Contractors and Freelancers Insurance | Direct Line for Business

Insurance for contractors and freelancers

If you provide a professional service to clients, either as a contractor or freelancer, it's important to have the right insurance in place. Read on to find out more.

Are you a building contractor? Learn about our building contractors' insurance here.

Flexible insurance to suit the varied work you do

Life moves fast for contractors and freelancers, jobs crop up suddenly and you've got to have the flexibility to take on new work quickly. Whether you're moving from one company to another in a short space of time or handling a variety of projects for different clients, the last thing you want to deal with is any extra admin.

At Direct Line for Business, we offer flexible insurance that can be personalised to reflect the ever-changing needs of your business, so you don't need to take out a new policy every time your job changes.

Build your own insurance package

Whether you're a journalist or party planner, the freelance and contracting life offers a lot of freedom. However, being self-employed also means you're solely responsible for sorting out any disruptions to your business.

If your equipment gets stolen, the office you usually work in becomes unusable due to a fire, or someone makes a claim against your work, you will need to deal with the financial implications. Luckily, you can cover yourself for these potential disruptions with our business insurance for contractors and freelancers.

Using our unique online quote tool, you can select the different types of cover you need and create a personalised insurance policy that suits your line of work. This could include professional indemnity, which covers you if you're accused of making a mistake that costs a client money or causes them reputational damage, or public liability, which covers the costs you are required to pay if you accidentally damage someone's property or someone is injured by you or your staff.

There are many different things to consider when creating your insurance package: the type of services you offer, your premises and your equipment. Don't worry, if your circumstances change, or your business grows, you can amend your policy without having to pay any admin fees.

Organise your admin online

It's important to make sure all your documentation is in order as clients often ask for proof of insurance before a contract begins. When you insure with us, you can download proof of your policy the moment you set it up. Everything's online, so you can access your documents whenever and wherever you need them. Our documents only include the information that is relevant to you, so gone are the days of wading through pages of policy wording to find the bits you're covered for.

Professional indemnity

This type of insurance covers you if you make a mistake or give incorrect advice that costs your client business or money. Even if you don't think you have done anything wrong, you'll still have to pay legal costs if your client decides to take you to court.

Evidence of professional indemnity insurance is sometimes required by clients before they will agree to work with you, particularly if they're a local authority, so it makes sense to have cover in place if you are self-employed.

We cannot offer professional indemnity insurance to all trades. Visit our professional indemnity insurance to find out if we can cover your business.
Public liability

With public liability you're covered for the legal fees and costs you're required to pay if anyone becomes injured on your premises or you damage their property. For example, if a client were to trip over your projector lead when you're giving a presentation, or if you spill coffee on their laptop and it breaks, public liability insurance would cover this. We can offer cover from £1 million to £10 million.
Employers' liability

If you employ one or more people, you are required by law to have employers' liability insurance. Employers' liability covers you if an employee becomes ill or is injured because of the work they do for you.
Contents and stock

All freelancers know that insuring your professional equipment is important. Electronics, phones, laptops and specialist equipment can be expensive to replace, especially at short notice. Not having this equipment when you need it might also prevent you from completing work or meeting deadlines, which could cause you to lose income. This insurance covers the tools that help you run your business against theft, loss or damage.

At Direct Line for Business, you have the opportunity to insure your business contents at your work premises and/or away from the premises, when you're on the go.
Business interruption

If the place you're working in - whether it's your office, a client's site or hot desk - becomes unusable due to an insured event like a fire or flood, business interruption will cover the extra costs of setting up somewhere else until you can return to your normal place of work.

Our business interruption cover can insure you if you or one of your key employees becomes seriously disabled and is unable to continue work. We will cover the incurred costs, up to £25,000, to minimise any interruption to the business.

We can also cover you if your main client can't trade because their building is damaged, which results in a loss of business for you, up to a limit of £50,000.
Cyber cover
If you hold sensitive customer data, process payments online or just want peace of mind, Cyber cover should be considered. Because cyber criminals can be clever. Catching you off-guard and tricking you in to doing something you shouldn't, like opening an attachment in a fake email, or finding a way through your cyber-security. If this happens and they get their hands on your data or access to your bank account, the impact on your business could be devastating.

But, with our Cyber cover, you can call the experts, 24/7. They'll be on it, helping you to stay in business and recover in three ways:

Recover financially
- Covering loss of business income if your systems are attacked
- Covering recovery costs, like fixing damage to your computer systems or data restoration
- Covering fines (where insurable by law) and compensation costs.
Recover your reputation
- You get access to public relations and crisis management experts to minimise damage to your brand and business.
Recover your systems and help prevent future incidents
- Technical experts will help fix your IT issues and provide advice on how to prevent future cyber incidents.
Read more on Cyber cover here.

Available on new and renewal policies only. For Retail and Office & Professional customers only.
Legal expenses

This pays the legal costs of providing specialist lawyers and taking action against many common legal problems, for instance disputes with suppliers or clients.

Insurance for contractors and freelancers

or call us on 0345 878 5622

Flexible insurance to suit the varied work you do

Build your own insurance package

Organise your admin online

Your cover options

Professional indemnity

Public liability

Employers' liability

Contents and stock

Business interruption

Cyber cover

Recover financially

Recover your reputation

Recover your systems and help prevent future incidents

Legal expenses

Policy documents