Need life coaching insurance?
Whether you’re new to being a life coach or have been running a successful life coach business for a few years, life coaching insurance has probably crossed your mind once or twice.
Today, you’ll learn:
- What type of life coach insurance you need (if any)
- How much insurance costs
- Where to get it
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s dive in!
(Before we start, it’s important to note that this article and its advice have been crafted through my own research. It doesn’t constitute legal advice – for that, you should always seek help from a legal professional.)
We’ll look at…
- The type of insurance you need
- The different types of coaching insurance
- How much coaching insurance costs
- Where to get insurance as a coach
What kind of insurance do you need as a life coach?
You probably have a lot of questions about life coaching insurance, but let’s start by getting the most important one out of the way: Do you really need life coaching insurance?
Coaching is a largely unregulated industry, unlike counseling or therapy. Because of this, there’s no legal requirement for life coaches to have insurance the way there is for licensed professionals, like doctors, therapists, or other counselors.
(Note: Some coaching niches are regulated. They are mainly in the health coaching space.)
That said, insurance can be a way for you to get peace of mind.
Insurance policies act as a safeguard and protect you and your business in the unfortunate event that you ever find yourself amid a legal issue.
Believe it or not, life coaches do face legal risks. Most often, those risks appear when one of the following happens:
- A coach forgoes having a client sign a contract. Without a contract in place, neither party has a set of guidelines or expectations to fall back on, leaving the coach open to legal action. (So have one in place! Here’s my guide on coaching contracts.)
- Expectations aren’t met, leading to a breach of contract. When this occurs, the client feels they didn’t get the outcome they paid for, which can lead to a lawsuit.
Get the Ultimate Guide
for building a
6-Figure Coaching Business so you can achieve more freedom! - The coach gives advice that blurs the line between coaching and therapy, medical, financial, or legal advice. This type of incident is also known as a tort.
But other risks can also happen in your practice – think about things such as illness, injury, and damage to your workplace. Insurance is there to protect you and your business in the event of any issues.
At the end of the day, whether or not you choose to get life coaching insurance is up to you.
Get the insurance(s) you need to get and then focus on the one thing that will make all the difference for your business – growing your business.
What are the different types of insurance for life coaches?
You might be wondering about the different types of life coaching insurance policies that are currently available to you. If so, let’s keep going.
Professional liability insurance
Also referred to as errors and omissions insurance or indemnity insurance, professional liability insurance is one of the most common types of insurance for life coaches. It acts as a barrier in the event that you get sued for the information or advice you provide during the course of your career as a coach.
This insurance works a lot like more typical insurance policies such as health or car insurance. If something happens and it’s covered under the policy, the insurance company will pay the amount owed instead of you. You will be held responsible if the policy doesn’t cover the incident.
Professional liability insurance will also cover any expenses you accrue during your defense as well as settlement or damage in your case.
There is a caveat, however:
A life coach liability insurance only covers you if you’re within the boundaries of your practice and not breaking any laws.
Lisa Fraley, a good friend of mine and legal coach for coaches, has a great post about professional liability coverage for life coaches.
Read it here if you’d like to learn more.
Cyber liability insurance
Cyber liability insurance is an insurance that protects your digital work.
Where do you store client information? If your answer is “my computer,” that information is at risk.
In 2022 alone, thousands of hacking incidents were reported, and over 422 million people were impacted by data breaches, leaks, and exposure.
If a data breach affects your business, your clients’ financial details and session information could get stolen.
Ultimately, your and your clients’ information could be used in the wrong way (think: identity theft, leaks, and so on).
Cyber liability covers many of those events and includes things like:
- Forensic investigation
- Litigation coverage
- Crisis management expenses
- Business interruption
- Betterment
General liability
Sometimes referred to as business liability insurance, general liability insurance protects your business from client claims made for:
- Bodily harm
- Property damage
- Personal injury
General liability is mainly relevant for you if you offer offline coaching. For example, if a client slips and falls on your stairs and sustains an injury, your general liability insurance covers you against those types of claims.
General liability insurance covers things like:
- Everything from lawsuit costs to damage repairs
- Replacement costs
- Medical costs
Workers’ compensation insurance
Most states legally require businesses with employees to provide their team with medical insurance and sick leave.
If a team member does have a work-related accident or illness, you’ll need to cover those costs as well as lost wages.
Enter workers’ compensation insurance, which typically covers medical expenses, lost wages, and rehabilitation costs to any employee injured, ill, or even killed on the job.
In the unlikely and tragic event of death, it also covers death benefits to the families.
However, this insurance becomes relevant once you have employees. If you’re a solopreneur right now, this isn’t something you need to include in your insurance stack.
Commercial property and auto insurance
Commercial property and auto insurance are two types of insurance policies intended to help you safeguard your business assets.
Get the Ultimate Guide
for building a
6-Figure Coaching Business so you can achieve more freedom!
Commercial property insurance covers everything related to your business, including what’s inside your building and outside of it.
That includes big-ticket items like:
- Your office, furniture
- Business equipment
- Signs
- Fences
- Inventory
It even covers more minor things like phones and computers.
Typically, this type of policy covers events like theft, vandalism, fire, storms, and burst pipes.
As for commercial auto insurance, this insurance applies only to cars you’ve bought or leased explicitly for your business. It provides coverage for liability damages, collisions, physical damage or loss, as well as any injuries made to those within the car.
Business owner’s policy insurance
If you’re a coach who works from home, a business owner’s policy (BOP) is a great option, as it combines both property and liability coverage into one package. It also helps fill in the gaps that your homeowner insurance policy won’t.
BOP protects you if your business is impacted by fire and theft, as well as any claims that come up through your operations. (Like advertising injury or property damage claims.)
Disability insurance
One harsh reality check for new coaches is that you don’t get sick leave or paid time off – if you’re not working, you’re not making money.
Disability insurance helps you through any periods when you find yourself unable to work because of sickness or injury.
The best part is that disability insurance isn’t limited just to freak accidents. Because they can happen in any workplace, you can even make claims for physical injuries and more serious illnesses, such as cancer.
That’s it – those are the different insurance policies available to you.
But how much do they cost? That’s what we’ll look at next.
How much does a life coach insurance policy cost?
There are several factors that determine the cost of your life coaching insurance policy – or policies. These include:
- Your location
- Risk level
- Claims history
- Number of employees
- The kind of coaching you provide
However, here is the approximate life coach insurance cost:
- Professional liability insurance: $1,057 per year
- Cyber liability insurance: About $2,000 per year
- General liability insurance: About $500 per year
- Worker’s compensation: About $540 per year
- Commercial property and auto insurance: About $1,800 per year
- Business owner’s policy (BOP) insurance: Ranges from about $500 to $2,000 per year
- Disability insurance: On average, it will cost about 1-3% of your income
Your cost could be lower or higher than the averages above – again, it will depend on you and your coaching business. Often, insurance is more expensive for those with a history of claims, higher coverage requirements, or a high-risk level.
Remember, you don’t have to sign up for every policy right now – you can always start small and add more policies as you need to.
Where should you get insurance as a life coach?
Now we’ve discussed the types of life coach insurance coverage you might consider, as well as their cost. It’s time to think about how to actually find and enroll in the policies.
Progressive Commercial
Progressive Insurance is more than just cars and homes – they also tailor their services to life coaches.
The Progressive Advantage Business Owner program makes it easy to find a provider and discuss what’s best for you, whether you’ve been doing this for years or are just starting out.
Progressive offers general liability, professional liability, commercial auto, and BOP policies.
Hiscox Business Insurance
Like Progressive, Hiscox also offers insurance for life coaches as well as career and executive coaches. Their plans include professional and general liability as well as BOP.
Hiscox has several benefits, including flexible payment options, coverage for contracts, worldwide coverage, and speedy claims responsiveness.
Get the Ultimate Guide
for building a
6-Figure Coaching Business so you can achieve more freedom!
CM&F Group
CM&F has been in the insurance business for more than 100 years, so you’re in safe hands.
Their life coach disability insurance comes with several benefits, including $2 million per claim, telemedicine and telehealth, license defense, sexual misconduct defense, and HIPAA defense.
General liability insurance is also available.
Over to you!
There you have it – a comprehensive guide to insurance for life coaches, when you need one, what type you need, how much it costs, and where to get it.
The next step after you’ve chosen your policy?
Continue building a profitable, meaningful business to replace your 9-5.
How?
Get your free copy of my blueprint for building a six-figure coaching business to learn how to get your first paying clients and leave your 9-5:
Want to Build a 6-Figure Coaching Business So You Can Achieve More Freedom?
When you sign up, you’ll also receive regular updates on building a successful online business.
Read more:
One Response
Hey, I was just on your webinar, I haven’t signed up yet for this main reason. I haven’t been able to find a company that will provide liability insurance. I don’t want to start my business and get clients without that in place. You see, I live in Sweden and have aspirations of working online globally as a solution-focused coach and counsellor with my clients living mainly in North America as it is where I received my traning. However, there are no insurance companies that I can work with if my clients are based in North America which is what I want…
Do you have any advice – I really want to sign up.