Swim Instructor Insurance: Cost, Coverage & Providers

Swim instructor insurance is a policy providing liability coverage for someone who directly oversees the teaching and training of swimming. Swim instructor insurance costs as little as $150 per year with a $1 million general liability policy. Some insurers offer unique industry-specific policies that cover both general and professional liability.

The term “sports instructor” covers a range of athletic activities, with some carriers lumping swim instructors into sports instructors, so insurance options vary widely. CoverWallet makes the quote process easy with a couple of quick questions determining eligibility. You can get a free quote online in minutes.

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Swim Instructor Insurance Providers

Provider	Best For
CoverWallet	Swim instructors looking to compare policies and shop swim insurance costs
Sports Fitness Insurance	Small sports instructor businesses with limited smaller third-party locations
Sadler Sports and Recreation Insurance	Instructors with multiple locations requiring certificates of insurance
K&K Insurance	Solo sports instructors working in client or facility-owned locations
The Hartford	Sports instructors with high-valued equipment needing coverage from theft or loss

CoverWallet

CoverWallet is a top national insurance broker that shops your exact coverage needs with dozens of insurance carriers. It allows you to work with licensed agents and compare multiple sports and swim instructor insurance quotes from industry-leading providers that offer both standalone liability policies and comprehensive BOP.

CoverWallet is the right choice for sports and swim instructors who want to find the right mix of coverage for the absolute best price. Shopping for more than one insurance carrier allows CoverWallet to give sports instructors multiple options that protect all types of liability and business property.

Sports Fitness Insurance Corporation

Sports Fitness Insurance Corporation is a specialty insurance company with a streamlined application process and easy-to-understand policy choices, including business equipment. The company specializes in sports and fitness companies exclusively and offers a range of liability policies, including professional liability and limited cybersecurity liability coverage.

Swim instructors with no employees and who teach in small facilities less than 1,000 square feet are ideal customers for Sports and Fitness Insurance Corporation. Instructors can also obtain their certificates of insurance (COI) quickly and place additional insureds on policies for proper coverage.

Sadler Sports & Recreation Insurance

Sadler Sports & Recreation Insurance focuses on sports and fitness instructor programs for sports and swim instructor insurance. With policies starting at $500,000 and going up to $5 million for liability coverage, Sadler Sports and Recreation makes it easy to customize policies. They work with large and small sports instructor businesses.

Sadler Insurance is the right choice for a sport or swim instructor working at multiple, larger locations where each requires a certificate of insurance. These include public pools, fitness facilities, and even private homes and venues.

K&K Insurance

K&K Insurance specializes in commercial insurance for companies considered higher risk than others. As their tagline “We Take Fun Seriously” suggests, the company offers a wide variety of sports and swim instructors’ insurance. K&K Insurance has a streamlined process for swim instructors operating as sole proprietors.

K&K Insurance provides coverage for the specific risks swim instructors face at a reasonable price. In our Post-Covid world, this includes coverage for incidental claims related to virtual training.

The Hartford

The Hartford is one of the largest business insurers in the nation and covers a wide range of industries with a multitude of policies. Policies often include additional coverages for no extra cost compared to other companies, where each coverage has a different premium. The Hartford offers policies to both small and large organizations.

Sports instructors who have business equipment and property should consider The Hartford. The carrier can write standalone business property policies to cover equipment owned by the sports or swim instructor. However, its general liability policies for sports and swim instructors are somewhat limited.

Many professional organizations, such as USA Swimming, offer general and professional liability policies. Check with your organization to find out if they offer policies and whether that may be best for your business.

Swim Instructor Insurance Costs, Coverage, & Deductibles

An individual sports and swim instructor insurance policy can cost as little as $150 annually. There’s typically no additional cost when including professional liability. Sports and swim instructors seeking to protect business property as well may want a business owner’s policy (BOP), which usually starts at $250 annually.

Coverage	Coverage Amount	Premium Cost	Deductible
General Liability	$1 million	$150 to $350	$0
Professional Liability	$1 million	Included with general liability	$0
Business Equipment	$20,000	$250	$500

Although costs increases are nominal, swim instructor insurance costs will increase as you add coverage. For example, the difference between $1 million in coverage with a $2 million annual aggregate through Sports & Fitness Insurance Corporation is $150. Doubling the limit only adds $15 to the annual premium.

Swim Instructor Insurance Coverage Types

Sport and swim instructor insurance policies commonly include general liability, professional liability, and medical payments. Swim instructor insurance costs change with the level of coverage and type of coverage you choose. Business property coverage can be added to general liability when instructors have a small amount of business-owned equipment. Instructors with more expensive equipment or who own a physical location often need standalone commercial property insurance.

General liability insurance for swim instructors covers bodily injuries and third-party property damage. For example, a parent coming to practice slips on water that has splashed out of the pool and is injured. This will be a bodily injury claim under a general liability policy for their medical bills or your legal bills if they sue.

General liability also covers third-party property damage. While coaching someone, a pool noodle you’re carrying knocks their smartwatch off the bench and into the pool. This is an example of a third-party property damage claim that your general liability policy could handle.

If you know that you’ll need a COI for places where you instruct, ask them exactly how they’re to be listed on the COI. Public parks, swimming pools, YMCAs, and tennis centers often need to be listed in a specific way to have the COI accepted.

Business property coverage repairs or replaces damaged equipment or business property in covered losses. Most swim instructors will use equipment in their daily operations, such as computers, video equipment to review lessons, and instruction aids. If your business property is lost due to theft, vandalism, or fire, you may be able to replace it if you have business property insurance.

Many swim instructors run their business from a home office. It’s possible for the business property could be added as a homeowner’s insurance endorsement or through a BOP.

Medical payments coverage is an elected coverage that can help offset some medical expenses that arise from an injury sustained during a lesson. This coverage is typically applicable to minor injuries, while more severe injuries will fall under the bodily injury portion of the general liability policy.

An important point on bodily injury and medical payments is that the injured party isn’t necessarily the one who will demand compensation. A student you’re teaching gets kicked in the head accidentally by another student. The injured party makes a trip to an urgent care facility but doesn’t tell you and instead says they’re OK and not to worry about it. Several months later, the injured party’s health insurance carrier may send you a demand for payment.

Professional liability insurance covers allegations that your professional services fell short. Because you’re teaching, it’s possible to get professional liability coverage included with sports and swim instructor general liability policies. There’s a lot of overlap between both of these types of losses.

For example, while practicing with a kickboard, a student loses their grip. The kickboard shoots out of their hand and into the pool filter, causing damage. The damage may be attributed as an accident (general liability) or as incorrect instruction on how to handle a kickboard (professional liability).

What Swim Instructor Insurance Doesn’t Cover

The various swim instructor insurance policies have many exclusions. Ask your insurance agent and read through the policy to understand what’s covered and what isn’t covered. Most policies don’t cover coaching professional athletes or organized teams, including an organized nonprofit team. Swim instructor policies are only for individual instructors and coaches.

Some typical exclusions for a swim instructor policy are:

Accusations of criminal behavior
Instruction in open water such as lakes, rivers, and oceans
Physical therapy sessions
Amusement devices such as bungees, climbing walls, and dunk tanks
Professional athletes and organized team sports

Insurance policies don’t cover illegal actions and intentional acts. Swim instructors need to be aware of how language and physical contact can be interpreted or misinterpreted as abuse or molestation. There may be riders a swim instructor can purchase to help defend against false accusations.

Individual swim instructors have a legal duty to properly plan activities to mitigate the risk of injury and property damage. Proactive steps that you can take to avoid gross negligence include providing the proper equipment, disclosing risks and dangers, and the instructor supervising the activity. Instructors aren’t allowed to be grossly negligent.

Bottom Line

Swim instructors wanting to be prepared for potential injuries or accidents when teaching students need to consider purchasing swim instructor insurance. These policies are critical for protecting your business. Even if you’re a private swim instructor at someone’s residence, you should consider purchasing swim instructor insurance. When it comes to running a small business, it’s a sink or swim world. By protecting your business from liability claims, swim instructor insurance helps keep your business afloat.