Sports & Swim Instructor Insurance: Cost, Coverage & Providers
Kimberlee has over 20 years of experience as a financial consultant and insurance agency owner. Her expertise is featured across Fit Small Business life insurance and business insurance content.
Sports and swim instructor insurance is a combination of policies that cover individuals who directly oversee the teaching and training of individuals and teams. Sports instructors can get general liability for as little as $120 per year with $1 million limits. Some insurers offer unique industry-specific policies that cover both general and professional liability.
The term “sports instructor” covers a wide range of athletic activities, so insurance carrier options vary widely. CoverWallet makes the quote process is very easy with a couple of quick questions determining eligibility. You can get a free quote online in minutes.
Sports Instructor Insurance Providers
Provider | Best for |
|---|---|
Sports and swim instructors looking to compare policies and shop rates | |
Small sports instructor businesses with limited smaller third-party locations | |
Instructors with multiple locations requiring certificates of insurance | |
Solo sports instructors working in client or facility locations | |
Sports instructors with high-valued equipment needing coverage from theft or loss |
Top Sports Instructor Insurance Providers
Finding the right insurance carrier for your sports and swim instructor practice requires finding a company that can cover your actual sport, the structure of your lessons, and location. You may need a combination of policies, so be sure to do your homework for the insurance provider that meets all your needs.
CoverWallet
CoverWallet is a top national insurance broker that shops your exact coverage needs with dozens of insurance carriers. It offers you the opportunity 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 business owner’s policies (BOPs).
CoverWallet is the right choice for sport and swim instructors who want to find the right mix of coverage for the absolute best price. Being able to shop 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.
Sports 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 who teach at multiple small facilities can obtain 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 general liability. 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 sports or swim instructor who works at multiple, larger locations where each requires a certificate of insurance. These include public pools, fitness facilities, and even private homes and venues. Most companies charge $25 per COI while Sadler provides these to sports instructors for free.
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 instructors insurance. K&K Insurance insures for the specific risks sports and swim instructors face at a reasonable price.
The K&K Insurance process is streamlined for sports and swim instructors operating as a sole proprietor. The company covers a broad range of instruction in both private and group lessons sports, including swimming, football, cheerleading, wrestling, and road running. K&K Insurance requires all instructors to be at least 18 years of age.
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 separate premium. Coverage is offered to small companies like sole proprietors and large organizations with hundreds of employees.
Sports instructors who need coverage for equipment and business property should use The Hartford. The carrier can write standalone business property policies to cover equipment owned by the sports or swim instructor, and it’s general liability policies for sports and swim instructors is somewhat limited.
What Sports Instructor Insurance Is
Sports instructor insurance and swim instructor insurance refer to the same group of policies, but each coverage is tailored to the specific sport. Instructors choose from different types of policies to cover risks created by their business operations, such as student injuries, professional liability claims, and damage to business-owned property.
Swim and sports instructors often start with a general liability policy to cover the most common claims, namely third-party property damage and physical injury. It is possible to get professional liability coverage included in sports and swim instructor general liability policies. This is because these general liability and professional liability claims made against these instructors are often intertwined.
For example, a baseball swing instructor is working with his student who hits a foul ball, breaking a car windshield, that might be attributed as an accident or as incorrect instruction depending on how the claim is filed. Most sports and swim instructors are sole proprietors working at a client or third-party location with higher liability exposure.
Types of Sport and Swim Instructor Insurance
Sport and swim instructor insurance policies commonly include general liability, professional liability, and medical payments. 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.
Sport and Swim Instructor Coverage Types
Coverage Type | What It Covers |
|---|---|
General Liability | Pays for third-party claims arising from business operations but not professional services |
Business Property | Repairs or replaces damaged equipment or business property in covered claims |
Medical Payments | Works with client’s health insurance to pay a designated amount for injuries during sports instruction |
Professional Liability | Defends and pays claims made against professional advice or services |
General Liability Coverage
General liability insurance for sports instructors covers bodily injuries and/or property damage your business causes third parties such as students, observers, and visitors. For example, a parent may get hurt tripping over a bag of soccer balls. General liability covers their medical bills and your legal bills if they sue.
General liability also covers third-party property damage. This means it can pay for damages to someone’s car, home, or other property if you damage it in the course of instruction. A common example is a baseball coach working with a student who hits a foul ball squarely through the windshield of a parked car.
Business Property Coverage
Business property coverage pays for the repair or replacement of business assets lost in covered perils. Most sports instructors use at least some equipment in their daily operations. These might include computers, video equipment to review lessons, sports balls, 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.
Most sports and swim instructors run their business from a home office where the coverage starts. This means coverage for business property could be added as a homeowner’s insurance endorsement or through a business owner’s policy. Adding inland marine to your business property then covers your items while in transit to lessons or at a client’s location.
Medical Payments Coverage
Medical payments coverage is an elected coverage that pays some of the medical expenses arising from injuries during lessons. Injuries could be as minor as a sprained ankle or as serious as a concussion. More serious injuries could overlap into the bodily injury portion of coverage because the first amount looked to for client-use injuries. Medical payments often cover the student’s health insurance deductible or co-pay.
An important point on bodily injury and medical payments is that it isn’t always the person who gets hurt who demands payment. Assume the injured client went to the hospital on their own and put the injury claim on their own health insurance plan. The student’s health insurance carrier might demand payment from the sports instructor.
Professional Liability Coverage
Professional liability insurance covers allegations that your professional services fell short. Common claims include failing to deliver results and making mistakes in your professional instruction or advice.
Common examples of professional liability claims include:
- Teaching someone the wrong form that results in acute or chronic injuries.
- Telling parents that their child will get a scholarship to an NCAA Division I school but doesn’t, and the parents sue for a misleading statement.
- Continuing instruction in extreme heat without regular water breaks, leading to dehydration and potential hospitalization.
Because sports and swim instructors insurance policies are one of the few industries that can combine both general liability and professional liability, instructors should review combined and standalone policies to make sure there are no coverage gaps
What Sports and Swim Instructor Insurance Doesn’t Cover
The various sports and swim instructor insurance policies have many exclusions. Be sure to ask your insurance agent and read through the policy to understand fully what is covered and not covered. Most policies don’t cover coaching professional athletes or organized teams, only individual instructors and coaches.
Sports and swim instructors are not covered for:
- Accusations of criminal behavior
- Instruction in open water such as lakes, rivers, and oceans
- Physical therapy sessions
- Cycling other than stationary bikes
- Use of amusement devices such as bungees, climbing walls, and dunk tanks
- Professional athletes and organized team sports
Insurance policies do not cover illegal actions and intentional acts. Sports 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 sports instructor can purchase to help in the defense of false accusations.
Excluded Professional Sports Insurance Categories
Sports instructors often find themselves falling into a couple of different fitness insurance categories. They might be a sports instructor, a team coach, or a facility owner. While the risks are similar between these professions, each one may face additional exposures to consider. Consider all aspects of your business to get the right insurance policy.
Here are other policies for those in the health and fitness industries:
- Nonprofit and organized team sports: Team directors and their coaches need sports general liability, team equipment, player injury, and coaching personal injury. Policies written for individual instructors are not sufficient, and team policies seldom cover private lessons.
- Professional coaches: If the coach’s student makes money as an athlete, sports instructor liability insurance may not be sufficient because the risk of claims and the potential cost of lawsuits is higher for pro athletes.
- Gym insurance: Gym insurance goes beyond liability and covers the facility, the equipment, and everyone working inside or using the facility.
- Dance studio insurance: This is similar to gym insurance but is less comprehensive and less expensive because activities are limited and typically require less equipment. Independent contractors at dance studios need coverage that is similar to sports instructor insurance options.
Some health and fitness facilities fall directly in line with one insurance carrier’s definition while others may fall into several categories. For instance, a tennis instructor may also coach a United States Tennis Association (USTA) team. This requires additional coverage to the sports instructor insurance policies.
Sports and Swim Instructor Insurance Costs
An individual sports and swim instructor insurance policy can cost as little as $120 annually. When professional liability is included, there’s typically no additional cost. Sports and swim instructors seeking to protect business property as well may want a BOP, which usually starts at $250 annually.
Sports and Swim Instructor Insurance Costs & Deductible
Coverage Amount | Premium Cost | Deductible | |
|---|---|---|---|
General Liability | $1 million | $120-$200 | $0 |
Professional Liability | $1 million | Included with general liability | $0 |
Business Equipment | $20,000 | $250 | $500 |
Costs go up as you increase liability or property coverage. Cost increases are nominal, and sports and swim instructors should consider the price difference. For example, the difference between $1 million in coverage with a $2 million annual aggregate through Sports & Fitness Insurance Corporation is $120. Doubling the coverage only adds $15 to the annual premium.
Tips on Getting Sports and Swim Instructor Insurance
There are several types of policies and coverage options to consider when buying sports and swim instructor insurance, so take the time to know exactly what you need. The following tips can help you get the right insurance policy with the right coverage.
Gather Information for Certificates of Insurance
If you know you will need certificates of insurance for certain places where you instruct, ask them exactly how they need 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.
Calculate Total Equipment Value
Calculate the value of the sports equipment that you use to teach. Include training aids as well as actual equipment that is used in your lessons. If you draw things up on a whiteboard, this is part of your business property as are balls, bats, and automatic ball machines. You may also have a computer or point-of-sale (POS) system that is an insurable business asset.
Check With Professional Organizations
Many professional coaches organizations offer limited general and professional liability policies directly. This is often a good start, but these organizations may not be able to offer COIs or business property coverage. Check with your organization and ask about the policies they offer and what exactly is covered in each to determine if there are coverage gaps for your business.
Sport and Swim Instructor Insurance Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Looking for sports and swim instructor insurance means you have specific needs that must be addressed. Making sure you have the right tools to get the right coverage is our top priority.
What is a certificate of insurance for sports and swim instructors?
A COI for sports and swim instructors is a document issued by your insurance company that lists policy liability coverage limits, coverage dates, and relevant third-party information. A public facility such as a tennis court, YMCA, or pool often requires a COI to protect themselves against your business activities.
How do I purchase insurance as a swim instructor?
You can purchase insurance as a swim instructor through a commercial lines insurance agent or broker. Many offer general liability policies for swim instructors. Be prepared to answer questions regarding your swim instructor business, including where you teach, the age range of students and annual revenue.
Do you need insurance as a private swim instructor?
Private swim instructors work at clients’ homes and public facilities need insurance to protect everyone’s interests. Working with students in the water has a high degree of risk where people may get hurt or have medical issues arise. Many swim lesson clients won’t work with swim instructors who don’t have general liability insurance.
What are the legal duties of a coach?
Individual sports instructors and coaches are required to properly plan activities in a way that mitigates the risk of injury and property damage. Proper equipment must be provided, risks and dangers must be disclosed, and the instructor must supervise the activity. Instructors are not allowed to be grossly negligent.
“As much as you strive to keep everyone safe in a lesson, you can’t control everything. A tennis student who confuses his left from his right can lead to a collision and serious injury. The liability insurance covers this.”
– Stacey Cohen, Tennis Instructor
“As much as you strive to keep everyone safe in a lesson, you can’t control everything. A tennis student who confuses his left from his right can lead to a collision and serious injury. The liability insurance covers this.”Bottom Line
Sports and swim instructors need to be covered from the many potential injuries or accidents that can happen when teaching students. General and professional liability policies are critical to preventing personally paying settlements on professional claims.
Protecting yourself against the biggest financial risk requires sports and swim instructor liability insurance. Find reasonable costs with the right insurance provider for the sport you teach with CoverWallet, which makes it easy and fast to get a policy online in minutes. Customize and combine policies depending on your risk and total equipment needs.
