Breathe in, breathe out, and let a wave of calm wash over, letting the stress of arranging your yoga teacher insurance go. As a yogi or yogini, you don’t have time to be worrying about having the right cover in place to protect your business.
Let us centre your insurance chakra by exploring some of the essential insurance policies that you should consider as a practising yoga teacher.
Why do I need yoga teacher insurance?
We know that you love working others to make a difference to their lives, and do your best to deliver the best experience possible. Despite your best effort things don’t always go to plan and you may need to have insurance to protect your business!
Teaching yoga brings with it a whole host of benefits as well as having the flexibility to work in different environments. Your workspace could be anything from a studio to inside a client’s home, or out amongst the trees in a park or right by the ocean.
Be aware some locations may have a compulsory requirement where you must hold certain insurance policies – something you may want to check before rolling out that yoga mat!
What type of insurance do yoga teachers need?
Yoga attracts a diverse range of clients of all ages and fitness levels which also brings unique challenges and potential risks. But fear not, there’s insurance for that!
Let’s start with the basics…
Professional Indemnity insurance
One of the most vital types of insurance policies for yoga teachers is Professional Indemnity insurance. Working in a highly physical role which involves the body doing many bends and lunges to form poses, unfortunately, creates the real risk for a client to overstretch and injure themselves.
You take all the right steps and carefully plan your classes, devise specific sequences and even use different modification props, but unpredictable accidents can still occur.
As a direct result of your instructions or advice, a client could suffer an injury, although this is through no fault of your own, it could be you as the teacher who will be held liable. So don’t leave it up to chance and consider Professional Indemnity insurance to protect you and your business.
What it typically covers?
- The financial consequences of negligent acts that you, or even your staff, may have delivered when providing professional advice or instructions to your clients
- Legal and defence costs
- Compensation awarded to the claimant
- PR costs to help uphold your reputation
What it doesn’t cover:
- Intentional damage
- Fraud and dishonesty
- Known claims and circumstances
- Property damage
Public Liability insurance
When you work closely with clients and are in contact with suppliers or members of the public when you go about your business, there is always the risk of an accident happening, and that’s why Public Liability insurance is equally important for yoga teachers.
If a student (or perhaps even a tradie doing some work for you) made a claim against you for an accidental injury caused by, for example, falling over a piece of yoga equipment that’s been left on your studio floor, Public Liability insurance can cover the related costs to defend such claims. Any compensation awarded to the claimant may also be covered.
Another added benefit of Public Liability insurance is that it extends to cover you for accidental damage caused to third party property while conducting your business activities, at any location.
Meaning if you were to accidentally damage your client’s property whilst teaching a session at their property, or if you were to knock over a piece of your equipment resulting in shattering the wall-to-wall mirrors in a studio you were hiring, you can rest easy knowing that your Public Liability policy is there to cover your repair bill.
Public Liability will typically not cover
- Injury to your employees
- Damage caused to your own property
Contents Cover
Mats, bolsters, blocks, straps, bags, pillows, your list of yoga equipment quickly adds up! If your it was stolen or accidentally damaged, think about the financial stress this could have on your business if you had to go out and replace it all.
Fortunately, you can take out Contents Cover as part of a Business Insurance pack to protect your valuable equipment at your fixed business location such as your yoga studio against unforeseen events for example, fire, storm or theft.
Portable Equipment Cover
If you prefer to teach in the great outdoors and beyond the studio doors, Portable Equipment cover typically provides protection for loss or damage to your portable equipment, for example, if it’s stolen from your locked vehicle.
It is also important to make sure that these insured items are identified and valued on your insurance certificate.
Did you know?
Yoga Australia recommends the following minimum levels of insurance cover for their yoga teacher members:
- $10m Public Liability
- $5m Professional Indemnity (malpractice), preferably $10m
- $10m Professional Indemnity
Namaste, ask away!
Sorting your Yoga teacher insurance doesn’t need to be difficult. Start by looking at the following questions.
- If you are teaching within a studio, does your contract require a minimum amount of cover?
- Does your local council require you to have cover before holding classes in a council-owned land like a public park?
- Check with your industry body to see if you require a minimum level of cover before becoming a member?
- Take the time to think about the level of risk that you are exposed to as a Yoga teacher, what kind of potential claims could occur and consequently what could be the potential costs if a claim (or multiple claims) were made against you?
