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Business Insurance For Massage And Alternative Therapists

Compare insurance quotes for your massage or alternative therapy business with Savvy today. 

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, updated on August 1st, 2023       

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We’ve partnered with BizCover to bring you a range of business insurance policies to help you compare them side by side.

All massage and alternative therapists work very closely with their clients to provide the maximum benefit from their treatment. However, mistakes can happen, which is why it’s so important to have comprehensive business insurance to protect you from a range of covered events. 

You can compare quotes for many types of business insurance here with Savvy. Just answer a few simple questions about your massage business and the insurance you need and you’ll have multiple quotes from a range of respected insurers to compare instantly. Use our quick and easy comparison service to help you get the best value insurance for your business today.

What types of insurance should I buy for my massage or alternative therapy business?

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: 

  1. Allegations the therapy you provided was either not suitable, did not achieve the desired results or was ineffective  
  2. Claims your therapy caused personal injury 
  3. 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: 

  1. Cover for your legal defence costs 
  2. Payment of compensation if there’s a successful claim against you 
  3. Payment of court-awarded damages to the litigant 
  4. 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:  

  1. Third-party personal injury claims 
  2. Damage to a third party’s property 
  3. 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: 

  1. Fire, storms, theft, vandalism and collision which cause damage to your business assets 
  2. Specialist cover for portable equipment 
  3. 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:

  1. Data breaches including theft of client information stored on a computer or laptop 
  2. The cost of a forensic investigation into the cause of the breach 
  3. Data recovery costs 
  4. Cyber extortion and denial of service threats 
  5. Crisis management costs 
  6. Advertising and communicating with customers 
  7. Legal costs including any fines and penalties imposed

What isn’t covered under my business insurance as a massage or alternative therapist?  

The most common general exclusions include: 

  1. Injury to yourself or your employees 
  2. Flood damage 
  3. Glass breakage 
  4. Unlawful activity or criminal negligence 
  5. Reckless behaviour or intentional damage 
  6. Anything to do with asbestos 
  7. The effects of pollution caused by your business activity 
  8. Damage to computer hardware 
  9. Upgrading of a system not related to cybercrime 
  10. Power outages or failure of satellite or telecommunication services 
  11. Prior known circumstances or risks

How much will business insurance cost for a massage or alternative therapist? 

There is no set cost for an insurance policy, as each applicant is different and faces unique risks. Many factors influence the cost of business insurance, including the following:   

  • The state you’re in  
  • Whether you live in a rural or urban area 
  • Whether you’re a sole trader, are in a partnership or run a larger business 
  • Your business size and turnover  
  • If you have any employees 
  • Your insurance history 
  • Whether you’ve made an insurance claim in the past five years 

The main factor which will affect the cost of your insurance is the occupation you’re in. All businesses in Australia are classified according to the risk their industry poses, and are allocated a risk ratio. These ratios are used by insurers to calculate the comparative risk of any one business or individual compared to another.  

However, the cost of insurance also varies depending on where you live. For example, a massage therapist buying public liability insurance in New South Wales may not receive the same policy quote as one on the Gold Coast. 

There are many more variables which will affect the cost of your professional indemnity insurance, so the best way to find out how much your insurance may cost is to get a free, no-obligation quote through Savvy so you have exact numbers to compare. 

Why do I need business insurance as a massage therapist?

Any situation where you’re offering highly personal therapy to the public comes with its own risks.  A client may be disappointed with their healing progress or claim the therapy you offered didn’t relieve their pain or resulted in further injury. For this reason, when you’re considering what business insurance you may need, it’s important to think about the public liability and professional indemnity risks you face. Business insurance is there to protect you and your reputation no matter what claims are made. 

Most small to medium-sized businesses have some contingency funds available, but they’re rarely sufficient to cover the cost of a major personal injury claim, which can amount to millions of dollars. If such a claim is made against you or your business and you have adequate insurance to protect yourself, you’ll have a much better chance of recovering quickly and getting back on your feet. 

Types of business insurance

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More questions about business insurance for massage and alternative therapists

Will my professional indemnity insurance still cover me if I do home visits?

Your professional indemnity insurance may be able to offer you cover no matter where you deliver the therapy to your paying clients, so you can visit your clients at home or their workplaces knowing you still have the same level of protection. It's important to check with your insurer if you're unsure about where you're covered.

If I volunteer as a massage therapist at a sports club, will my professional indemnity insurance still cover me?

No – your professional indemnity insurance is intended to protect you from covered events taking place in the paid work you provide. It almost certainly won’t cover you if you volunteer your services to a sports club. However, there is additional insurance which is available for such circumstances, so ask your insurance company if they can give you details about liability cover for volunteer roles.

If I sell products to my clients as an alternative therapist, do I need product liability insurance?

Yes – anyone who provides products to the public should consider product liability insurance, which can protect them against claims that the product they supplied caused personal injury or harm to a member of the public in certain situations. This can often be packaged in with public liability insurance and can apply to both products you manufacture and sell yourself and stock you import or purchase to sell to the public. 

What information will I need to make a claim?

The information you should have to hand when you contact your insurance company to make a claim will include: 

  • The name of the policyholder 
  • Your policy number and start date (which can be found on your Certificate of Currency) 
  • A detailed description of the incident (what happened to cause the damage or loss) 
  • Specific dates and times when the incident happened 
  • Contact details of any other parties involved (or witnesses to the event) 
  • Details of your police report number (if a crime took place) 
  • Details of the property lost or damaged (including its age and value) 
  • Your bank details for settling the claim

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Disclaimer:

Savvy is partnered with BizCover Pty Ltd (ABN 68 127 707 975, AFSL 501769) to provide readers with a variety of business insurance policies to compare. Savvy earns a commission from BizCover each time a customer buys a business insurance policy via our website. We don’t arrange for products to be purchased from these brands directly, as all purchases are conducted via BizCover.

Savvy does not compare all business insurance policies or providers currently operating in the market. Any advice presented above or on other pages is general in nature and doesn’t consider your personal or business objectives, needs or finances. It’s always important to consider whether advice is suitable for you before purchasing an insurance policy.

For any further information on the variety of insurers compared by BizCover or how their business works, you can read their Financial Services Guide.

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