Public liability insurance for sports coaches

In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• damage to someone’s property, caused by your sports coaching business
• an injury or illness caused by your business activities
• accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees

For example:

• you ask a footballer you’re coaching to partner you in a demonstration and they fracture a bone in their foot
• while training you drop a heavy item on the venue’s wooden floor, cracking it in several places

If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• an injury or illness that happens as a result of working for you (including temps and casual workers)

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

• your employee injures their back while carrying training equipment to your van
• while lifting weights into your car, your summer temp drops a crate onto their foot, breaking two bones

Business and office equipment insurance

In case something happens to your coaching equipment.

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

• accidental damage to the equipment you use to run the business
• theft, flood, and fire damage

For example:

• someone breaks into your home office and steals your tablet and headphones, which you use for work
• a flood over Christmas causes water damage to your work laptop

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Tools insurance

In case your specialist training tools are lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by tools insurance?

• loss, damage, or theft of your tools and equipment
• handheld, portable tools, including electronics
• cover for your tools in transit in any vehicle owned or leased by you, anywhere in the UK

For example:

• while teaching at a school your tools are stolen from your kit bag
• your car is stolen from outside a stadium, and the tools inside are never recovered

Read more about tools insurance

Stock insurance

In case the materials you rely on for work are lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

• loss, damage, or theft of things like branded materials and training kit

For example:

• you’ve ordered a shipment of branded vests for a football team you’re coaching, which gets damaged in a flood at your business storage unit
• several units of tennis balls, nets, and branded water bottles you’ve ordered fall out of the back of your van, and aren’t recovered

Read more about stock insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you face legal costs in connection with your sports coaching

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

• legal costs attributed to coaching business
• property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
• tax and compliance disputes and investigations you need help with
• access to expert advice – including a tax advice phone line, confidential 24/7 legal phone line, and crisis PR support to help you protect your professional reputation

For example:

• you incur legal costs when an employee raises a claim against you for an unsafe working environment
• HMRC begin a randomised investigation into your tax affairs, and you need to hire legal representation

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or elsewhere.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• accidental injury or death at or outside of work, for anyone covered on the policy
• lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit

For example:

• you break your knee while taking part in a marathon, and can’t work at full capacity for eight weeks
• your business partner suffers a head injury while coaching a squash player

Read more about personal accident insurance

Can I just cover my most expensive tools?

Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tool cover.

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.

If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.

Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.

Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?

Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.

You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.

Does sports coaching insurance cover my work correctly?

Make sure you’re picking the right cover to protect you properly. It’s important to know that if you have another trade or job, you’ll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider massage insurance or fitness instructor insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:

• Gym insurance
• Fitness instructor insurance
• Dance teacher insurance
• Life coach insurance
• Nutritionist insurance
• Massage insurance
• Physiotherapy insurance
• Reflexology insurance

Other types of insurance

• Limited company insurance
• Self-employed insurance
• Freelance insurance
• Consultant insurance
• Contractors insurance
• Sole trader insurance

Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.