Massage related question

[percival]

I'm about to wind up my massage business. My existing insurance and registration, which cost me 100 pounds per year (about 70 dollars), are up for renewal in late August. I intend to keep giving people massages, but as barter for e.g. childcare. My question is: if you were getting a massage as an exchange for another good, would you prefer the person who gives you the massage to be insured, or would it be enough to know that the person is trained?

I'm asking because in order to "recoup" the outlay, I would need to give 4-5 massages in exchange for 10-15 hours of out of hours child care.

Comments

[aome.livejournal.com]

100 pounds per year (about 70 dollars)

You're converting the wrong way. 100 pounds is about 180 US dollars.

My question is - what does insurance cover, and how likely is someone to honestly need it?

[sidheag.livejournal.com]

I'd want to know the person was trained, or at least experienced, but I wouldn't care about insurance. (I used an independent midwife, and they aren't insured, for example - much bigger deal!)

[in-the-blue.livejournal.com]

In five years as a professional massage therapist, I've never had a single person other than the licensing board ask for proof of insurance.

Of course, regulations over here vary state to state and I don't know what the deal is in the UK, but I've had massages from licensed and unlicensed people (students, mostly, in that last category). All I can tell you is that personally, I don't care at all. In my state, if someone finds out there's barter-for-service going on, they construe that as massage for payment and if you're not licensed they'll be aggressive about it.

However, if it's not advertised, the chances of anyone discovering it are slim.

[erised1810.livejournal.com]

wel, itrusty o ugothe skillsadn that's all I need to know to want amassage in exchagne for dont' know..i'd clean yoru house for it or wal ka dog (whcih i' mnormaly somewhat scared of). i'd come to scotland and pal na day jsut forthat though. heee.
i'm wimpy anyway so if i fee liek someoen's rakcign my muscle it's probalb ythe me rather tha nthe muscle itself heh.
good that you made a decsiosn though .ti soudns lie kfantastic payment for thigns lie kchild care too.

[jessanndi.livejournal.com]

You're not obliged by law to have Insurance so know one would think of asking the question, they would be more interested in your qualifications and experience. If someone asks for your Insurance I would think that they were up to no good. You should have a certain amount of personal Liability cover under your household Insurance anyway, but check the exclusions. Also there is an Insurance Broker in Bromley called Shephards (you should be able to google them) who run a scheme for Alternative therapists, they can provide Insurance at a better price than what you were paying, if you were looking for peace of mind.

[actionreplay.livejournal.com]

just make sure that your home insurance covers public liability for anyone you have round for a massage - this is usually so that if they trip on the stairs and break their toe they can't sue you for 20k - most home insurance covers this but as long as there isn't a business registered in the home. Which there won't be.