I am also looking for insurance. I would think basic business liability, taking into account what kind of work we do. there must be a insurance company out there that has a coaching policy, I know I have school policys for my colleges.
I have been thinking about this myself. I think that the best suited might be E&O insurance (errors and omissions), which is to my knowledge what most professionals firms have.
Hello everyone. The ICF international website has a list of affiliates that offer discounts to ICF members. One of those partners offers insurance for coaches. I have included the website address to the resource partners. Once at that page you can click on the specific partner that you are interested in and it will take you to their information. I personally purchased insurance from a partner and have been very pleased with the policy and the company. Take a look and decide for yourself. Have a great day.
You might also want to cheque with BCAA - a few years ago one of our member coaches advised they had really good rates for home based business insurance.
The ICF malpractice insurance if you have a client that requires it!...is a good deal. Similar to what Ray commented on above I haven't seen or heard of anything substantive of a coach being sued even in the US. I occassionally hear a friend of a friend type which in my experience fall into the urban myth category.
So unless you are working with a client such as a government or a larger corporate client may require it...I would suggest you don't bother. We buy it when we get a clien that insists on it and that is rare. We do carry standard business liablity insurance which covers us if someone trips over a projector cable in one of our face to face sessions. And any insurance company will supply that.
Thanks all for the insight and resources posted in the discussion. They have all been extremely helpful.
I'm not looking for malpractice insurance but I am looking for a standard business liability insurance as Dave B. speaks about. In my search my local insurance broker has mentioned to include errors and omissions in the insurance package with the business liability.
BCAA, Partners of ICF, and local insurance brokers seem to all be suitable avenues. I am checking each out to gauge the best option. If I discover any new info not previously surfaced here I will definitely share it.
The ICF Partner that does provide coverage for Canadians doing business in Canada (and in the US also as an option) is about $505 per annum. I am having my insurance person have a look at the policy to see if it is worth it. If a potential client is requesting that a coach provide "liability insurance", I believe this is a good option - but I'm waiting to hear what my insurance gal says. I pasted the results of a quote (with US coverage added) below.
in adventure, Catherine
Based upon the information submitted so far, this is a quotation for insurance benefits for a 1 year period for an ICF member business located in Canada Coverage of $1,000,000 per claim / $1,000,000 in aggregate $ Canadian Annual income from business activities to be covered does not exceed $100K $ Canadian This quotation is for 1 year's coverage starting 1 November 2011 You have selected to be covered for business transacted in USA You are allocated a personal ID of 2655 This quotation reference is: 5805 Timed and dated: Wednesday 19 October 2011 4:25 pm PDT Valid for 28 days from the date above Deductible = Nil Premium 480.00 Policy Fee 15.00 Administration Fee 10.00 Sales Tax 0.00 Total payable $ Canadian $505.00
I recently went through the process of securing professional liability insurance (aka Errors and Omissions Liability) and comprehensive general liability insurance as a requirement of coaching and consulting contracts with municipal and provincial government and health authority clients.
When I checked out BCAA I learned that they were not able to provide the scope of coverage I needed for business insurance. I also live in the Tri-Cities area and can recommend Suter Brook Insurance Services, Shannon Williams did an excellent job on finding me a great rate with all the general liability policy coverage I needed. Her office is located at 162 Brew Street in Port Moody, phone: 604.469.9355.
I purchased professional liability insurance offered through ICF after several insurance brokers I contacted said they couldn't offer as competitive a price because it is a group rate. The price was consistent with what Catherine noted.
Thanks Teresa, this is a big help. Oddly enough, Suterbook is actually my home base and neighbourhood so I will follow through with your recommendation. Much appreciated!
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