Your Complete Guide To Yoga Insurance
Our simple guide offers comprehensive information on the different types of coverage available, what to look for when purchasing a policy, and how to find the best insurance for your needs.
Table Of Contents
What is Yoga Insurance?
Despite a yoga instructor’s best efforts to teach safe yoga practices, injuries do happen. Students sometimes push themselves beyond their limits, fail to communicate medical conditions, or practice postures incorrectly.
With more than 5,000 yoga-related emergency room visits each year and possibly even more doctor’s visits, injuries happen more often than we’re aware of. Lawsuits are expensive and yoga insurance protects you against claims regarding unexpected yoga accidents and occurrences that come along with teaching even if you’re not at fault.
While these situations don’t arise often, they can be financially devastating without the backing of a solid insurance plan.
Yoga insurance is different from sports and personal liability insurance policies, many of which don’t actually cover yoga. Even yoga-specific policies may have exclusions, it’s important to find an insurance policy like beYogi's plan that will cover the different styles of yoga along with other modalities.
It’s important to know how yoga insurance protects you as an instructor. Whether you’re a part-time or full-time yogi, getting coverage for various liabilities is a valuable investment. The truth is, you never know what could happen while teaching yoga. Even if you make every effort to be cautious, a client could still get hurt. You could be held liable when a student sustains an injury while under your care.
If someone is injured while under your instruction or in your studio, they could have grounds to sue you for the cost of their medical bills, time away from work, or lawyer fees. These costs can pile up before you know it. The high price of a liability claim against you could mean financial strain, personal loss, and even the end of your career.
If you’re like most people, the cost of a liability lawsuit is too much to pay out of your own pocket. That’s why yoga teacher insurance is so important. beYogi’s comprehensive insurance for yoga teachers can help cover the cost of a liability lawsuit against you. With coverage for major liabilities, you don’t have to sweat the potential cost if something goes wrong and a client gets hurt. With beYogi, you have the peace of mind to teach yoga with confidence.
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Who Needs Yoga Insurance?
All yoga studios, yoga teachers, and yoga students should carry yoga insurance.
With thousands of students each month, studio owners must protect themselves against unfortunate injury claims.
While most studios do carry business owners insurance, yoga teachers shouldn’t assume that it means they’re covered. Many studios require teachers to carry their own individual policies.
Teachers who don’t have their own policies may not be aware of the legal ins-and-outs of their studio’s policy. It’s a teacher’s responsibility to stay on the side of caution and carry their own yoga insurance.
Should a teacher substitute or lead workshops at other studios, a good yoga insurance policy will follow them wherever they teach.
Teacher trainees should also have yoga insurance. As they go through training and build confidence teaching friends, yoga liability insurance has trainees covered whether they’re in the studio, a workshop, or at home.
There are several sides to yoga liability insurance. Just as each yoga pose is unique, the ways in which you could be held liable are varied. A liability is an incident or hazard for which you could be held responsible. These include accidents, injuries, bodily harm, or aggravated medical conditions.
beYogi yoga instructor insurance covers beyond just the basic coverage and protects you from general, professional, and product liability claims. Let’s unpack each of these in more detail.
General Liability Insurance for Yoga Professionals
The first coverage that beYogi offers is general liability insurance for yoga teachers. General liability insurance covers claims made that are not directly related to your occupation. This type of coverage is often referred to as ‘slip and fall’ insurance, as these are among the most common claims filed.
General liabilities can be found in any occupation or work environment and are not exclusive to yoga teachers. This makes general liability coverage an essential part of your insurance plan.
Let’s look at an example of a possible general liability claim against a yoga instructor
As a student is walking into the yoga studio, they trip on a loose rug in the lobby. When they fall, they hit their wrist on the hard floor, and it breaks. The student is in a lot of pain and needs medical attention immediately. After a physician sees them, the student contacts a lawyer to begin a general liability lawsuit against their yoga instructor.
In the above example, the injured student may have legal standing to demand that you be responsible for their medical bills, time away from work, lawyer fees, and any damaged property resulting from the fall. If you’re covered with general liability insurance, then you wouldn't have to worry about the cost of an incident like this. General liability insurance for yoga teachers could help protect you from the expense of a lawsuit like this situation.
Professional Liability Insurance for Yoga Teachers
Unlike general liability claims, professional liability claims are related to your occupation as a yoga professional. These types of claims are also called “errors or omissions” or “malpractice” claims, as they imply a mistake on the part of the professional. Scenarios related to professional liability include:
A student overexerts themselves and gets injured
A student is injured while performing a pose under your instruction
A student aggravates a medical condition, causing them bodily harm or distress
A client sustains physical harm under your care or because of your instruction
In a nutshell, professional errors or omissions that lead to a client’s injury could be grounds for a lawsuit.
Here’s an example situation in which a professional liability claim could be made.
A client is in the middle of a hot yoga session when they suddenly feel lightheaded. They start to say something to the instructor but pass out before the instructor notices something is off. When the student goes unconscious, they fall and hit the floor without catching themselves. Naturally, the instructor moves to help the client as quickly as they can and calls an ambulance. The student is treated in the emergency room, and some diagnostic tests are done. It seems that the student overexerted themselves and was severely dehydrated.
The client did not sustain any other injuries but chose to hire a lawyer to hold the yoga teacher liable for their ambulance ride, the time in the ER, and the additional medical bills.
In this example, professional yoga insurance could help protect the yoga teacher from the exorbitant cost of the lawsuit. Yoga insurance would help relieve the burden and stress that a claim like this could cause, which makes professional liability coverage a must-have for yoga teachers.
Product Liability Coverage for Yogis
Another major coverage that beYogi includes is product liability insurance. As a yoga teacher, you likely use a variety of products. Product liability claims involve adverse reactions to the products you use to enhance yoga instruction, clean your facility and equipment, and the gear you use in your teaching. These claims often involve an allergic reaction or an injury due to faulty equipment.
Unfortunately, product liabilities are often unexpected. This may be because the student is unaware of their allergy, or the yoga teacher may not know about the flawed gear. A client's bad reaction to one of the products you use can have varying degrees of severity. This makes product liability coverage for yoga teachers all the more necessary.
Let’s look at a situation when you may need product liability coverage.
A student is in your studio for a session. During this session, you burn incense to enhance the experience. Unbeknownst to your client, the incense contains an ingredient they are allergic to, which causes a reaction in their throat. They start to have trouble breathing and feel lightheaded. The student leaves the studio and goes to urgent care. They then learn about the allergy and call a lawyer to hold you accountable for their physical distress and bills.
Product liability insurance could help prevent the need to cover the lawsuit from your personal resources. In the above example, product liability coverage would be needed to protect you from the claim.
Peace of mind is yours for the taking, yogi
Reasons to Have Yoga Insurance
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 7,369 yoga-related injuries in 2010. These included visits to emergency rooms, doctor’s offices, and clinics for over stretching and straining of the spine, legs, knees, neck, and shoulders.
Yoga injuries are more serious than many teachers are aware of. Along with tendinous tears, yoga-induced damage is a real thing.
Frightening hip injuries, overstretched ligaments, and clots do happen. And with millions of yoga students practicing yearly, there are an increasing number of injuries.
While a student’s practice is in their own hands, they may still try to hold their teacher responsible. A negligence lawsuit can be financially devastating, especially if a teacher’s sole income is from yoga.
Lawyer fees alone can range from $200 to $500 or more per hour—even if the teacher isn’t at fault or wins the case. The minimal cost of insurance (generally around $200 a year) is worth peace of mind.
How Yoga Liability Insurance Benefits You
Comprehensive yoga liability insurance covers you in all the ways a yoga teacher (or teacher trainee) could possibly need to be covered. beYogi protects you with industry-preferred coverage limits and standards.
beYogi insurance includes:
- General liability/Professional liability coverage: $2 million per occurrence, $3 million per year
- Personal Injury & Advertising Coverage: $2 million annual aggregate
- Identity protection plan: $25,000
- PLUS a free professional website
- PLUS free teacher resources and yoga pose directory
What Type of Yoga Insurance is Right for You?
First and foremost, you’ll need a policy that covers the type of yoga you teach. Don’t assume that ‘yoga insurance’ covers your yoga. New styles pop up all the time and some float in a gray area between yoga and medicine, like Acu-Yoga and Naam Yoga Therapy.
Secondly, choose a plan with at least $2 million in liability coverage per occurrence. This may sound like a lot, but million dollar lawsuits are becoming the norm.
If you’re a yoga teacher as well as a massage therapist, cosmetologist, or Pilates instructor, for example, one plan can protect you in all modalities. This becomes especially important if you blend various practices with yoga.
beYogi insurance covers over 500 styles of yoga, massage, Pilates, and other wellness practices.
While you may be practicing at one studio for now, you never know what the future holds! Opportunities may arise to teach a workshop, in private client’s homes, or at retreats and festivals. beYogi insurance will follow you no matter where you teach.
Make the most of your money and look for a plan with added benefits and a history of satisfied customers. Yoga liability insurance is good for more than just the liability: beYogi’s plan offers bonus resources such as a free business website and professional resources for yoga teachers.
You will also want to consider what happens after your insurance policy expires. With Occurrence Form Coverage, any claim that is filed after your policy has expired will be covered, as long as the incident in question happened while your policy was still active. Many other insurance companies have a Claims-Made policy that will not cover you if a claim is filed after your policy expires. beYogi offers an Occurrence Form policy to all of its policy holders, so you can have peace of mind that you will be covered in the event that an incident does arise.
beYogi covers 450+ styles and services
Full-Time and Part-Time Yoga Instructors
Are you one of the many yoga instructors that teach yoga part-time? beYogi has a policy that can fit your needs!
We've done the research and beYogi’s full-time policy at $179/yr is either the same cost or less expensive than other companies’ part-time policies. But if you are looking for something a little more flexible on price, if you teach 10 or fewer hours each week, we also offer a part-time policy that provides all the same benefits at lower cost.
Some policies restrict how many hours you can work a week, and if you go over the allotted hours, your insurance is voided—leaving you uncovered. However, by purchasing beYogi’s full-time professional insurance policy, you can teach whenever and wherever you want!
Whether you are a full-time or part-time instructor, beYogi offers a great program you can utilize all year long with our membership benefits & discounts. Even if an opportunity comes up to teach a couple extra hours a week at your favorite studio or you get asked to teach at a local event, having a policy that covers you even if you go over your limit is beneficial.
If you're a full-time yoga instructor, and know you'll be on the mat for years to come, we also offer a two-year policy that'll provide additional savings as you cover your career. Two full years of beYogi's coverage and member benefits, all for one low price.
Take a look at our flexible policy options
Each policy offers the same coverage limits & membership benefits.
Yoga Insurance Comparison Chart
We've done the insurance homework for you. Compare yoga liability insurance options below:
beYogi | Yoga Alliance YogaPro | IDEA formally Yoga Journal Teachers(PLUS) | Next | Progressive | Insurance Canopy | K&K Insurance | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
General & Professional Liability (E&O) Insurance | $2MM/Occurrence; $3MM Annual Aggregate | Choice of $1MM or $2MM/Occurrence; $3MM or $4MM Aggregate | Choice of $1MM to $2MM/Claim; $1MM to $4MM Aggregate | Choice $500K to $2MM/Occurrence; $1.5MM to $4MM Aggregate | $1M/Occurrence; $2M Aggregate | $2MM/Occurrence; $3MM Annual Aggregate | Choice of $1MM to $5MM/Occurrence; $5MM Aggregate |
Identity Protection Plan | Add on | ||||||
Occurrence-Based Coverage | |||||||
500+ Modalities Covered | |||||||
Live & Pre-recorded Video Included | |||||||
Liability Waiver Required | |||||||
Requires A Quote To Purchase | |||||||
Annual Membership Fee | |||||||
Annual Price (per year) | $169 PT $179 FT | $122 PT + Fees* $146 FT + Fees* | $116 PT $177 FT (only yoga, pilates, aerobics instruction) | $192 (2MM/4MM Premium) | $404 | $129 (+ Add ons) | $360 (Yoga + Other) |
NOTE: The information in this comparison has been gathered from the websites of each organization and other third-party sources. No guarantee or assurance is made by beYogi as to the accuracy or completeness of this information. This information was confirmed in October 2023.
Offering even more benefits than our competitors (like identity protection and a free professional website) and covering $2 million per occurrence and $3 million annually, beYogi offers the best-priced insurance.
Annual rates for teachers are $179—that’s less than 44 cents a day—and $60 annually for teacher trainees, coming out to a mere 16 cents a day. In comparison to million dollar lawsuits, insurance isn’t so expensive after all.
More Benefits, More Coverage for Less
Yoga Teacher Insurance Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to all of your questions about yoga liability insurance—whether you’re asking yourself what all of this insurance jargon really means or wondering if you’re covered by our program. Simply click on one of the tabs below to get started!
Can I add my employees or spouse to my yoga insurance policy?
Can I teach yoga without liability insurance?
What do the phrases "per occurrence" mean?
Is yoga liability insurance paid monthly or by the year?
What happens if I lose my confirmation of coverage?
Am I covered if I teach yoga classes online?
Once I get my yoga liability insurance, how do I promote my yoga practice?
What is your privacy policy?
Does my yoga insurance cover me if I travel out of state?
Is there a limit on class size?
How do I contact beYogi to get yoga liability insurance?
Is there a minimum or a maximum number of hours I have to teach yoga for liability insurance coverage?
Can my policy be listed under my business' name?
What should I do if I have a claim?
Do I really need professional liability insurance to teach yoga? Wouldn’t general liability insurance be sufficient?
Am I still covered after I've stopped teaching?
When does my coverage take effect?
What is an additional insured?
Is my yoga insurance tax deductible for my business?
What if my style of discipline is not listed on your site?
Does my policy cover medical expenses?
What's included in the identity protection plan?
The Importance Of Occurrence Form Coverage
As a yoga teacher, you never want to encounter a situation where a student gets injured in your class. But even when you are careful and the proper safeguards are in place, there is a huge range of unpredictable circumstances. Accidents or situations can still occur that result in injury. Even due to a student’s prior injury, pre-existing condition, or unknown sensitivity to certain postures.
You’re passionate and serious about what you do. Your yoga practice deserves the same level of protection that liability insurance offers businesses in other industries, whether you are teach in a school or studio, a park, someone’s home, or anywhere else.
Our industry-leading yoga insurance for teachers doesn’t just stop at professional and general liability insurance. We are one of the only companies to include in your coverage price great additional benefits ($300+ value) including product liability coverage and identity protection. You’ll also receive a free business website and discounts from some of our great yoga product partners. beYogi also offers greater peace of mind knowing you are covered by industry-preferred Occurrence Form coverage versus Claims Form coverage.
Protect your yoga career today
To provide thorough protection for our clients, beYogi includes all three liability coverages and more in our yoga insurance policy. But the coverage doesn’t stop with liability insurance. In our yoga teacher insurance policy, we also include the following:
Rental property damage coverage: If you rent your yoga studio, you could be held liable for any damages. We include up to $100,000 worth of rental property damage coverage in our insurance for yoga instructors.
Stolen equipment coverage: If your equipment is stolen, we’ll cover up to $1,000 to replace it with a low $250 deductible.
Identity theft protection: We help keep you safe from identity theft. If you lose business funds from an online predator, we can help you recoup your losses.
Portable coverage: With our yoga insurance policy, you’re not limited to one studio or business. Your coverage travels with you wherever you go. This opens up the possibility of teaching online, in your home, or in a studio.
Glossary of Yoga Insurance Terms
It can be difficult to interpret insurance jargon, so we’ve broken down some of the most important terms:
- Additional Insured: a person or entity added to the certificate of insurance who is protected from the named insured’s negligence; this is typically an employer or landlord.
- Aggregate Limit: the maximum amount of coverage available to a policyholder during the policy term; this limit is dependent on a period of time rather than an individual claim.
- Broker: an independent insurance firm or contractor who searches the marketplace in the interest of buyers, rather than insurance companies.
- Claims-Made: a form of insurance that only covers policyholders for claims filed while the policy is active; if an incident occurs during the policy term but is not reported until after the policy expires, it will not be covered.
- Deductible: the amount of money (loss) that a policyholder has to pay before their insurance takes effect.
- General Liability Insurance: insurance that protects the policyholder in the event that a client trips, falls and suffers an injury while on their property; this coverage applies to claims resulting from personal injury, bodily injury or damage to others’ property, and is often called “trip and fall” insurance.
- Identity Theft Protection: coverage that reimburses the insured for expenses arising from identity fraud.
- Occurrence Form: a policy form that covers the insured for any claims filed during or after the policy term, as long as the actual incident in question occurred while the policy was active.
- Personal Injury & Advertising: coverage that can help protect you if you're accused of libel, slander, or false advertising.
- Professional Liability Insurance: insurance that provides protection against lawsuits claiming negligence, misconduct or incompetence on the policyholder’s behalf; also called malpractice insurance.
- Shared Aggregate Limit: the maximum amount of coverage available to all individuals insured under the same shared-limit program or master policy; this amount decreases every time a claim is paid on behalf of an individual policyholder.
- Qualifying Event: an incident that triggers coverage for an insured individual.
- Underwriter: the insurer, or financial service provider, who evaluates the risks of insuring an individual or asset, determines the policy rates and sets the limits of coverage.
Applying for Yoga Insurance
Our online application process is simple and takes less than five minutes.
We’ll ask you for your contact information, profession, and which coverage you’d like to receive. We don’t normally require any certifications or pre-requisites (only in special cases).
We make the process quick and simple—no waiting weeks to receive an over-priced insurance quote. You may want to opt for the additional insured option. This will protect a person or business entity, should the name of the insured be found negligent. It’s not meant to protect other practitioners, but covers your business, employer, or vendor.
Starting a new yoga job tomorrow? beYogi has you covered. You’ll receive instant coverage and proof of insurance as soon as you complete your checkout process.
Peace of mind is yours for the taking, yogi
Tips For Teaching Safe Yoga Classes
While yoga insurance is a necessity, you’ll ideally never need to use it. The goal is for all students to safely enjoy yoga.
Keep these guidelines in mind:
- No matter how experienced you are as a teacher, coming up with the most authentic words and cues for your classes can be difficult, so it is important to put thought into the ones you use while teaching.
- Be mindful of how you verbally cue your students in class. Create an inclusive environment that allows your yogis to find a pose or a movement their way.
- Instead of saying modification, try variation instead.
- Do you best to get to know your students. This may involve asking about your student’s injuries and state of health. They may not realize that conditions like asthma, high or low blood pressure, hernia, or vertigo will require posture modifications or alternatives, so it’s a good idea to explicitly ask before class if anyone experiences these imbalances.
- Always ask about pregnancies. Assuming yoga is gentle and safe, some women aren’t aware that yoga must be modified during pregnancy. Certain postures and breathing techniques pose a risk to the baby. If you’re not trained in prenatal yoga, send the mother to someone who is.
- Always provide modifications or alternatives for intermediate and advanced postures as well as inversions. Remind students that everyone’s body is different, meaning that the same posture may not work for or look the same for everyone.
- Get permission from your students before assisting. Simply ask “may I help you?” before jumping in to adjust their posture.
- Remind students that pain is the body’s way of warning that something isn’t right. Rather than pushing through pain, they should gently exit the posture and rest in Child’s pose or Savasana.