We guarantee to beat your new insurance quote or renewal premium from any other insurer.
To redeem and for full Terms & Conditions, click here.
New customer only. Cover on an equivalent basis to ours. Excludes policies with home emergency cover added. Qualifying criteria apply.
Stolen laptop? Damaged mobile? We'll replace your essential tech within 24hrs of claim approval, with Business Tech Essentials.
Cover & claim limits apply. Mon – Fri 8am – 6pm, except Bank holidays
Over 18s, subject to eligibility.
New customer only. Cover on an equivalent basis to ours. Excludes policies with home emergency cover added. Qualifying criteria apply. Terms & Conditions.
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.
We can cover you whether you work from home, a co-working space, at an office or a client's premises.
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.
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.
These covers are subject to policy conditions and limits.
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.
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.
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.
If you rent or own an office, you may want to cover your office contents, equipment and documents. You can also cover your expensive electrical items in case of damage, breakdown (excluding wear and tear) or theft.
We also offer a cover option that allows you to insure these items on the go, which is helpful if you go on site visits or work at different places. If your work laptop fell on the ground and the screen cracked, we’d cover the cost of replacing it.
And now with Business Tech Essentials, if your essential tech is stolen or damaged, we'll replace it within 24 hours from claim approval.
When you cover your electrical items and tech you get Business Tech Essentials. Which means if your essential tech - like laptops, mobiles or tablets - are stolen or damaged we'll replace them within 24 hours of claim approval.
Cover & claim limits apply. Mon – Fri 8am – 6pm, except Bank holidays.
Peace of mind, if you experience a sudden and unexpected issue, which can cause damage to your home, makes it unsafe or uninhabitable, home emergency's 24-hour claims line means help is never far away. You'll have a certified contractor, such as plumbers, electricians, glaziers, locksmiths, or drainage engineers at your home within 4 hours of your claim being registered, to make the property secure or prevent further damage. In addition, you have access to gas engineers, pest control services and roofers, but these are not subject to the 4 hour response time. Extreme weather and remote locations may extend the response time.
Up to £1,500 inc. VAT per claim for call-out charges, labour costs and materials for insured emergencies, such as issues with plumbing, heating or pest infestations.
You're also covered for overnight accommodation, up to £300 inc. VAT, if you can't stay in your home due to the insured incident. This isn't available if your home is a B&B, guest-house or hotel.
There's no excess to pay and no limit on how often you can claim.
You can add home emergency to a Direct Line business policy, so long as you run your business from home and have home buildings insurance, home contents insurance or business contents insurance on your policy. It is available on new and renewal policies, it can't be added during the policy term.
Home emergency isn't currently available on policies that include commercial premises.
For more information click here.
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.
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 following a cyber incident:
Read more on Cyber cover here.
Available on new and renewal policies only. For Retail and Office & Professional customers only.
This pays the legal costs of providing specialist lawyers and taking action against many common legal problems, for instance disputes with suppliers or clients.
Personal accident cover provides payment if anyone in your business between the ages 16-75 is unable to work because they've been injured in an accident, whether in a business or personal capacity.
We'll pay a lump sum of £50,000 if there is an accidental death, accidental loss of limbs or sight, or if someone in your business becomes permanently disabled following an accident.
If someone in your business is unable to work due to a temporary injury, then after 7 days we'll pay their normal net weekly earnings up to £500 for up to 104 weeks.
You can choose Personal Accident as an add-on once you've completed your quote.
If you have an existing quote or policy with us, you can view and download your policy documents from the My Account page.
We tailor all our policies, so your documents only show what you’ve chosen to cover.
Below is a summary of a generic policy, from 25 October 2020 onwards, which shows the main covers and exclusions in our policies.
