Massage Therapy Insurance: A Beginner’s Guide
As a massage therapist, your services are a gift—your clients come to you for therapy, healing, and relaxation. They need your magic touch to alleviate their bad backs, stiff necks, aches, pains, or any of a dozen other ailments.
While you may hope that every patient walks out with a smile, have you considered what might happen to you and your small business if something goes wrong during a session? These days, in a litigious society, all it takes is one accident, one injury, to expose you to significant liability. Sadly, litigation is slowly becoming one of the more prominent risks and hazards of being a massage therapist.
So, whether you’re starting your own wellness center or provide house-to-house service, you need a massage therapy insurance policy to protect your business. But what does massage insurance cover and how does it work? Let’s find out.
Massage Therapy Insurance
Whatever your business, professional liability and general liability insurance both serve one primary purpose—to mitigate risk. Put simply, accidents are inevitable; people make mistakes. And those mistakes can be costly.
Massage therapy can be especially risky since you are typically treating patients who are already sore, injured, or experiencing some type of physical issue. They’re trusting you to help them improve.
But what happens if they end up feeling worse than they were in the first place?
If they believe your actions caused an even greater injury, they might sue you, claiming that you exacerbated their affliction. Were that to occur, you might have to go to court to defend yourself. And even if you do hire an expensive legal team, you could still be held liable for your client’s medical bills and bodily injury.
But, with a massage therapist liability insurance policy, you could be protected. For a more in-depth look, check our blog article detailing What’s Included In Massage Insurance Coverage.
What Does Massage Therapy Insurance Include?
NOW Insurance provides your small business with three types of liability coverage. They are:
- Professional liability insurance – Also known as Errors and Omissions (E&O), this shields professionals such as yourself from mistakes, bad advice, wrongful acts, or negligence that caused the client financial harm, bodily/emotional injury, death, disability, etc.
- General liability insurance – This policy covers your small business from any accidents that occur to a third party prior to or post-treatment. This includes bodily injury, medical costs, legal fees, and third-party property damage.
- Cyber liability insurance – In an increasingly digital world, cyber attacks are on the rise. In fact, according to Industry Week:
During 2018, we have seen a 350% increase in ransomware attacks, a 250% increase in spoofing or business email compromise (BEC) attacks and a 70% increase in spear-phishing attacks in companies overall. Further, the average cost of a cyber-data breach has risen from $4.9 million in 2017 to $7.5 million in 2018, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Cyber liability coverage guards your small business from the harmful consequences of a cyber attack, such as the cost of restoring data, notifying clients, updating security, or paying ransoms.
If you’re curious about the specific insurance needs of massage centers, check out our blog post: Do Massage Centers Need Insurance?
What Does Massage Therapist Insurance Cover?
As mentioned, a policy for masseuses protects your business from several risk angles to third parties, including:
- Medical expenses – Once a session is over, the client (in a blissful stupor) missteps as they get off the massage table, causing a broken ankle and a trip to the doctors’. Your insurance policy could help cover the costs of the visit, their surgery, and physical therapy. Another example would be recommending a supplement to take after a massage that ends up causing negative effects to your client.
- Property damage – As you carry your massage table through a client’s home, it accidentally knocks over an expensive vase. Your policy could help pay for the costs of replacing the damaged property.
- Legal team – A client believes that you exacerbated an existing injury, so they take you to court. Your insurance can help pay to hire your legal defense.
- Court costs – If you’re taken to court for negligence and found guilty, your insurance could help cover the administrative legal fees and court costs associated with the claims.
- Cyber breach – A breach occurs and a hacker gains access to your files and client information. The cyber security portion of your insurance policy could help pay for the damages this causes, including business interruptions, notifying clients, damage to reputation, cyber extortion, and the loss or damage of electronic data.
It’s important to note that although a massage therapist insurance policy provides a whole lot of coverage, there are some notable exceptions such as:
- Damage to your personal property or equipment
- An employee injury
- Auto accidents
- Illegal activities
Now Insurance – Your Go-To For Massage Therapy Insurance
To do your job right, you need to be self-assured that you’re working to help your client feel better. But it’s impossible to be confident if you’re constantly worried about your exposure to a potential liability claim. You need to practice massage therapy with insurance that covers you from:
- Bodily injury claims
- Third-party property damage
- Negligence claims
- Cyber attacks
- Failure to treat claims
Fortunately for you, with NOW Insurance, purchasing the insurance coverage your wellness center needs is fast, affordable, and easy. With professional liability, general liability, and cyber liability policies, we have the insurance you need to prevent liability exposure and keep your massage therapy business up and running. To that end, we work with you to create a customized package at the right price.
Interested?
Reach out today to find a tailored policy for you.
Sources:
- Forbes. How To Protect Yourself From Financial Predators And Lawsuits. https://www.forbes.com/sites/garrettgunderson/2015/07/22/how-to-protect-yourself-from-financial-predators-and-lawsuits/#357d2b9c2465
- Industry Week. Cyberattacks Skyrocketed in 2018. Are You Ready for 2019? https://www.industryweek.com/technology-and-iiot/article/22026828/cyberattacks-skyrocketed-in-2018-are-you-ready-for-2019
- Investopedia. Commercial General Liability. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/commercial-general-liability-cgl.asp