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Insurance for the
self-employed

From public liability to professional indemnity, you choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.

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or call us on 0345 301 5066

Call us on 0345 301 5066

Join over 500,000 businesses who trust us
with their insurance.

  • We cover you whether you work at home, in an office, a shop, at your clients' premises or at a co-working space.
  • Unlimited access to our 24-hour legal helpline.
  • 0% APR on your monthly direct debit payments in the first year.

    Over 18s, subject to eligibility.

  • No admin fees if you need to make changes to your policy.
Get a quote
or call us on 0345 301 5066
Get a quote Call us on 0345 301 5066

We won't be beaten on price. We'll beat your new business insurance quote or renewal premium from any other insurer.

New customers only. Cover on an equivalent basis to ours. Qualifying criteria apply. Terms & Conditions.

Tailored cover for self-employed workers

Pick and choose from a range of cover options to get a bespoke policy for the work you do:

Safeguarding your livelihood

When you're self-employed, it's up to you to sort out any work-related issues that may arise. If a client accuses you of negligence and decides to sue, or if your main supplier stops trading causing you to lose business, you won't be able to rely on an in-house legal team to rectify the problem. That's why having insurance in place is vital.

Our insurance is designed to cover the risks that self-employed workers face. We also provide access to a 24-hour legal advice helpline, so if something unexpected happens, you can get immediate support from a solicitor or legal professional.

Get a quote
or call us on 0345 301 5066
Get a quote Call us on 0345 301 5066

Your cover options

You can include any of the following cover types in your self-employed insurance. These covers are subject to policy conditions and limits.

  • Professional indemnity

    Whether you're an accountant or a graphic designer, an architect or an IT consultant, if you're self-employed, and you offer a professional service to clients, it's important to have professional indemnity in place.

    If your work or advice results in financial or reputational damage for your client, they could make a claim against you. Even if you don't think you've been negligent, you'll still have to pay legal costs if you're taken to court, so having insurance is essential.

    Evidence of professional indemnity is sometimes required by clients before they will agree to work with you, particularly if they're a local authority.

  • Public and product liability

    Public liability insurance for self-employed workers covers you if a member of the public is injured, or their property is damaged, because of your business activities.

    For example, if a delivery person trips over a loose piece of carpet at your home and suffers an injury, or if you accidentally spill coffee on a client's laptop, public liability will cover the legal and compensation costs you are required to pay.

    Product liability covers you if a customer or member of the public becomes ill or suffers an injury because of a product you have supplied. For example, if an appliance you have sold overheats and causes a fire in a customer's home, we will cover the costs you are liable for.

  • Employers' liability

    Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement if you have employees. There are a few exceptions to this rule, which you can read more about here.

    We cover you for £10 million, as standard. This covers the legal and compensation costs you are required to pay if an employee gets injured or becomes ill because of the work they do for you.

  • Contents and stock

    If your business equipment gets stolen or damaged by an insured event, like a fire or flood, our contents and stock insurance will cover the cost of replacing the items.

    This cover is crucial if you rely on certain items to run your business, e.g. your phone or laptop, specialist equipment, shop tills or even office furniture.

    If you sell goods and they're damaged or stolen, you won't have anything left to sell. We'll cover the costs of these items, whether that's raw materials or the finished article.

    You can insure your business equipment and stock at your premises and when you're on the move.

  • Buildings cover

    If there is an insured event such as a flood or fire at your work premises, buildings insurance will cover the costs of repairing the damage, helping you get back up and running.

    Equipment breakdown cover (for items forming part of the building) is included as standard. This covers the cost of replacing or repairing items like your broken boiler and fire/burglar alarms, as long as the damage is not due to wear and tear.

  • Business interruption

    If your working premises became unusable because of an insured event like a fire or flood, business interruption will cover the costs of relocating until the problem has been fixed.

    If your main client or supplier suffers an interruption to their business, and this has a knock-on effect on yours, we'll cover your loss of turnover up to a maximum of £50,000. Equally, if a market or fair that you regularly attend is closed because of a fire, we'll cover the lost turnover for the time you can't trade there.

    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.

  • If you use computers to run your business, you could be at risk of cybercrime. If a hacker got hold of your customer data or gained access to your online bank account, the impact on your business could be devastating. That’s why it's important to consider cyber insurance.

    Following a cyber-attack, we will:

    • Cover money or goods lost due to a hack, e.g. if someone hacks into your computer system and transfers goods or funds out of your account, or you are a victim of a phishing attack
    • Cover the costs of fixing the problem and restoring your systems and data
    • Provide advice on cyber security improvements that you could make to prevent future incidents
    • Provide expert support to help you minimise the damage to your business's reputation
    • Cover the costs involved in investigating a data breach, notifying - and the provision of - credit and identity theft support services for affected parties
    • Cover the fines (where insurable by law) and compensation costs you are required to pay if you breach data protection laws or contractual obligations (such as confidentiality agreements)

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

We also offer terrorism cover. If you would like more information about this cover type, or would like to take out this cover, please call us on 0345 301 5066.

Get a quote
or call us on 0345 301 5066
Get a quote Call us on 0345 301 5066

Policy documents

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 8 September 2019 onwards, which shows the main covers and exclusions in our policies.

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© 1999- U K Insurance Limited

Direct Line insurance policies are underwritten by U K Insurance Limited, Registered office: The Wharf, Neville Street, Leeds LS1 4AZ. Registered in England and Wales No 1179980. U K Insurance Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, registration number 202810. The Financial Services Register can be accessed through www.fca.org.uk. Calls may be recorded.