a good rate.

Reps on spread for sharing. Thank you!

[rockangel]

So are you guys not willing to talk about what insurance company you are going with?

Actually i couldnt tell you off the top of my head so i had to go back and look,
I went with K & K.

[GBLynden]

Actually i couldnt tell you off the top of my head so i had to go back and look,
I went with K & K.

I appreciate it!

[Teethatyourfeet]

Bump...

Anyone from Canada, specifically the GTA, with a company that they consider to be great?

[MkADcision]

I am not sure about the "great part", brah, but two companies who provides insurance for fitness professionals are: Sports-can and Hub HKMB