Personal trainer cancellation policy template (New Zealand)

A cancellation policy is one of the most valuable bits of admin a personal trainer can have, and one of the most often skipped. Without one, a client who cancels at 5am for a 6am session has cost you a paid hour and you've no agreed basis to do anything about it. With one - clearly written and shown up front - most of those late cancellations simply stop happening.

This guide gives you a ready-to-use cancellation policy template you can copy and adapt, then explains the choices behind it: notice periods, late-cancel and no-show fees, keeping it fair, and how to enforce it automatically so you're never the bad guy chasing money.

The copy-paste template

Replace the bracketed parts with your own details. This is a general template, not legal advice - if you're unsure about your obligations, check with a professional. It's deliberately plain-English and fair, which is what makes clients comfortable agreeing to it.

“Cancellation & No-Show Policy - [Your Business Name]. I value your time and ask that you value mine. To keep sessions running smoothly and fairly for everyone: 1. Notice period - please give at least 24 hours' notice if you need to cancel or reschedule a session. 2. Late cancellation - cancellations made with less than 24 hours' notice will be charged [50% of / the full] session fee, as the slot can rarely be filled at short notice. 3. No-show - if you miss a session without notice, the full session fee will be charged. 4. How to cancel or reschedule - use the link in your booking confirmation or reminder message to reschedule or cancel yourself; it only takes a moment. 5. Genuine emergencies - I understand that life happens. If something unavoidable comes up, get in touch and we'll work it out. By booking a session you agree to this policy.”

- General template - adapt to your business

If you switch on BookAndGo's late-cancel fee, it invoices the full price of the service, so choose 'the full' above.

Choosing your notice period

The notice period is the heart of the policy. It's the window in which a client can cancel for free. Most personal trainers land on 24 hours, and clients widely accept it as reasonable.

• 12 hours - flexible and client-friendly, but leaves you little time to refill a same-day cancellation.
• 24 hours - the standard. Long enough to offer the slot to someone else, short enough to feel fair.
• 48 hours - suits in-demand trainers and premium slots, but expect occasional pushback.

Whatever you choose, pick one figure and apply it consistently. Inconsistency is what creates resentment and disputes - far more than the policy itself ever does.

Setting late-cancel and no-show fees

There's a meaningful difference between a late cancellation (the client told you, just too late to refill the slot) and a no-show (the client didn't tell you at all). It's common and reasonable to treat them differently:

• Late cancellation: a partial charge (often 50% of the session fee) acknowledges they made contact while compensating for the lost slot.
• No-show: the full session fee, because you held the time, prepared, and got nothing back.

You can absolutely charge 100% for both - plenty of trainers do - but a tiered approach tends to feel fairer to clients and reduces arguments.

Keeping it fair

A cancellation fee needs to reflect a genuine cost to your business, and it must be disclosed before the client agrees to it. A fee a client never saw or agreed to is hard to justify and likely to end in a chargeback or a bad review. The principles of a fair policy are simple:

• Disclose it up front - on your website and in your confirmation emails, not hidden in fine print.
• Make sure the client agrees to it, for example with a tick on your intake form.
• Keep the fee proportionate to the actual loss (a lost session, not a punishment).
• Apply it consistently to everyone, and leave genuine discretion for real emergencies.

A policy you have to manually enforce is a policy you'll quietly let slide - because nobody enjoys sending the 'about your missed session' message. The fix is to automate it so the rules apply themselves and you're never personally chasing money.

With BookAndGo you can wire your policy straight into your booking flow:

• Paste your policy into your welcome message, so every client gets it in writing in their confirmation email.
• Set a late-cancel notice window that matches your stated period, so the system knows what counts as 'late'.
• Clients who repeatedly no-show are automatically blocked from taking new slots.
• Include a self-service reschedule link in every reminder, so clients move their session instead of skipping it.

The result is a policy that does its job in the background: clients are reminded, they can reschedule easily, and on the rare occasion someone still doesn't show, your fee applies without you having to send an awkward message.

The short version

A good cancellation policy is short, fair, shown up front, and applied consistently. Copy the template above, set a 24-hour notice period, decide on your late-cancel and no-show fees, and - most importantly - put it somewhere every client sees it before they book. Then let your booking software handle the reminders and reschedules, and you decide on the fees.