Why Does A Personal Trainer Need Professional Indemnity Insurance?

Many people across Australia want to get fit, but don’t know where to start. For this reason, thousands of people each year turn to personal trainers to guide them on their journey. These fitness professionals are specially trained to provide advice and recommendations on exercises, healthy behaviours, and dietary changes. It’s important for personal trainers to have the right insurance to protect them in case they accidentally give bad advice that results in harm to their clients.

What Is Professional Indemnity Insurance?

Professional Indemnity Insurance is designed to protect professionals from financial consequences in the event that they make a mistake or give bad advice that results in damage to a client. Personal trainers are responsible for guiding their clients through fitness programs and providing advice on healthy eating, proper techniques, and hygiene. While most training sessions go without issue, there is the potential for errors to happen that could result in injury, illness, or other harm. These damages could include medical bills, loss of income due to an injury, or pain and suffering as a result of the mistake or error.

If a lawsuit is filed, the insurance company will immediately go to work to try and resolve or mitigate the claim. The policy would then cover any costs associated with court awarded payouts and other legal fees (court costs, attorney fees, etc.).

Why Professional Indemnity Insurance Is Important For Personal Trainers

While personal trainers work diligently to provide good advice and guidance to their clients, mistakes can happen. It doesn’t matter if they are intentional, accidental, or negligent, any injury or harm to a client could result in a lawsuit.

• Overexertion- It’s a personal trainer's job to push their clients to work hard in the gym and stay motivated. However, recommendations to increase weight too quickly or advice causing their clients to overexert themselves could cause an injury.
• Recommending Unsafe Acts - Some personal trainers prescribe unconventional activities to their clients. This could cause harm if the activities are high-risk and result in an injury.
• Poor Assessments- Personal trainers need to properly assess their client’s physical conditions and restrictions before creating customized fitness routines or exercises. A miscalculation in the assessment could cause the trainer to make a bad recommendation.
• Dietary Advice- People look to their personal trainers to provide advice on healthy eating habits and supplements used to enhance their workouts. For example, recommending the consumption of raw eggs could increase the risk of Salmonella poisoning.
• Unsatisfactory Service - Unfortunately, some clients may simply be unsatisfied with the results or level of service they receive from you as a personal trainer. While most of these situations don’t escalate to a lawsuit, they could be a risk.  

Professional Indemnity Insurance can help protect against these types of claims and many more. For personal trainers, especially those who operate small businesses, a single lawsuit could bankrupt the business entirely. It’s best not to take the risk and get the correct insurance policy to cover most situations.

Personal Trainers Look To upcover For Indemnity Protection

If you're looking for indemnity insurance for personal trainers be sure to visit upcover's instant quote generator to get an estimate on market-leading business insurance in seconds! Just enter your occupation and expected revenue to get started.