A health coach is known to put together a variety of wellness techniques to give their clients a better outlook on their bodies and their lives. These experts help the community by spreading positive change and wellness techniques that can be used by more people than just their direct clients.
The ideal target market for these businesses is anyone who wants to live better. As a health coach, you are not solely looking for those who want to lose weight or exercise more, though that’s likely the major concern people will approach you with. But your major market is someone who wants to make the long-term changes that will put them on a path toward a more productive health.
These coaches charge for each session they give. When owners set their prices, it is advisable they factor in not just the time spent with the client, but also the amount of money it costs to both get and keep the client. This includes time spent researching and drumming up business, as well as money spent for advertising.
Some health coaches charge up to $500 an hour for their services, though most start with different monthly packages. Standard average salary is about $43,000 for a health coach a year, but in wealthy areas that have a lot of health-work balance problems (e.g., San Francisco, San Jose) the salary increases dramatically to about $63,000 a year.
Note that this business is very ideal for people who love to give practical advice to everyone they meet. Health coaching has everything to do with finding goals that work, so health coaches need to be emphatic listeners and excellent communicators. They are expected to be comfortable with authority, as clients hire coaches to take charge.
A health coach is many things all at once: a therapist, a nutritionist, a health coach, and an ally. The growth potential is high, especially given that many people need external motivation to succeed.
Health coaches have plenty of opportunities to branch out by giving online sessions or by expanding their travel budget.
Health coaching is still a relatively new field with separate federal, state and local regulations. You must research how each tier of these laws impacts your coaching practice. With the right protection in place, you’ll have peace of mind.
As a health coach, you are exposed to the possibility of legal action being taken against you in respect of your legal responsibility for property damage or personal injury arising as you provide your services. Claims can be expensive to defend and even more costly if you’re found legally liable. But with adequate insurance, you can cover professional liability and other business risks as you provide your services.
8 Necessary Insurance Policies for a Health Coach
As a health coach, you need to protect your company from catastrophe. Insurance safeguards your practice’s finances and may divert damage to your reputation. Below are very important insurance policies to consider.
As a health coach, the advice, treatment, and services you offer your clients’ have the potential to change their lives. However, this rare and incredible opportunity can be a double-edged sword. When others turn to you to improve their health and quality of health, in some cases you find that lives literally depend on your services. Even seemingly simple negligence could grow into costly court cases.
Professional liability insurance, also known as errors and omissions insurance (E&O), tend to provide indemnity and expense protection for errors and omissions coming from professional mistakes. Note that these include professional negligence, provision of services that are below the prevailing standard of care, and misrepresentation.
Have it in mind that policy terms and conditions for professional liability insurance are not standardized and must be reviewed closely. Some key components to look for are incident-sensitive trigger, defense outside limits and prior-acts coverage.
General liability safeguards your wellness business from claims made for third-party body injury and property damage. For instance if you spilled coffee on a clients computer, or they slipped and fell in your office, this insurance covers medical expenses and any other costs associated with legal defense.
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Cyber Liability Insurance
Let’s imagine someone steals sensitive client information from your office computer system. Or you accidentally leave your laptop containing saved logins for your office network in a cab. Data breaches can happen in so many different ways, but the legal and regulatory costs can be extremely damaging to your business. Data breach will protect you from those expenses.
Workers Comp is a must in almost every state for any non-owner employees. Workers comp covers your employees’ lost wages and the cost of resulting medical treatment if they suffer a work-related injury or disease. It also covers services needed to help the employee recover and return to work.
This insurance indemnifies you for the loss of company property. Company property is a vast term and can mean anything from buildings and equipment to business records and supplies. Most times, most health coaches will acquire a very specific form of property insurance to cover individual risks.
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Employee Crime and Dishonesty Coverage
Note that this insurance coverage will protect you from the costs of theft, dishonesty and fraudulent acts committed by an individual employee or a group of employees. It provides coverage for forgery, alteration, theft, unauthorized electronic funds transfers, credit card fraud, computer fraud, money order fraud and counterfeit fraud.
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Information Privacy Insurance
In this modern era, people are overly conscious of their privacy. Most are aware of the protection they receive under various laws. Note that this insurance coverage reimburses you for costs to notify clients of a breach of confidential personal information in compliance with privacy protection laws. It also takes care of fines and penalties that you become legally obligated to pay as a result of a covered proceeding.
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Claims Made vs. Occurrence Coverage
When looking to acquire your health coaching insurance policy, you need to decide between two types of coverage. One is called a claims-made policy and the other is known as an occurrence policy: A claims-made policy only covers claims if the claims-made policy is active, while an occurrence policy covers events that happened when the original policy was in force, even if the occurrence policy is no longer active.
Note that occurrence policies are more favourable because this policy will respond to claims that come in – even after the policy has been cancelled – as long as the incident occurred during the period in which coverage was in force.
How to Get the Best Insurance Policies for Health Coaches
When searching and applying for insurance as a health coach, you have to be ready with some basic information about your business to make the application process easier. As you begin your research, stick with the following information and steps mentioned below.
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Be Ready to Exhibit Your Skills
When looking to purchase professional liability coverage for your coaching practice, the insurer needs to be able to analyze the level of risk your health coaching business has. If you have professional credentials and extensive experience—meaning you’re less likely to make a mistake, the chances of a lawsuit are reduced, so your policy should cost less. Have it in mind that professional certifications differentiate coaches showing off themselves as experts, and those credentials may also indicate better training, meaning less risk to insurers.
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Obtain Various Quotes for Coverage
It’s very crucial to shop around with numerous providers to acquire health coach insurance. Indeed, you will want to find an affordable policy that offers you and your practice comprehensive coverage addressing all potential losses your business could face. It’s advisable to get at least three quotes for different policies, including general liability and professional liability insurance. Although price is always important, it shouldn’t be the only factor you consider.
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Understand Occurrence vs. Claims-made Coverage
Indeed, professional liability policies provide coverage in one of two ways, and you need to effectively understand both. For instance, say a health coach has a one-year occurrence-based professional liability policy. In that year, he makes an error that costs his client $40,000, but the mistake is only discovered after the policy has been cancelled.
Because it’s an occurrence policy, the insurer will have to cover the claim even if it’s reported five years after the incident. If the health coach had a claims-made policy, the insurer would not pay because the claim wasn’t filed before the policy lapsed.
How Much Does it Cost to Get the Best Insurance Policies for Health Coaches
Have it in mind that insurance costs for Health Coaches are driven by few factors, including a health coach’s operation, equipment value, and whether they own or rent their office space. If you run your practice as a sole proprietor, your overall business insurance costs will be less compared to a business with multiple coaches or additional employees that need to be insured with workers’ compensation. However, the typical Health Coach Insurance costs include:
Professional Liability
- Premium Cost (Annually): $400 to $1,800
- Coverage Amount: $1 million per occurrence, $2 million aggregate
- Deductible: $1,000
General Liability
- Premium Cost (Annually): $300 to $1,300
- Coverage Amount: $1 million per occurrence, $2 million aggregate
- Deductible: $500
Commercial Property
- Premium Cost (Annually): $300 to $600
- Coverage Amount: $20,000, covers equipment only
- Deductible: $1,500
Cyber Liability
- Premium Cost (Annually): $500 to $1,500
- Coverage Amount: $1 million per occurrence, $1 million aggregate
- Deductible: $1,000 to $5,000
Best Companies and Providers That Offer the Best Insurance Policies for Health Coaches
Health Coaches may have problems if clients take issue with specific approaches and methodologies. Obtaining health coach insurance is a great way to protect yourself while continuing to provide beneficial services to your clients.
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CPH & Associates Insurance
CPH & Associates is a Chicago-based company providing professional liability insurance services for almost two decades. A.M. Best Company has rated CPH & Associates as an A++ Carrier for Financial Stability. Their health coach malpractice coverage includes:
- Zero deductible
- Unlimited defence coverage
- US and international coverage for brief business trips that last up to 30 days
- Professional liability limits of $1 million per occurrence/$3 million aggregate
- Deposition expense limit of $5,000 per deposition/$15,000 aggregate
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biBERK
biBERK is an ideal choice for coaches that want a quick, easy, and customizable approach to business insurance. This company is backed by industry giant Berkshire Hathaway, biBERK provides an excellent BOP with an enormous range of limit and deductible selections, as well as add-on umbrella and cyber coverage. Also note that this provider offers customizable professional liability coverage for purchase online. biBERK has one of the simplest online applications with the option to buy coverage online immediately.
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Alternative Balance Professional Group
Alternative Balance Insurance, a 20-year-old insurance company based in Henniker, New Hampshire, specifically caters to health coaches and other wellness professionals. Alternative Balance has a Better Business Bureau rating of A+. Their professional liability coverage spans four different levels:
- Student (currently enrolled in a trade school) – $189/year
- Per diem (working up to 10 hours a week) – $219/year
- Professional (working more than 10 hours a week) – $249/year
- Employer – $279/year (each employee’s coverage $97/year)
Alternative Balance has an instant application process. You simply fill out an online form, submit with payment, and you’ll immediately be covered. There’s no waiting and no approval process. Alternative Balance will give you a reminder phone call 30 days before your policy expires.
You’ll also have access to free, customizable business forms including consent forms, client handouts, and policy forms. You can also create a free web page to promote your services, post videos and link to your social media accounts.
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Hiscox
Hiscox is a renowned insurance provider that specializes in very small businesses like sole proprietors and micro businesses. Hiscox is also renowned for its understanding of niche industries, such as therapy and health coaching, allowing it to offer tailored coverage for your specific risks. In addition, Hiscox has an easy online application that takes little time to complete and, in most cases, you can purchase your policy online too.
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SimplyBusiness
Even though this company is an online broker, it works with multiple top-rated insurance carriers, including CAN and Travellers, to bring policies to small business owners. Executive coaches who need affordable general liability and professional liability coverage should fill out the company’s online application. It’s easy to complete and often returns multiple quotes to compare, allowing coaches to easily choose the coverage that best suits their operations and budgets.
Conclusion
Everyone wants to be healthy. And as a health coach, you have the power to give your clients’ the gift of greater health. From providing education, wellness fairs, and health risk assessments, to hosting preventative vaccine drives and offering health and fitness coaching – you can help change their lives in profoundly positive ways.
For greater confidence when providing your services, you should get a wide-ranging package of insurance policies to cover liabilities that could cost your practices thousands of dollars in unexpected costs.