I am a freelancer. What Insurance do I need?

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By Panos Tsiolis

Working as a freelancer, makes you feel free to manage your business and workflow and life, but it also makes you vulnerable. Freelancing comes with a degree of risk. And making do without the security of an employer means you need all the help and support you can get. However, getting that support isn’t as complicated or as expensive as you might think. It’s all about knowing the particular risks you face and doing something about them.

What insurance do freelancers need?

Freelance professional indemnity insurance

Freelancers’ professional indemnity insurance protects you against claims of negligence made by dissatisfied clients. That’s basically people saying you didn’t do the job you were being paid to do or didn’t do it well enough. Unfortunately, that happens more often than you might think.

Freelance public liability insurance

This one cover claims against you for bodily injury and/or physical damage to property. It’s especially useful if you’re clumsy or if your visitors turn out to be accident-prone.

If you go out and about to clients’ offices or they visit yours, and there’s an accident that’s your fault, you can be held liable for any damages. That can be in the shape of an injury to someone or damage to their things – their top-end laptop for example.

Office and property insurance

Office and property insurance covers the stuff you use to do your freelance work, which ordinarily means the things in your office (desk, chair, PC, printer, plants, books, etc.). If what you do takes you out and about, you’ll want to supplement it with portables cover for the technical kit you carry around with you (laptop, mobile, tablet, etc).

Cyber insurance for freelancers

Cybercrime is a potential problem for everyone these days, not just the big boys. Hackers don’t really care who they catch out as long as there’s something in it for them: a ransom maybe, some data to steal, or even just the kick of messing up someone else’s life.

Personal accident insurance

If you’re temporarily unable to work, personal accident insurance pays your business a weekly sum, or a lump sum if you’re more permanently out of action. That can be an essential lifeline if you work solo and only have yourself to rely on. It also covers the day-to-day running costs of your office, as well as paying for an extra pair of hands if you need help keeping your business going without you.

Income protection & career loss

As a freelancer, it’s you who makes all the decisions. What type and how much freelancer insurance you get is up to you too. But just remember on that rainy day when something’s gone horribly wrong (which may never happen but just as well might) that opting to protect your livelihood with freelance insurance was perhaps one of the best decisions you made.