Are Life Coaches Liable for Damage and Accidents?

The short answer? Very possibly. That’s why it’s so important for you to protect your life coaching business. After all, you’ve invested countless hours into building your business and reputation, so you should have a small business insurance policy that protects your hard work.

At Simply Business, we offer life coach insurance policy options that protect you from significant risks and obstacles you may face while building your business. Getting started is easy: Just answer a few questions, compare free quotes from top providers who understand your business needs as a life coach, and choose the policy that works best for you.

Plus, you can get started in less than 10 minutes!

Don’t settle for adequate life coach insurance. See what it’s like to have a policy that truly gets you. Get your free quotes today.

Policies Available for Life Coach Insurance:

• General liability insurance
• Professional liability insurance
• Workers compensation insurance

Benefits:

• It can protect your business from certain claims.
• It can cover damages caused by your negligence.
• Proof of insurance can help customers feel good about your work.
• It may be legally required where you’re located.

What Type of Insurance Should a Life Coach Have?

Not sure where to begin when considering tutor insurance? For starters, it’s useful to know there are three types of policies to consider. For instance, not every business is required to have every kind of coverage, though we always recommend them.

We have a study guide below on the business insurance policies you may need, but we won’t give you a pop quiz at the end.

Commercial General Liability Insurance for Life Coaches

Commercial general liability (GL) insurance for life counselors can cover the costs of a variety of risks such as third-party accidents, property damage, and bodily injury.

Without general liability insurance, your business may be responsible for covering the costs associated with these incidents. With the average small business claim for property damage being $30,000, you’ll likely want to err on the side of caution and get general liability insurance.

What does this type of insurance look like in a real-world setting? Let’s say a client visits a life coach office for a consultation. As they are leaving, they trip and fall on the stairs, injuring their wrist. The client must be taken to the hospital and take time off their job to recover.

A general liability insurance policy could cover associated costs with the client’s medical expenses, potentially including lost wages. Without this type of insurance, the life coach would be subject to pay out-of-pocket for these costs.

So what could general liability insurance cover?

• Third-party bodily injury to another person
• Third-party property damage
• Personal and advertising injury
• Medical expenses
• And more

General liability insurance for life coaches typically does not cover:

• Damage to your own property
• Professional services
• Workers compensation or injury to your employees
• Damage to your work
• Expected or intentional injury or damage
• And more

Life Coach Liability Insurance

As a counselor or advisor, you likely work with a variety of people who are experiencing different life events. Emotions can run high, and your business needs protection. That’s where professional liability insurance saves the day.

For example, let’s say a life coach was working with a client who had a high-pressure corporate job and was experiencing a great deal of stress and anxiety. After several coaching sessions, the life coach suggested that a major lifestyle change may be necessary to reduce the client’s stress level. The client quit their job, sold their house, and moved across the country, despite the life coach’s recommendation to proceed with more caution. A few months later, the client decided they still weren’t happy, so they sued the life coach for giving them bad advice.

What’s an advisor or counselor to do in this scenario? Luckily, if they have life coach professional liability insurance, any associated costs, including a settlement, typically are covered. This coverage is highly recommended for life coaches, since these situations can — and do — happen.

Life coach professional liability insurance usually covers:

• Negligence or alleged negligence
• Legal defense costs
• Claims involving libel and/or slander
• Copyright infringement
• Claims and damages
• And more

Life coach professional liability insurance typically does not cover:

• Intentional negligence
• Bodily injury
• Property damage
• False advertising
• Employment matters
• Patents and trade secrets
• And more

Workers Compensation Insurance for Life Coaches

In the majority of states, if you have employees (even if they’re temporary or part-time), you’re required to carry workers compensation insurance. Also referred to as workers comp, this insurance protects your business if an employee gets hurt, injured, or sick while on the job.

It may seem odd to consider workers compensation insurance for a life coach business, but you can’t be too careful! Here’s why: In 2018, work injury costs totaled $170.8 billion. Additionally, the average injury cost per worker was $1,100, and the average cost per medically consulted injury was $41,000. Those costs can be detrimental to a life coach and their business.

Workers compensation for life coaches can cover:

• Medical payments
• Lost wages
• Rehabilitation expenses
• Death benefits

Why Should I Get Insurance for My Life Coach Business?

Understandably, life coach insurance may feel like a considerable expense, especially if you’re starting to build your business or if you need to allocate your funds elsewhere.

The truth is, what you spend on life coach insurance is a fraction of what you could end up spending if you were sued by an upset customer or have to cover the cost of an accident. Also, if insurance coverage is required in your state, you could face legal repercussions if you don’t have the proper protection.

Here are some of the average costs small business owners are at the risk of paying out-of-pocket without insurance:

• $30,000 for client injury or damage
• $20,000 if a client slips and falls
• $8,000 for burglary and theft
• $50,000 for reputational harm

Plus, believe it or not, lawsuits are a common occurrence for small businesses. Roughly 43% of small business owners surveyed report having been threatened by or involved in a civil lawsuit.

It’s important to note that you don’t have to do anything wrong to be sued by a client. You could provide your services to the best of your ability, but a client can still sue you because they were unhappy in some way. If that’s the case, you’ll need to hire a lawyer to defend your business, which is an expense that, without life coach insurance, likely will come out of your bank account.

In addition to protecting yourself and your business, having proof of insurance can be crucial in reaching milestones such as:

• Renting office space for your business
• Earning clients’ confidence and trust
• And more!

When you buy insurance through Simply Business, we’ll provide you with a certificate of insurance (COI), so you can start providing proof of coverage.

Life Coach Insurance FAQs

Why Choose Simply Business?

Simply Business is an online platform that makes it easy to compare the best policy options and quotes from top insurers. We’re one of the fastest-growing online providers of small business insurance. There’s a reason why thousands of customers trust us to protect their businesses.

Why choose us? It’s simple:

• We’re fast and affordable. You have a lot on your plate, and worrying about your insurance coverage doesn’t need to be one of them. Our policy quotes are fast, affordable, and ready whenever you are.

• We’re flexible with coverage. Your business changes, so you need an insurance policy that can keep up. We’re here to help make sure you’re protected no matter what your business needs.

• We get your business. You deserve an insurance policy that understands your business from the inside out. That’s where we come in.

You work hard to grow your business, and your insurance policy should protect it.

This content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is not intended to provide legal, tax, accounting, investment, or any other form of professional advice.