Insurance for Complementary & Holistic Therapists

Get covered in as little as a few minutes by obtaining an instant quote

Get a quote

Protect yourself, your business and your clients

In the dynamic field of complementary and holistic therapy, practitioners may face various challenges, from client claims and legal disputes to issues and accidents related to confidentiality and professional conduct.

Having a robust professional liability insurance policy in place provides a safety net, ensuring that therapists can carry out their work with confidence, knowing they are protected against unforeseen circumstances.

Why choose Howden for your insurance?

Downwards chevron supergraphic yellow

Tailored policies based on your circumstances and criteria

Supergraphic yellow lines

Affordable premiums

Curved lines yellow supergraphic

Broad and generously worded coverage, with no grey areas to cause you stress

Our policy highlights

What's covered:

  • Professional Liability

    (Options up to £5 million limit of indemnity) 

  • Free run-off cover

  • Zero excess

  • Protection against dishonesty

  • Cover for complaints to your professional body and disciplinary hearings

  • Legal defence costs

    ​​​We cover legal defence on a “costs in addition” basis, which protects you in the event of a case dragging on and costs mounting up. This means the legal fees are separated from your policy limit.

Optional extras:

  • Cyber insurance

  • Office and Contents insurance

  • Employers and Public Liability

Professions & specialisms covered

We cover a wide range of complementary and holistic professions, sometimes known as alternative therapy practitioners, including the below examples.

See our quick A-Z guide for a full list of specialisms we cover.

  • Acupuncture
  • Homeopathy
  • Massage therapy
  • Reflexology
  • Reiki
  • Nutritional therapy
  • Laser therapy
  • Osteopathy
  • Physiotherapy
  • Pilates
  • Kinesiology
  • Yoga teacher
  • Naturopathy
  • Tai Chi

Why do therapists and practitioners need insurance?

Just like other health and care providers and organisations, you need to protect yourselves from risk and safeguard your clients, career and reputation.

From the risk of alleged treatment mistakes to unforeseen accidents or legal disputes, the need for comprehensive protection cannot be overstated. Insurance will help by providing a safety net against the financial repercussions of legal defence, and also help with fostering trust and confidence in your practice by demonstrating your commitment to client wellbeing and safety.

Yoga teacher on mat

Importance of arranging specialist cover

When it comes to arranging insurance, whether your professional liability or office, equipment and contents insurance policies, you have the right to question the adequacy of your coverage for your unique risks, circumstances and needs.

As a team of specialists in the health and care sector, we know it inside out and are able to offer tailored coverage options specifically designed to address the unique challenges you face or may potentially be exposed to down the line.

Everything we do is designed to make the insurance purchase process easier. Our quote and buy solution allows you to get covered in as little as few minutes by obtaining an instant quote.

Nevertheless, our role as a specialist insurance broker doesn’t stop there. What sets us apart is the added value we provide our clients with, as well as our experts’ personal approach and commitment to more choice and flexibility so we can craft the right solution for you.

Get an instant quote

Claims and incidents

In the event of an alleged incident, you will be supported by our dedicated claims professionals every step of the way as well as your account management team. We take a hands-on, proactive approach, acting as advocates rather than administrators.

Should an incident need to involve legal representation, we recognise the importance of having specialists representing you who understand the field of medical malpractice and importantly the allied health sector. This is why we use solicitors with dedicated health and clinical malpractice teams who have in-house allied health specific experience.

Frequently asked questions

The Howden policy limit of indemnity is provided on an “any one claim” basis. This means that the amount of cover you buy, be that £1.5 million, £3 million or £5 million is available for each and every claim made against you during the policy year (£10 million for public liability). This is different from an “aggregate limit” where the cost of any claim is taken away from your annual limit of indemnity. (Excluding some specific policy features – please enquire for more information.

Yes. All our policies provide cover for training (including teaching and lecturing) in the professional activities listed in your policy

If your work includes responsibility for trainees then your policy will provide you with cover for any liability you incur arising from the acts, errors or omissions of the trainees. If you provide clinical supervision (for example to Counsellors) then that work is also covered, at no additional premium.

If you have someone working for you, whether they be full time, part-time, a trainee or a volunteer, then you are required to have Employers’ Liability insurance.  This is a legal requirement under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. It does allow certain exemptions, such as if only close family members (the Act specifies which relations this applies to) provided you are not a Limited company.  Please request this cover if it applies to you.  

The policy allows you to provide your professional activities through any confidential means, including face to face, telephone, email or virtually by video conferencing platforms such as WhatsApp, Microsoft teams, zoom, skype etc.

Provided you are based in the UK and your client base is mainly in the UK, the policy does allow you to work with clients who are based overseas. Please provide details when requesting a quote.

Yes, our cover protects you on a claims made basis. This means it is the policy you hold at the time a claim is NOTIFIED not when the alleged incident occurred that will respond. The Howden policy has no restriction on past activities.

We provide free coverage after policy expiration, in line with The Limitation Acts, to give you flexibility if you take a break, go on maternity leave, change career, or retire.

HowdenPro portal for Allied

Managing your insurance online

The HowdenPro portal provides a safe and user-friendly way of managing your insurance online, allowing you to: pay, renew and manage your insurance & policy documentation. You will need your user ID and password to access the portal, please contact us if you have lost these details.

Log in

News & Insights