OK, life coach insurance might not be your favorite topic. But just like any other small business owner, you must protect your business from unforeseen risks and financial damages.
If it’s the first time you ever heard about the need for insurance as a life coach or want to change your insurance package to something more suitable, here’s everything you need to know in this article to help you make the right decision.
In this article, here’s what we’ll cover:
- The importance of insurance for life coaches
- Types of insurance packages and their cost
- Insurance providers for life coaches
Note: This article shouldn’t be considered legal advice. We’re coaches who have been in this field for quite some time, but we’re not legal professionals. So if you have a specific case to find solutions for, it’s best to contact a lawyer or speak to one of the insurance providers listed below.
Why is Insurance for Life Coaches Important?
As a life coach, you provide professional advice and guidance to your clients. While you’re not responsible for how they take or implement your advice, you may still face lawsuits from those who raise claims against you.
That’s because the life coaching industry isn’t highly unregulated. You don’t “need” legal requirements or licensed certifications to start your practice.
Many people confuse coaching, consulting, and therapy. Such misunderstandings can create mismatched expectations—even when you did everything right.
Even though a legal coaching contract can set expectations and provide a good reference point for any potential legal conflicts, coaches can face lawsuits—even if the case has no basis.
You could also need a life coaching insurance for the following reasons:
- Protecting your property (such as your office, laptop, or car used for business)
- Covering the costs of any accidents that take place at the location of your sessions
- Keeping confidential data about your clients safe
13 Types of Life Coach Insurance
There are some of the risks that might occur when running a life coaching business. We’re going to share some scenarios and how to stay protected against them.
1. Professional Liability Insurance
Professional liability insurance (also known as malpractice insurance, errors and omissions insurance, or indemnity insurance) protects your business if you are sued for negligently performing your services when you haven’t made a mistake.
Any life coach can be sued for causing harm during their sessions or with their advice, such as:
- Breaking the confidentiality clause in their agreement
- Sexually harassing a client (especially in close contact situations)
- Teaching false methodologies
Even if you face false accusations, you must respond to them and work with a legal professional to protect your business against claims. Your professional liability insurance will cover the expenses of legal defense by your lawyer and any settlement or damage that might come up in your case.
2. General Liability Insurance
General liability insurance for life coaches provides insurance coverage for your business when your client makes claims against you for bodily injury, damage to property, or personal injury.
If it all sounds too far-fetched to happen to you, here are a few everyday incidents that could easily happen at your sessions.
Let’s say a client claims you spilled water on their laptop during the session or accidentally dropped their phone while bumping into you at the door. That could be considered damage to property.
If your client slips on the stairs while walking into your office and hurts themselves, they can sue you for personal injury. In these cases, your general liability insurance will cover the costs of the lawsuit, the damage caused, and any medical expenses your client needs to pay.
3. Commercial Property & Auto Insurance
Commercial property insurance and auto insurance protect the assets that belong to your business. This insurance type typically defines a blanket limit for all costs at a single business location.
These commercial properties can include the following:
- Office building
- Equipment and furniture
- Your laptop and other electronics you use for work
- The car you drive for business meetings
If an accident or a small fire causes damage to your property, this insurance type will cover the costs of the damage. If someone breaks into your office or steals your business-owned belongings, that will be covered too.
4. Cyber Liability Insurance
Cyber liability insurance, or cyber security insurance, covers the costs that come from cyberattacks and data breaches. In your case, this could mean someone hacks into your computer to access private, confidential information about your clients.
Life coaching sessions cover all kinds of personal topics that can impact someone’s reputation, especially if you’re working with more publicly known clients or representatives of large brands. This insurance protects you from malware and phishing and covers the cost of lawsuits from clients if their confidential data is leaked.
5. Business Owner’s Policy Insurance (BOP)
Think of a business owner’s policy as your insurance safety net. It combines several crucial coverages into one convenient package, typically including general liability and property protection.
For life coaches, this means you’re covered if a client slips and falls in your office or if you face liability claims related to your coaching services.
A comprehensive BOP typically includes:
- General liability protection for property damage or third-party injuries
- Professional liability protection for coaching-related claims
- Coverage for advertising injuries and copyright infringement
- Protection against reputational damage claims
Many insurance providers offer customizable BOPs specifically designed for coaching professionals, allowing you to tailor your coverage to your unique practice needs.
6. Property Insurance
Many life coaches mistakenly believe their homeowner’s insurance will cover their home office—but standard homeowner’s policies often exclude business-related claims. That’s why dedicated property insurance is essential, even if you work from home.
Whether you’re working from home or in a commercial space, property insurance ensures your workplace is protected. This coverage helps you recover if any of the following happens:
- Your office is experiencing water damage
- Your workspace is affected by fire
- Natural disasters impact your coaching location
- Theft or vandalism occurs at your premises
But property insurance goes beyond just protecting your physical space. It can also cover built-in office equipment and fixtures, outdoor signage and landscaping, and important documents and records.
7. Business Interruption Insurance
What happens if a disaster forces you to temporarily close your coaching practice?
Business interruption insurance helps replace lost income when unexpected events disrupt your operations. This coverage can help pay for:
- Ongoing bills and expenses
- Employee salaries (if you have staff)
- Temporary relocation costs
- Lost revenue during the interruption period
8. Disability Insurance
As a life coach, your ability to work is your greatest asset. Disability insurance provides income protection if you cannot coach due to illness or injury.
It ensures you can do the following:
- Maintain your standard of living
- Cover personal expenses
- Focus on recovery without financial stress
- Protect your long-term financial goals
9. Personal and Advertising Injury Insurance
Your online presence and marketing activities are crucial to the success of your coaching business, but they also expose you to unique risks.
Personal and advertising injury insurance protects you against claims related to your marketing, communications, and public presence.
This essential coverage protects against claims involving the following:
- Libel and slander
- Copyright infringement
- Invasion of privacy
- Misappropriation of advertising ideas
- False advertising allegations
10. Sexual Abuse Insurance
Sexual abuse insurance is crucial for life coaches who work closely with clients. This coverage protects you against false allegations and provides legal defense costs if needed. It’s particularly important because of the following reasons:
- Coaching often involves one-on-one sessions
- Relationships with clients can be deeply personal
- False allegations can be professionally devastating
- Legal defense costs can be substantial
To minimize risks, you should set clear professional boundaries, document all client interactions, and do virtual coaching sessions.
11. Medical Expenses Insurance
While you’re not providing medical services, having medical expense coverage is a good move. This insurance helps cover immediate medical costs if a client is injured on your premises, regardless of fault. It can help cover for the following situations:
- Emergency room visits
- Ambulance services
- Initial medical treatments
- Follow-up care related to the incident
12. Business Equipment Insurance
In today’s digital age, life coaches rely heavily on technology and equipment. Business equipment insurance covers items such as the following:
- Computers and laptops
- Mobile devices
- Audio/video equipment for virtual coaching
- Office furniture and fixtures
- Educational materials and resources
13. Workers’ Compensation Insurance
If you have a team, workers’ compensation insurance will protect your employees and business from work-related accidents, illnesses, and even death.
By law, you are required to provide medical insurance and sick leaves for your team members in most states of the US and in many other countries. You will need insurance to cover medical costs and lost wages, even if you only have one employee. This, of course, doesn’t apply to you if you work solo or work with a virtual assistant.
Having comprehensive asset protection strategies in your business setup can further safeguard against potential threats to finances and business growth.
How Much Does Insurance Cost for Life Coaches?
Insurance costs for your life coaching business depend on a bunch of different factors. For example, where your business is located, your claim history, whether you own or rent an office space, your equipment value, and the size of your team (if you have employees).
According to statistics, the average life coach in America spends between $350-$650 per year for $1 million in general liability coverage, but insurance packages for life coaches can cost up to $3,100 annually, depending on the size of the business.
If you’re working by yourself or only hiring freelancers, the cost of your business insurance package will be much lower. If you work from home, use your personal equipment, and don’t drive a car for business purposes, the annual rate of your package will likely be even lower.
The general best practice for life coaches and other small business owners is to go for a customizable business owner’s policy. These packages commonly include general liability and other types of insurance from the examples mentioned above that fit your individual business needs.
It’s best to explore your options early on and include insurance costs in your coaching business plan since your insurance package won’t cover losses that have already occurred.
These are some general rates insurance companies normally charge when it comes to life coaches, but we encourage you to do your own research and ask for quotations from the insurance companies you’re considering.
| Policy | Annual Cost | Coverage Amount Per Occurrence | Aggregate Coverage Amount | Deductible |
| Professional Liability | $400 to $1,800 | $1 million | $2 million | $1,000 |
| General Liability | $300 to $1,300 | $1 million | $2 million | $500 |
| Commercial Property | $300 to $600 | $20,000 | $20,000 | $1,500 |
| Cyber Liability | $500 to $1,500 | $1 million | $1 million | $1,000 to $5,000 |
When you sit down with an insurance company representative, they will be taking a number of factors into account to calculate the final cost of your insurance. These are mainly risk factors, location, and revenue, but they might also touch upon the following criteria:
- Claims history: How have you been insured in the last 3-5 years?
- Number of employees: How many people do you employ in your business, and where are they located?
- Services provided: Do you offer coaching services related to health and wellness, substance abuse, mental health, or financial advice?
- Property value: Do you own offices or business equipment that need to be insured?
Top Insurance Providers for Life Coaches
Looking for the best insurance providers for life coaches? Here are our top picks:
Hiscox (Our Top Pick)
Hiscox is a top-rated insurance provider that covers 180+ professions in 49 states. They specialize in microbusinesses and small businesses, including sole proprietors. Hiscox works with niche industries such as therapy, consulting, and life coaching.
You can buy insurance packages with them online through an easy application process, and they have several options to customize your package and choose what fits you best. We’ve heard from coaches within our circles that Hiscox is online-focused and makes the process super easy.
Thimble
Thimble prides itself as an insurance provider that can get you covered in minutes. They deal with businesses that work on an ad hoc basis. This means if you’re not always actively working with clients, you can even get insured for as little as a few hours with them.
Though Thimble currently doesn’t offer insurance for life coaches specifically, they cover many consulting professionals in general, according to their representative. Make sure to reach out to them directly for coverage details.
SimplyBusiness
SimplyBusiness is an online platform that lists top insurance carriers for small business owners to compare and get a quotation from.
They have several options for life coaches looking for general liability and professional liability coverage at a reasonable rate. This way, you can receive multiple quotations in one place and choose the one that matches your expectations regarding coverage, duration, and price.
AXA
With 51 countries covered and over 94 million clients, AXA is one of the largest insurance companies in the world. Despite their size, they provide customized insurance packages to sole proprietors, such as life coaches, with the essentials of professional indemnity, public liability, and business equipment insurance.
They have a 24/7 expert helpline to navigate you through their policies and help you choose the coverage that works best for you.
Insurance Canopy
Insurance Canopy specializes in providing insurance coverage tailored to the unique needs of life coaches. While policies can be conveniently purchased online, their experienced customer support team is well-versed in the industry’s nuances and requirements.
They offer competitive pricing starting at just $21.08 monthly for comprehensive professional and general liability coverage.
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Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in November 2, 2023 and has since been updated for accuracy.
