As a sports coach, you get to pass your love for the game and inspire players under you to bring out their very best. Regardless of the type of sports coaching, you provide guidance, training, and development to the players you work with.
Similar to being a health coach or a career coach, there are hidden dangers to being a sports coach. A number of events could lead you to being held liable. Some of the common reasons why you could get sued as a sports coach include:
Using equipment deemed unfit
Inappropriate or inadequate care in an emergency situation
Failing to provide sufficient warning to parents or athletes of the risks inherent in a sport
Unethical behavior
Having an injured player participate
Injury sustained during transportation to and from practice or a game
The unfortunate reality is that when these occur, the blame falls squarely on your shoulders as the sports coach. Having sports coaching insurance is your best bet at retaining your reputation and navigating through lawsuits.
Granted, you might consider yourself a great coach and doubt that these might not happen to you. But as is often the case, bad things happen to good people. Sports coaching is a physical activity, and mistakes will often occur.
Besides, you are dealing with players likely under pressure from their peers and parents who might decide to conceal injury. Further, they might fail to take adequate care of themselves when away from practice or a game which could lead to injury or problems during a coaching session.
Therefore, it's no longer a question of whether or not you need to protect yourself. For you to navigate the number of uncertainties you will inevitably encounter while sports coaching, you will need sports coaching business insurance.
Sports coach insurance is often sold depending on the type of coaching you undertake. If you are an athletic coach, you are going to need running coach insurance. If your specialty is physical fitness, fitness coach insurance is the specialty insurance that you'll need. If you work with an individual and not an entire team, you are going to need individual sports instructor insurance.
On the other hand, if your specialty is youth sports training, then you must purchase youth sports coach insurance. Finally, if you run an entire company with a number of coaches, trainers, and other professionals on your team, you will need comprehensive sports coaching company insurance.
Players can file a claim against you if an accident happens during practice, and they get injured or sustain property damage. This is why you need a general liability insurance policy. General liability insurance protects you against claims for bodily injuries or property damage that clients, contractors, and other third parties file.
Also known as sports coach liability insurance, this policy will offer additional perks. Other exposures covered in the language of general liability insurance are:
Copyright infringement, slander, or libel
Products and completed operations
Liability over damaged to a rented space
Accidents caused by a hired/borrowed commercial vehicle
General liability insurance for fitness trainers and sports coaches might come with sexual abuse and molestation coverage. Sexual abuse and molestation coverage takes care of settlements, defense costs, and court judgments if a fitness trainer or sports coach is accused of sexually harassing or assaulting a client.
Public liability insurance for sports coaches covers a third party’s claim for bodily injuries or property damage. This is offered as part of a general liability policy in the USA. This isn’t commonly offered as a stand-alone policy in long-term business insurance plans. However, you get this as a stand-alone coverage in short-term insurance products or events insurance.
As a sports coach, you know what it takes to win. You are likely driven by an insatiable desire to reach the peak of your sports of choice. You will often use the resources and tools available to you with the goal of helping your players achieve success.
The consequence of this almost obsessive desire to win will often be extensive drills and long training hours to help your players fine-tune their skills. Unfortunately, your training plans will not always be successful.
If one of your players or invested parties claims that the advice and training given was inadequate or that it resulted in undesirable results, they will likely file for damages. As such, you ought to have adequate professional indemnity insurance. The latter protects you and your business in the event of claims of negligence, mistakes, or failure to deliver your professional duties as stipulated within your contract.
The essence of general liability and professional indemnity insurance for sports coaches, tennis coaches, and football coaches is that it takes on all the financial consequences of risks faced during coaching activities. While very useful, these aren’t the only policies you need to get.
Get all the best quotes from leading providers in a click of a button!
If you work with a team of specialists who help you with various coaching activities, you want to purchase workers' compensation insurance. This policy protects your business in the event one of the experts in your employment gets injured while dispensing duties related to your coaching business. The policy meets the costs of treatment and lost wages.
Suppose the injured employee decides to sue your business for failing to provide a safe work environment. In such a scenario, you want to have employers' liability insurance as the policy will meet the legal obligation associated with a lawsuit.
Employer’s liability insurance is usually offered as part of workers' compensation insurance. Some insurance companies give you the liberty of removing it to make workers comp insurance cheaper while others don’t.
Another policy that provides help when employment-related claims are filed is employment practices liability insurance. Employment practices liability insurance covers costs when employees file a claim and accuse you of:
Retaliation
Exploitation
Sexual harassment
Failure to promote
Negligent hiring
Verbal abuse
Discrimination
Wrongful termination
Other violations of employee rights.
As highlighted, sports coaching is a physical activity, and there is a chance that you or key members of your staff might be injured while coaching. As such, consider getting personal accident insurance aside from workers' compensation insurance. The policy covers all the medical bills, lost wages, and other costs that result from a work-related accident.
You will find commercial property insurance handy for insuring the office and sports equipment. Commercial property insurance will reimburse your loss if business properties get damaged or lost because of:
Fire
Theft
Vandalism
Lightning
Sinkhole collapse
Other covered perils
Additionally, consider getting a business interruption insurance policy that kicks in when you are unable to work because of an economic crisis, relocation, or renovation. Business interruption insurance is offered as part of commercial property insurance in most cases. This will cover operational costs such as utility bills, employee wages, mortgages, loans, and others.
Commercial property insurance might also come with an inland marine insurance floater. An inland marine insurance floater reimburses your losses if work equipment gets damaged or lost during a trip. This is particularly useful if you get involved in a vehicular accident while on the way to a sports facility to train players.
Expect to pay $34 per month or $408 per year for a $1 million general liability insurance. This sports coach insurance cost estimate assumes that you have 5 employees and make $500,000-$750,000 per year. Carriers calculate the premiums you pay based on several factors, including:
Years of experience
Number of employees
Claims history
Policy limits chosen
For a better perspective, here's a table detailing how much premiums cost from the market's best sports coach insurance companies:
| Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NEXT | $16 | $192 | Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for sports coaches |
| CoverWallet | $20 | $240 | Sports coach insurance quotes comparison online |
| Tivly | $22 | $264 | Comparing sports coach insurance quotes over the phone |
| Thimble | $26 | $312 | Short-term general liability insurance for sports coaches |
| Hiscox | $28 | $336 | General liability insurance with worldwide coverage for sports coaches |
| Markel Direct | $32 | $384 | Sports coaches looking for international coverage |
| Protectivity | $34 | $408 | Sports coaches running a sports coaching agency |
Get all the best quotes from leading providers in a click of a button!
When shopping for sports coaching insurance, you want to find an insurer that can guarantee you excellent personal service. Additionally, you want to work with an insurer with trained insurance experts on board who are familiar with the risks you face. Here are the best sports coach insurance companies. Read to know their pros, cons, and rate for a $1 million general liability insurance.
Best overall
Get an online proof of insurance and send as a text message, email, or social media post
Fastest general liability insurance for sports coaches
Great customer service and reputation
Issues an online proof of insurance instantly
Outstanding value for money
Bundle two or more insurance policies and get a 10% discount
Couldn’t find any
NEXT's sports coaching insurance offering is customizable. To get set up with a policy, you are first required to offer information on your sports coaching business. This is considered the first step in filing out NEXT's online instant quote. Once agents review this information, you will be presented with a list of options and amounts of coverage.
You have three coverage options with NEXT-basic, deluxe, and premiere. The basic coverage only offers general liability and professional liability insurance. This is the cheapest. Though more expensive, the deluxe coverage is very comprehensive as it offers general liability, commercial property, workers comp, and professional liability insurance.
Best for: Best overall; Fastest general liability insurance for sports coaches
Average cost: $16 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Stable rates
Compare sports coach insurance quotes online
General liability insurance comes with hired/non-owned auto liability coverage
Easy online policy management
Cancel your coverage anytime
Not an insurance company but an insurance broker
CoverWallet doesn’t have a specialized sports coach insurance program. Instead, you get covered through its sports educator and instructor insurance plan. Policies you can get are general liability insurance, workers compensation insurance, professional liability insurance, and more.
Note that CoverWallet is only a seller of insurance products. This means that the quotes you can buy from this company are underwritten by different underwriters such as CNA, Chubb, Hiscox, and Liberty Mutual. Basically, this company aggregates coverage options and offers them in one go for easy purchase.
To get a quote, use CoverWallet’s online quotes comparison tool. This will show quote details as well as pricing. You can then choose to get covered online in an instant or speak with a representative.
Best for: Sports coach insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $20 per month
Our rating: 10/10
Responsive customer service
Call and compare sports coach insurance quotes over the phone
A partner of many reputable insurance companies
You need to call to get a quote
Tivly covers a wide range of businesses. Reputable insurance companies will refer you to this company if they can’t provide coverage. Tivly policies for sports coaches include general liability, commercial property, workers compensation, and others. Call Tivly now to compare sports coach insurance quotes over the phone and get covered.
Best for: Comparing sports coach insurance quotes over the phone
Average cost: $22 per month
Our rating: 10/10
General liability insurance is available as a stand-alone policy
Quick to issue an estimate of your rate
Floaters can be added to general liability insurance
You can’t reach customer service by calling
Thimble grants coverage through its instructor insurance program. Policies you can get are general liability and workers compensation insurance.
This company’s general liability insurance has a $1 million-$2 million per occurrence and aggregate limit. You get to choose how much coverage and deductibles to have. Thimble also gives you the liberty of adding an equipment breakdown floater and customer property floater to general liability insurance.
By the way, Thimble automatically includes professional liability insurance when you get general liability insurance.
Best for: Short-term general liability insurance for sports coaches
Average cost: $26 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Worldwide coverage
Upgradeable policies
5% discount if you bundle two or more policies
14-day money-back guarantee
You can’t get commercial property insurance as a stand-alone policy
Hiscox covers you through its sports instructor insurance package. This consists of general liability, professional liability, cyber liability, and business owner’s policy. Hiscox allows you to upgrade your policies for comprehensive coverage. You get a 5% discount if you bundle two or more insurance products.
Best for: General liability insurance with worldwide coverage for sports coaches
Average cost: $28 per month
Our rating: 9/10
Policyholders can spread premiums to be paid to over 10 interest-free monthly installments
24-hour legal advice helpline
Instant proof of cover offered seconds after request
No hidden fees or cancellation charges
Markel Direct doesn't offer a claim response time
No outline of the claims process offered
Markel has over 25 years of experience offering specialty insurance to sports coaches, instructors, and trainers. Once you purchase your sports coaching insurance from Markel Direct, you will be leveraging this vast experience understanding the risks sports coaches face and what the best cover looks like.
As a sports coach, Markel Direct offers you the following:
Public liability policy
Professional indemnity policy with limits of between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000
Employer's liability insurance policy of $10 million
Legal expenses insurance policy with a limit of $100,000
Directors' and officers' insurance policy with limits ranging between $100,000 to $5 million
Office Insurance
Occupational, personal accident insurance
Cyber and data risks insurance
Markel Direct is a pleasure to work with because it does not offer you a one-size-fits-all approach. You have a representative working with you to customize your policy to meet your sports coaching business insurance needs.
Best for: Sports coaches looking for international coverage
Average cost: $32 per month
Our rating: 9/10
International coverage
Excellent claims handling
Online purchase are available 24/7
Range of cover offered, with the option of customization
Insurance documents readily available
No summary of covers in the policy document
Protectivity is a leading market player in the sports coaching insurance landscape. Its sports coaching policy is underwritten by AXA, meaning that policyholders will be working with an insurer with good financial standing. You can add income protection and travel and competition coverage to your sports coaching insurance, thus more comprehensive coverage. Business insurance limits can be up to $10 million.
Protectivity, under AXA, offers a travel insurance package for sports coaches. Protectivity's travel insurance policy includes coverage for the following:
Medical expenses accrued during travel
Cancellation before travel cover limits
Abandonment of the trip
Natural disasters grounding travel
Personal possessions and baggage
This package is particularly attractive for sports coaches who travel to recruit talent for their teams. Protectivity also offers the opportunity to add as many additional insured as needed.
Overall, whether you are a sole trader running a sports coaching business on your own, in partnership with other sports coaches, or have formed a limited company and are looking to separate the business's finances from your own, Protectivity is the insurer for you.
Best for: Sports coaches running a sports coaching agency
Average cost: $34 per month
Our rating: 8/10
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
It really can't get any better than this... wow
Not all those who wander are lost.
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