Terms and conditions for a personal trainer

A personal trainer's terms are asked to do something delicate: protect the trainer from claims about injury without pretending the client has signed away rights they cannot sign away. Add session packages that expire, cancellation notice, online coaching and health information, and there is more law in a training contract than most trainers expect. I draft those terms for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Personal trainers in England and Wales working in gyms, in clients' homes, outdoors and online, as a sole trader or a small studio with several trainers. Your clients are consumers, so the terms are written for the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and, for anything sold by phone or online, the distance selling rules.

What matters in a personal trainer's terms

Health questionnaires and disclosure

The terms should require the client to complete a health questionnaire before the first session, to disclose conditions, injuries and medication, and to tell you when anything changes. They should say that you rely on that information, that you may refuse or adapt training, and that a client who withholds information trains at their own risk. Health information is sensitive under UK data protection law and needs a privacy notice and careful handling.

Injury, risk and what you cannot exclude

Exercise carries risk, and the terms can say that the client accepts the ordinary risks of training and follows instructions. What they cannot do is exclude your liability for personal injury caused by your own negligence: the Consumer Rights Act 2015 does not allow it against a consumer, and a term that tries has no effect. The terms should instead describe your qualifications and insurance, and the process that keeps training safe.

Packages, expiry and refunds

Blocks of sessions sold at a discount need an expiry period that is reasonable and stated, terms on transfer to another person, and a fair position on refunds if the client cannot continue for a medical reason or because of something you did. A term that forfeits all unused sessions in every circumstance is the kind the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats as unfair.

Cancellation notice and missed sessions

The terms should set a notice period for cancelling a session and say that sessions cancelled inside it, or missed, are charged or deducted from the block, because the slot cannot be resold. The charge should reflect your loss. Your own cancellations should carry a rescheduling obligation so the term works both ways, which is what makes it fair.

Online coaching, gyms and the right to cancel

Coaching sold online or by phone, and any programme, plan or app content delivered digitally, is a distance contract under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 with a 14-day cancellation right, and digital content needs the client's consent and acknowledgement before it is supplied inside that period. Where you train in a gym, the terms should say that the gym's rules and membership requirements apply and that the gym's equipment is not your responsibility. Nutrition advice should be described as general guidance from a trainer, not a medical service.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

Can I have clients sign a waiver?

You can have them acknowledge the risks of exercise and confirm the health information they have given, and that is worth doing. What the document cannot do is waive your liability for injury caused by your own negligence, so it should not claim to.

A client stopped after three sessions of a ten-session block and wants a refund. Do I have to?

It depends on why. If the block had a stated expiry and the client simply stopped, the terms can say the sessions are lost after expiry. If the client cannot continue for a medical reason, a fair term provides for a refund of the unused sessions, less what you have lost.

Do I need different terms for online coaching?

The same document can cover it with a section for online and digital services: the 14-day cancellation right, consent to early supply of digital content, and what happens to plans and materials if the client cancels.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Terms and conditions for a yoga or pilates studio, which deals with memberships and class packs
• Data protection agreements and privacy terms, £595 for a website privacy and cookies pack, if you collect health information online

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.