Monday, March 18

How to Get Massage Therapist Insurance?

Training to be a massage therapist is challenging, with most time spent learning the likes of effleurage techniques and relaxing clients and ultimately removing their discomfort. So, for anyone branching out to become a self-employed massage therapist or open their own massage location, there can be a lot to wrap your head around regarding the administrative side of things.

One such aspect to consider is sorting out business insurance. To some degree, all businesses need to have to ensure they are financially protected should they suffer loss or have legal action brought against them.

If you are a massage therapist, here are explanations of the types of insurance you will need to arrange for yourself and anyone else you happen to employ. For further information and to get massage therapist insurance quotes, click here to read the NimbleFins guide to massage therapist insurance.

Does A Massage Therapist Need Insurance To Work In The UK?

Yes. A massage therapist who is not an employee already covered by insurance will need to take out insurance to protect themselves, any employees and the business itself.

The coverage options can protect against the following, if applicable to a business:

  • A client or member of the public is injured as a result of your services
  • A client or member of the public has their property damaged
  • You or an employee is injured and is unable to work
  • Your property is damaged or stolen
  • A vehicle used for business use is damaged or stolen
  • Your client’s personal data is compromised
  • General unforeseen legal fees

Consider also that having insurance is a requirement for membership into any professional association. So, insurance is there to protect financially and is seen as a sign of trust in terms of clients and the wider massage therapy community alike.

What Insurance Does A Massage Therapist Need?

As a massage therapist, insurance will need to factor in the treatments offered, along with anything else that has the potential to cause financial loss to a business through injury, theft or damage.

Some of the most relevant insurance policies to consider taking out include:

Treatment Insurance

Treatments are the lifeblood of any massage company. However, even with the most diligent of client consultations, there is always the potential your treatment could inflict injury or harm. As the name suggests, treatment insurance can protect against compensation claims and any associated legal costs, should a client be dissatisfied with the treatment provided.

Employers’ Liability Insurance

If a business employs anybody else, regardless of the industry you are in, then it’s required to take out a minimum of £5 million of employers’ liability insurance. Doing so will financially protect a business if employees become injured while carrying out their work and decide to take legal action against the business.

Public Liability Insurance

Public liability insurance provides cover in the event a client or member of the public is accidentally injured or has their property damaged, and they blame the business. However, the cover does not include injuries or damage resulting from massage work itself, which would need to be covered by treatment insurance, as mentioned above.

Limits on public liability insurance in the UK range from £1 million to £10 million.

Personal Injury Insurance

Personal injury insurance can cover a business owner and/or employees who are unable to work due to an accident or injury. (Cover for lost income due to illness would come separately, under income protection.)

As a massage therapist, you will know better than anyone that your job is incredibly manual in nature. Massage therapists use your hands, knuckles and even elbows to help remove knots and free up the fascia on your clients.

Plus, massage therapists stand for long periods and bend at awkward angles. So consider how you or your employees would be able to continue to work if an injury occurred.

Tool//Stock/Contents Insurance

Let’s not forget that it’s not just your hands at work when you are a massage therapist since you’ll likely require specialist beds and other equipment needed to run the business. Plus, you might hold stock of items like oils to sell to your clients. Tool, stock, or other contents insurance can protect against loss or damage due to covered events like a fire or theft.

Additional Insurance

No two massage therapy businesses operate in quite the same way. Therefore, depending on the circumstances, a massage therapist may want to consider taking out cover for their vehicle, along with their buildings and contents (if not covered by tool insurance).

In addition, in the age of GDPR, cyber insurance might be necessary, especially for anyone handling customer data which always has the potential of being compromised, leading to possible identity theft.

How To Get Massage Insurance

To be able to get an accurate insurance quote for massage services, two steps are required. Firstly, visit an insurance comparison website that can provide quotes from several different insurers. Ideally, the chosen website should offer insurance policies specific to the massage or beauty industry.

Getting the best quotes for a business relies on a second aspect, which is to compile details surrounding the types of treatments on offer, how the business operates, and details relating to the business’s financial performance. All of which will mean the right level of cover can be offered to a massage business.

When searching for insurance quotes specific to an industry such as massage therapy, the policy may offer several types of insurance under the same umbrella policy.

To Sum Up

No business owner wants to get weighed down in lengthy legal cases, let alone the eye-watering costs that are often associated with them. Taking out insurance for massage therapy services is not a legal requirement unless anybody else is employed. But, even for the self-employed, trading without insurance leaves one vulnerable to financial ruin should a client or member of the public instigate legal action in a business.

But for just a small cost per year, it’s possible to get a generous amount of cover that will protect a business and even pay off any associated legal costs. Therefore, massage therapists should sort out insurance cover without delay if it’s not in place already.

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