There are several forms of business insurance you should consider if you’re a massage therapist or provide any type of alternative therapy. These include:
Professional indemnity insurance
Professional indemnity insurance covers you against claims that the service, advice or recommendations you provided were either wrong or negligent. This type of insurance can offer you protection against many types of claims, including:
- Allegations the therapy you provided was either not suitable, did not achieve the desired results or was ineffective
- Claims your therapy caused personal injury
- Claims the advice you offered was negligent, misleading or contrary to professional standards in your industry
Cover starts at $250,000 and can go up to $10 million or more. This type of insurance may be needed to join many professional associations or gain certain accreditations.
What it covers:
- Cover for your legal defence costs
- Payment of compensation if there’s a successful claim against you
- Payment of court-awarded damages to the litigant
- Cover for the cost of investigations or disciplinary proceedings
Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance is also very important for anyone who runs their own massage therapy business or who has commercial premises they work out of. It can cover you against claims your business activity caused injury to a member of the public or damaged their property. This insurance is available for sums of between $5 million and $20 million.
What it covers:
- Third-party personal injury claims
- Damage to a third party’s property
- Legal fees to defend yourself
General business insurance
General business insurance may also be worthwhile if you have a massage clinic or portable equipment (such as a massage table) which you need coverage for. Commercial vehicles aren’t included in a general business insurance package, so you may need separate business insurance for your work vehicle.
What it covers:
- Fire, storms, theft, vandalism and collision which cause damage to your business assets
- Specialist cover for portable equipment
- Limited business interruption insurance
Cyber liability insurance
If you’re a massage therapist or work in a related allied health field such as occupational therapy, you may be required to store confidential patient information. Cyber liability insurance can cover you just in case your laptop containing confidential information is stolen or hacked. It can offer protection from a wide variety of cybercrimes and may be able to help you recover your data if you’re subject to a hacking attempt.
What it covers:
- Data breaches including theft of client information stored on a computer or laptop
- The cost of a forensic investigation into the cause of the breach
- Data recovery costs
- Cyber extortion and denial of service threats
- Crisis management costs
- Advertising and communicating with customers
- Legal costs including any fines and penalties imposed