What insurance does a life coach need?
There's no one-size answer. The right mix depends on how you work, who you work for, and what your contracts ask for. These are the coverages a life coach typically looks at first:
Professional liability
The core coverage for advice-based work: claims that your coaching, a program you sold, or guidance you gave caused a client financial or emotional harm, with limits up to $1,000,000 per claim typically available.
General liability
For in-person sessions. Client contracts, coworking leases, and office subleases routinely require it, covering third-party injuries and property damage wherever you meet.
Coverage always depends on your specific situation. The fastest way to see what fits is to get a quote and review your options.
What does it protect against?
The risks that matter aren't abstract. They're the everyday accidents of the work. A few scenarios that turn into real claims:
A client claims your coaching caused financial harm
You advise a client to leave a stable job and launch a business, and the venture fails within months. The client alleges your guidance was reckless or unqualified and demands damages for the income they lost acting on it.
A program or framework you sold doesn't deliver
A client buys a signature coaching program promising specific results, and when they don't materialize, they claim you misrepresented what the program could do and want a refund plus damages.
A client alleges emotional harm from a session
An intense coaching exercise, like confronting a client's past experience without the training to handle what surfaces, leaves them worse off, and they allege your methods went beyond coaching into harm. Claims about the coaching process itself are professional liability territory.
A client is injured meeting you in person
A client trips over a cord in your home office, or a coworking space's shared kitchen has a wet floor a client slips on before your session starts. Physical accidents during in-person meetings are general liability claims.
Certificates of insurance
For life coaches, the certificate-of-insurance request usually comes with a coworking membership agreement or an office sublease, before you can meet clients on-site. Some coaching platforms and certifying bodies ask about coverage during vendor or practitioner reviews. Olli's general liability policies include instant certificates, so onboarding doesn't stall on paperwork.
New to certificates? Start with our guide to the certificate of insurance: what's on one, who asks for it, and how to provide yours.