Professional Indemnity Insurance for Massage Therapists

As a Massage Therapist your role involves collecting data about your clients, assessing their physical condition, and giving them appropriate advice and treatment. Depending on each client’s needs you may be correcting an issue or imbalance, or relieving pain from an underlying condition.

You may also provide advice on ways to relieve their symptoms between treatments, such as exercises, posture or diet. You are a trained professional with qualifications and knowledge your clients lack, so they are legally entitled to rely on any advice you provide, and to expect you to provide a safe and professional service.

Since you are providing a hands-on treatment there is always a risk that something could go wrong. In addition to the risk of causing physical harm to a client, you could also face claims of negligence leading to financial loss.

Unfortunately there are many reasons why a client may choose to take action against you. They could claim that:

• You were negligent in collecting information about their medical history, and made an error in your assessment of their condition and needs
• You did not provide the service you advertised
• You physically hurt them during a treatment
• You used oils or other products that caused them harm
• You touched them in an inappropriate way
• You gave them incorrect or incomplete advice on ways to relieve their symptoms
• You breached their confidentiality by sharing information about them without their permission

A client visited a Massage Therapist suffering from pains in her neck and shoulders. The therapist took notes on the client’s medical history but failed to request details of any allergies she had, and the client did not advise that she was allergic to citrus.

The Massage Therapist proposed a deep tissue massage to the neck, back and shoulders and proceeded to give the treatment. He used an essential oil blend including citrus oils.

Following the treatment the client experienced a severe rash on her back and shoulders. In addition she felt that she had received no relief from her symptoms, and the next day began to experience severe pains in her lower back. The rash subsided after a few days but the lower back pains persisted until the client underwent a course of treatment from a physiotherapist.

During this period the client was unable to drive and missed several meetings with potential clients. She decided to sue the Massage Therapist for negligence, claiming that:

• He had failed to collect information about her allergies and as a result had used an unsuitable product, causing her short-term physical harm.
• He had failed to deliver the services for which she had paid, since his treatment was unsuccessful.
• He had caused an injury to her lower back during the course of his treatment, which led to both physical harm and financial loss.

The client sought compensation for the cost of the physiotherapy treatment and the lost income while unable to drive, plus damages for the physical harm inflicted during the massage.

The negligence suit was upheld. It was clear that the therapist had been remiss in the collection of information about his patient, and the physiotherapist testified on behalf of the client that the damage to her lower back injuries was most likely caused during the massage. The Massage Therapist was required to pay compensation of $32,000 to the client, and incurred legal costs of $17,500. Both these were covered by his professional indemnity insurance and he paid an excess of just $[xxx] on the claim.