Why do nutritionists and dietitians need insurance?
Illness flare up
During sessions with a client, you educate them on ways to improve their health by altering their diet and devise a nutritional care plan. Unexpectedly, the client says your plan has caused their irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) to flare up and brings a claim against you. Making recommendations is part and parcel of your role. However, this means you could be vulnerable to claims that your well-meaning advice has caused harm. Professional, treatment and public liability insurance can provide welcome reassurance to a dietitian in these instances.
Presentation mishap
A charity asks you to present at their health and wellbeing event and you arrive early to set up your presentation. However, as attendees start to filter in, some leaflets are falling from seats onto the floor as people pass by. Unfortunately, someone slips on a flyer, sustaining a hip injury in the process, and they decide to begin legal proceedings. As a nutritionist, you regularly interact with people, so having insurance in place to mitigate this kind of risk could prove useful. Your professional, treatment and public liability insurance can help with costs.
Booking system breach
Becoming a self-employed dietitian or nutrition consultant means setting up your website – an exciting milestone. You create an online booking form for appointment requests and manage contact data digitally. A few weeks in, you notice some customer information has been duplicated. After contacting experts, it becomes apparent that hackers have used the booking form to gain access to your entire network. With Hiscox cyber and data cover, we’ll support you with costs and send in experts to restore systems.
What insurance is available for nutritionists and dietitians?
Professional treatment liability insurance and public liability insurance can be helpful for diet and nutrition professionals. So, we have combined them into one product – professional, treatment and public liability insurance. Though we talk about them separately below, professional, treatment and public liability insurance is a combined cover with one combined limit. You can get public liability cover as a dietitian or nutritionist by purchasing this combined cover. Contact us for more details about Hiscox business insurance policies.
Professional treatment liability insurance
The position you hold is centred around providing advice and the clients and organisations you work with act on the information you give. Of course, this comes with the risk of allegations that your guidance caused illness or injury. For instance, a client may say your nutrition plan has worsened their eating disorder. Whether someone says you were negligent or accuses you of malpractice, Hiscox’s combined professional, treatment and public liability insurance can help to defend or settle the resulting claim.
Public liability insurance
Any small business or self-employed individual interacting with members of the public can be at risk of a claim – including those focused on nutrition and diet. Public liability cover comes into its own when a visitor claims their property was damaged, or they experienced an injury, while interacting with your enterprise. This is available as part of professional, treatment and public liability insurance. Scenarios such as slips, falls and breakages can happen from the most innocuous of beginnings, so having insurance in place as a nutritionist or dietitian could prove helpful.
Personal accident insurance
While working as a self-employed dietitian, or running your own venture as a nutritionist, your personal health and fitness can be easily overlooked, but it could be vital for smooth business processes. Therefore, insuring against the possibility that you might become injured and unable to work can provide reassurance. Whether you fall on a run or get hurt during a game of hockey, personal accident insurance can assist by paying a sum of money if you can’t perform your duties.
A nutritionist or dietitian may also benefit from other products as part of their policy, including employers’ liability insurance when taking on staff, property and contents cover, cyber insurance and cover for portable equipment.
If you’re not sure what you need, tell us a little more about what you do. We’ll help you to build your quote and explore any other insurance needs.
Build my coverInsurance for nutritionists and dietitians: FAQs
What nutritionist insurance do I need for working from home?
Many of the responsibilities you hold as a nutritionist will still apply while you’re working from home. Your business may therefore benefit from building suitable home-based cover. This can be especially helpful if your home insurance doesn’t cover the equipment you use in your role as a nutritionist – a laptop or business phone, for instance.
Your position requires you to regularly offer advice, no matter where you’re based – this means professional, treatment and public liability insurance may always be relevant cover. Whether you head out to talks and conferences or welcome clients to your home for sessions, this cover might also provide welcome protection for these interactions.
What is the difference between dietitians and nutritionists?
Dietitians train to be able to advise individuals based on their diet for medical conditions. Meanwhile, the training nutritionists undergo allows them to advise on a broader scale, or for population dietary requirements. For instance, a nutritionist might be more likely to work with organisations that don’t specialise in healthcare, such as charities or supermarket brands.
However, a nutritionist can broaden their skillset by taking further training which allows them to provide guidance on a one-to-one basis.
At Hiscox, we provide insurance cover for both professions as well as nutritional therapists.
Does Hiscox nutritionist insurance cover working with children?
Yes, at Hiscox we understand that the business of a nutritionist isn’t solely devoted to helping adults, so our insurance covers nutrition professionals who work with children.
For example, you might partner with an educational trust to give nutrition talks in schools or use your expertise to help devise their menus. Alternatively, if you’ve taken further training to issue one-to-one advice, a child might be referred to you to help manage their relationship with food.
You’ll need to be able to prove your qualifications in the event of a claim – whether working with adults, children or within another specialism.
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