Freelance insurance

Join over 900k UK customers (including freelancers like you) – we offer public liability cover from £4.74*

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What's on this page

Why do freelancers need insurance?

You know what it’s like to be pulled in last minute – everything’s urgent and the client is busy. While you’re catching up with the brief, freelancer insurance lets you hit the ground running. It provides protection against accidents and errors, plus cover for things like your laptop and other equipment.

  • protection from large claims if there’s an injury or accident
  • help if you have to stop working due to a personal accident
  • cover for the essentials from professional indemnity to your laptop

What does freelance insurance cover?

From the typical client to next year’s pipeline, you know your business best. So we put you in control of what goes into your policy, whether it’s just cover for accidents and mistakes or you need insurance for things like your laptop too.

  • Professional indemnity insurance

    In case you’ve made a mistake in your work or your service hasn’t met the expected standards.

  • Public liability insurance

    In case someone is injured or property gets damaged because of your freelancing business.

  • Employers’ liability insurance

    In case something happens to an employee while they’re working for you.

  • Tools insurance

    In case something happens to your tools.

  • Business and office equipment insurance

    In case something happens to equipment like your laptop.

  • Legal expenses insurance

    In case you’re faced with legal costs while running your freelance business.

  • Personal accident insurance

    In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident, at work or off duty.

  • Professional indemnity insurance

    In case you’ve made a mistake in your work or your service hasn’t met the expected standards.

    What’s typically covered by freelance professional indemnity insurance?

    Claims against your business for professional negligence causing your client a financial loss, which may include:

    • advice you’ve given which turns out to be incorrect
    • errors in your freelancing work which cost your client money

    For example:

    • you agree a hard deadline with your client, but aren’t able to deliver. The unexpected delay causes them to lose money
    • the client has implemented your advice, but they’ve seen negative performance – and lost income – as a result

    Read more about professional indemnity insurance

  • Public liability insurance

    In case someone is injured or property gets damaged because of your freelancing business.

    What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for freelancers?

    Claims against your business for:

    • injury or damage to someone’s property, caused by you or as a result of your work
    • accidental damage or injury caused by your employee, if you have one

    If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.

    For example:

    • you accidentally spill coffee over a client’s laptop, causing damage
    • while on site at a client’s office you leave your equipment on the floor, causing someone to trip and break their ankle

    Read more about public liability insurance

  • Employers’ liability insurance

    In case something happens to an employee while they’re working for you.

    What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

    Claims against your business for:

    • an employee suing you because they’re injured or fall ill as a result of working for you (includes temp staff and casual workers)

    **Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

    For example:

    • one of your desk-based employees develops back pain after sitting on a chair you’ve provided, which isn’t set up properly
    • while presenting at a client’s office your employee drops some heavy equipment on their foot, breaking a toe

  • Tools insurance

    In case something happens to your tools.

    What’s typically covered by tools insurance?

    • theft of the equipment you use to run your freelance business (operational equipment, not tools of the trade)
    • accidental loss of your operational equipment
    • flood, fire or accidental damage

    For example:

    • there’s a fire at your flat and your make-up brushes are destroyed
    • your audio equipment suddenly stops working and needs replacing

    Read more about tools insurance

  • Business and office equipment insurance

    In case something happens to equipment like your laptop.

    What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

    • theft of the equipment you use to run your freelance business (operational equipment, not tools of the trade)
    • accidental loss of your operational equipment
    • flood, fire or accidental damage

    For example:

    • you’re late for a meeting, and accidentally leave your laptop bag on the train
    • all of your computer equipment is stolen during an office break-in
    • your drink bottle leaks in your bag and spills over your laptop

    Read more about business and office equipment insurance

  • Legal expenses insurance

    In case you’re faced with legal costs while running your freelance business.

    What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

    • legal costs associated with day-to-day operations, like an employee dispute
    • legal costs you incur as a result of property damage, nuisance or trespass
    • HMRC tax and compliance issues, if they come up
    • includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline and crisis PR support to help you protect your reputation as a freelancer

    For example:

    • the client makes a dispute of contract claim against you when the project goes over budget and misses deadlines
    • you dismiss an employee and need to defend your legal rights

    Read more about legal expenses insurance

  • Personal accident insurance

    In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident, at work or off duty.

    What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

    • injury or death of anyone you’ve chosen to cover in your policy – whether this happens at work or elsewhere
    • lost income, hospital bills or other medical costs associated with the accident

    For example:

    • you’re out running on your lunch break and twist your ankle, meaning you’ll be off work for a few days
    • you were in a car accident over the weekend and have bad whiplash, forcing you to take two weeks off work

    Read more about personal accident insurance

How much does freelance insurance cost?

Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.

Prices start from £4.74 per month

Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.

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The price is for up to £2 million of public liability insurance – 10% of customers paid £56.82 or less annually between 1st Jan – 31st May 2024. Equivalent to £4.74 a month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). 76% of customers have a £1 million limit and 24% £2 million. If you complete a quote, more types of cover will be available. These all have additional costs.

Example freelancer insurance quotes, real prices

£14.14 /month

£121.36 /year

A freelance writer who contributes to several local publications

  • 3-4 years’ experience
  • Sole trader
  • No employees
  • Based in Gateshead

Public liability

Not included

Employers’ liability

Not included

Professional indemnity

£50,000

£31.76 /month

£282.30 /year

A small freelance writing business which has contracts with several national publications

  • 5+ years’ experience
  • Limited company
  • 2 employees
  • Based in Poole

Public liability

£1,000,000

Employers’ liability

£10,000,000

Professional indemnity

£250,000

How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 23/09/2020). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.

What kind of excess should I expect?

An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.

Insurance cover

Lowest excess

Highest excess

Professional indemnity

No excess

£2500

Public liability

£100

£2500

Employers’ liability

No excess

No excess

Business and office equipment

£50

£750

The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.

How it works

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Only pay for what you need

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How do I choose insurance?

Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.

  • Can I just cover my most expensive tools?

  • Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

  • Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?

  • Does freelancer insurance cover my work correctly?

  • Do I need cover for other types of work?

  • Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

  • Can I just cover my most expensive tools?

    Make sure you cover the total cost of replacing all your tools or you’ll only get a proportion of your claim paid out if something happens to them. Learn about tool cover.

  • Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

    Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.

    If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.

    Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.

  • Will tools insurance cover all my equipment?

    Depending on what you use to do your work, you may need other covers.

    You may need more than tools insurance – for example, business equipment insurance if you have a work laptop, plant insurance if you use machinery.

  • Does freelancer insurance cover my work correctly?

    Make sure you’re picking the right cover to protect you properly. It’s important to know that if you have another trade or job, you’ll need additional cover.

  • Do I need cover for other types of work?

    If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:

    Other types of insurance

  • Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

    Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.

Talk to an expert

Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am – 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am – 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am – 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am – 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am – 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am – 02.00pm

Call our team

0333 043 8527

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Contact us on our website whenever suits you

Phone

Call our insurance experts during office hours (calls are charged at a local rate)

FAQs

Find answers to common insurance questions

How do claims work?

Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.

£51 million in claims paid out in 2023

83% of claims were settled in 2023.

The figure above is rounded across our range of products. “Settled” covers paid, declined or withdrawn. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis. Our specialist partner Sedgwick will pay the claims on behalf of the insurer. Reviewed on 24/04/2024.

Example claim

Having insurance through Simply Business has saved freelancers thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Paul saved more than £1,929

Paul (not his real name) was working from home when his drink spilled over his laptop, damaging the screen. His freelance insurance covered the accidental damage, getting him set up again to finish the project.

Insurance payout

£1,929.00

Covering the cost of the accidental damage

Insurance payout

Covering the cost of the accidental damage

Covering the cost of the accidental damage

Chosen by nearly 1 million small businesses and landlords

We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then, with nearly 1 million customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.

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Rated 4.8/5

Based on 39,802 Feefo reviews

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Freelancer insurance FAQs

Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about freelancer insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

Before you buy insurance, it’s important to weigh up the risks and understand the legalities. But what insurance do you really need? And do freelancers need liability insurance?

Public liability insurance is an important cover for many freelancers – it’s designed to protect you if someone’s injured or their property gets damaged because of your business. From tripping over your equipment to hot coffee spilled on a laptop, you’d be surprised how many freelance businesses need public liability insurance.

Professional indemnity insurance can be crucial too if you give advice or provide professional services to clients. It covers you if you give negligent guidance that causes a financial loss. And if you employ anyone, even in your own home, employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement – you’ll face a heavy fine if you’re caught working without it.

It’s usually very straightforward – just start a quote with us right now, and we’ll come back with options from the UK’s most trusted insurance brands. If you’d prefer to speak to us on the phone, our team are ready to help on 0333 043 8527.

Yes. It’s important to make sure you have the right type and level of insurance for the different types of work you do. For example, if you’re a freelance personal trainer, you may also provide a dietician service – you’ll need additional cover for this, but you can have it all on the one policy. When you start your quote, you’ll have the option to add another trade or profession to your policy. If you need to add a third trade, give us a call on 0333 0146 683 and one of our insurance experts will help you set up your policy in minutes.

You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:

  • one-off credit or debit card payment
  • BACS payment
  • Direct Debit

If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.

This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.

If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.

There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.

We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions