Public Liability Insurance for Personal Trainers and Gyms in NZ
Public liability insurance for a personal trainer pays when you are legally liable for damaging someone else's property or injuring a member of the public, plus your legal defence costs. In New Zealand, ACC bars most compensation claims for personal injury, so a trainer's claim is often about property or costs rather than the injury. A gym you rent space from, or a landlord, may ask to see a current certificate.
In short
- When a gym or client asks for "your insurance", they usually mean public liability. It responds to third parties, not to your own injuries or gear.
- Advice about training and programmes is a different risk. That sits under professional indemnity, and many trainers need both.
- A licensed adviser can read the clause in your facility agreement and help you get a certificate of currency once cover is in place.
What gyms, landlords and councils ask trainers for
- A current certificate in the facility agreement
- The liability limit named in your lease or hire terms
- Your qualifications and any REPs registration
- Proof of cover before you book a hall or park
Damage in a home session
A dropped barbell cracks a client's floor. Property damage sits outside ACC.
A dispute about your programme
Advice and programme design are a professional indemnity question.
Kit on the move
Barbells, bikes and sound systems need property or equipment cover.
Hired hall damage
Gear that scars a community hall floor leads to a claim against the trainer.
Work out what to raise
Tick what applies to you
- I contract inside someone else's gym
The facility agreement often names a certificate.
Covers to raise: Public liability
- I own or lease a studio or gym
Covers to raise: Public liability, Premises, stock and interruption
- I train in parks, halls or client homes
Covers to raise: Public liability, Tools and equipment
- I train older or rehab clients
Covers to raise: Public liability, Professional indemnity
- I train children
Covers to raise: Public liability
- I sell programmes or nutrition guidance
Covers to raise: Professional indemnity
- I carry my own equipment
Covers to raise: Tools and equipment
- I coach online and hold client details
Covers to raise: Professional indemnity, Cyber
What these covers do not pay
- Your own injury. That is a question for ACC and income protection.
- Your equipment under public liability. That is a separate cover.
- A client simply not getting the result they hoped for.
- Activities you did not describe, such as combat sports or lifting events.
- Legal costs from a Privacy Act or Fair Trading Act breach under public liability. Statutory liability may respond to some.
General information only. Whether a cover responds depends on the policy wording.
Which clause is in your contract?
Interested party noted
The client, head contractor or financier asks to be named on your policy so they are told about changes such as cancellation. Wording varies, and in some contracts it means something different from being an extra insured.
Covers to raise: Public liability, Contract works
What it does not decide: Being noted does not by itself give that party cover under your policy or a right to claim. That depends on how the insurer words it.
Own tools and plant
The contract says you bring and look after your own tools, equipment or machinery, so damage or theft of them sits with you rather than the client.
Covers to raise: Tools and equipment, Business vehicles
What it does not decide: It does not decide whether those items are insured, on site or in a vehicle, or hired in. Contract works and public liability policies usually do not pick up your own tools.
Professional standard
You agree to work with reasonable skill and care, or to a named industry standard. If the work falls short, that is the test a client may use against you.
Covers to raise: Professional indemnity
What it does not decide: It does not decide whether a claim for falling short is covered. Professional indemnity wordings differ on what is excluded, such as guarantees, fee disputes and known issues.
General information, not legal advice. The full clause and the policy wording decide how it applies.
Check your certificate of currency against the contract
Clients and main contractors in this trade ask for:
- A current certificate of currency in the facility agreement
- The liability limit named in the lease or hire terms
- Your qualifications and any REPs registration
Check the insured name, limit and dates match the contract. The policy wording, not the certificate, decides what is covered. How a certificate of currency works
What each cover may pay, and what it usually does not
Public liability
- May respond to
- Damage to other people's property and claims from clients, plus the certificate a gym asks for.
- Common trigger
- A dropped weight, a damaged floor or a client claim.
- Usually not covered
- Your own equipment, and your own injury.
Professional indemnity
- May respond to
- A client saying your programme design, coaching or nutrition guidance cost them.
- Common trigger
- A complaint about advice you gave.
- Usually not covered
- Bodily injury during a session, which sits elsewhere.
Tools and equipment
- May respond to
- Equipment you carry between sites, depending on the wording.
- Common trigger
- Theft from a car or damage in transit.
- Usually not covered
- Wear and tear.
Premises, stock and interruption
- May respond to
- Studio fit-out, equipment and income after insured damage.
- Common trigger
- Fire, flood or a break-in at the studio.
- Usually not covered
- Gradual damage and wear.
If something goes wrong
A barbell cracks a client's floor
A dropped bar damages a floor during a home session.
May respond: Public liability
Have ready
- Photos of the damage
- Session notes
- Your certificate of currency
A client says your nutrition plan made them ill
A client follows a meal plan you wrote, becomes unwell and says your guidance caused it.
May respond: Professional indemnity
Have ready
- Intake and health screening forms
- The plan as written
- Messages with the client
- Your qualifications
Kit stolen from the car
A boot camp trainer's car is broken into and the kettlebells and speakers are taken.
May respond: Tools and equipment
Have ready
- Equipment list with values
- Police report
- Purchase receipts
Hall floor is scarred
Gear used in a hired community hall marks the floor and the hall asks for repair costs.
May respond: Public liability
Have ready
- Hire agreement
- Photos before and after
- Hall insurance clause
Typical examples, not real claims. ACC deals with most injuries, so an injury claim is mostly about property and legal costs. Whether a claim is paid depends on the policy wording and the facts.
Licence versus insurance
A licence is not insurance.
What the licence or register says
- Keeps a register of exercise professionals and sets standards for registered members and facilities.
- Has its own insurance option for registered members.
- Notes that ACC does not pay legal or defence costs if you are prosecuted for negligence or unsafe practice.
Who asks for it
- The gym you contract to. A facility agreement may ask you to hold your own liability cover and show proof.
- Your landlord. A studio lease commonly asks the tenant to hold it.
- Councils, parks and hall owners. Boot camps and hired halls come with conditions of hire. Read them before you book.
- Corporate clients. A company that brings you in for staff sessions may ask for a certificate first.
The Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs) points out that a self-employed trainer carries the same risks as any small business, and a client can take legal action against you directly (REPs, Insurance). REPs also has its own insurance option for registered members. If you are weighing that against a separate policy, ask what it covers and what limit it carries.
What it covers
- Legal defence costs, even if the claim fails.
- Damage to a client's property. A kettlebell goes through a floor in a home session, or a band snaps and breaks a phone.
- Damage to the venue. Some policies cover premises you hire. Check the wording.
- Compensation you are found liable for, up to your limit.
- Products liability if you sell supplements, merchandise or equipment.
Where ACC stops
Under section 317 of the Accident Compensation Act 2001, most claims for compensatory damages for covered personal injury cannot be brought in court. A client who strains a shoulder in your session is generally dealt with through ACC.
That does not remove your risk. REPs notes that ACC does not pay legal or defence costs if you are prosecuted for negligence or unsafe practice, nor for breaches of the Privacy Act or the Fair Trading Act (REPs, Insurance). Property damage is outside ACC altogether. Your own injuries are separate: see income protection for the self-employed and ACC for contractors.
What it leaves out
- Advice and programme design. A client who says your programme cost them money is a professional indemnity question.
- Your own equipment. Barbells, bikes, rigs and sound systems need property cover, or tool insurance for kit you carry between sites.
- Fines. Health and safety fines cannot be insured (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, s 29). Some defence costs may sit under statutory liability.
- Activities you did not disclose. Outdoor camps, strongman events or kids' classes need to be declared.
- Vehicles and data. A van sits with business vehicle insurance, and client health and payment data with cyber insurance.
Gyms and studios
An owner has more to consider than a solo trainer.
- Members on site. Say how many people use the facility and what classes run.
- Contracted trainers. Check what your policy says about their work, and whether they should hold their own cover.
- Building and contents. The fit-out and equipment need property cover. The lease says who insures the building.
- Time out after damage. If a fire or flood closes the doors, business interruption responds to lost income, subject to the wording.
- Staffing standards. REPs facility registration involves using only REPs registered exercise professionals in exercise roles, and having someone with workplace first aid on hand while staffed (REPs, Register as a Facility). That is the industry body's standard, not insurance, but a tidy record is useful when an insurer asks about your operation.
Have ready for the call
- What you do: one-to-one, classes, online coaching, boot camps, a gym or studio.
- Where: your premises, a facility, client homes, parks, halls.
- Qualifications and any REPs registration.
- Turnover, staff and contractors, and claims history.
- Higher-risk work: heavy lifting events, combat sports, children, older or rehab clients.
- The insurance clause in your agreement, including any limit it names.
We do not quote prices. A figure only exists once an insurer has underwritten your details.
How we help
A licensed adviser can read the clause in your facility agreement or lease, work out the limit it points to and talk you through the options. Some business covers are referred to another licensed Financial Advice Provider, and we tell you who, and how they are paid, before your details go to that firm. That firm may charge fees. Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission or referral payment if you buy. Cover and price depend on insurer underwriting and the policy wording. Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931).
Use the form at the top of this page and mention what you do and where you train. For the wider picture see our business insurance guide and public liability insurance explained. To look after the people behind the business, see owner protection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do personal trainers need public liability insurance in NZ?
We have not seen a law requiring it. In practice a gym, landlord or client may make it a condition, so check your agreement.
Does ACC replace public liability insurance for a trainer?
No. ACC deals with injury treatment and rehabilitation. It does not pay for property damage or your legal defence costs.
Is a gym's insurance enough for the trainers working there?
Not necessarily. Ask the facility in writing, and ask your adviser to read the answer.
Does public liability cover my online coaching?
Online coaching raises advice and data questions more than physical-injury ones. Tell your adviser what you offer so they can raise professional indemnity and cyber cover.
Can I get cover as a sole trader?
Yes. Cover is available to sole traders, partnerships and companies. A sole trader is personally liable for claims against the business.
References
- REPs, Insurance (reps.org.nz)
- REPs, Register as a Facility (reps.org.nz)
- REPs, About REPs (reps.org.nz)
- Accident Compensation Act 2001, s 317 (legislation.govt.nz)
- Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, s 29 (legislation.govt.nz)
Related industries
Protect the people behind the business
Liability cover protects the business from claims. If you or a business partner could not work, or died, key person and shareholder cover can help keep the business, and your family, going.
- Key person cover, if the business relies on you
- Shareholder cover, so partners can buy each other out
- Income protection for owners and the self-employed
Check your facility agreement's insurance clause first
Paste the insurance clause from your gym agreement, lease or hall hire into the form and tell us how you train. A licensed Smiths adviser phones you. If we refer you to another licensed firm, we tell you who first. Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission or referral payment if you buy.
A licensed Smiths adviser phones you. If we refer you to another licensed firm we tell you who first and how they are paid.
Read the full insurance guides
Explore related pages: Life Insurance, Income Protection, Health Insurance, Trauma Insurance, Referral.