Public liability insurance

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

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance project management?

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(s), if you have any

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

For example:

• you’re working in a client’s office and accidentally knock a laptop off a stand-up desk, damaging the screen
• your client’s office manager trips over a box of kit you’ve left on the floor, breaking their wrist

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 for injury or illness 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:

• your employee hurts their eye on a job with you and needs hospital treatment, because they weren’t given the right PPE (personal protective equipment)
• you’ve hired a temp for a big project and they hurt their back while moving heavy equipment between meeting rooms

Professional indemnity insurance

In case you’ve made a mistake in your work, or run into a claim for negligence.

What’s typically covered by professional indemnity insurance for project managers?

Claims against your business for:

• professional negligence and breach of contract causing your client a financial loss, which may include:
• advice you’ve given which turns out to be incorrect
• errors in your work which cost your client money

For example:

• you’ve miscalculated the time needed for testing on an IT transformation project, delaying the client’s launch date
• the project misses a tight deadline, and your client is forced to pull someone off another project to get the work completed

Read more about professional indemnity 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 specific trade tools)
• accidental loss of your operational equipment
• flood, fire or accidental damage

For example:

• while travelling to the client’s office, you leave your laptop in a taxi
• a fire in your home office damages all of your computer equipment, as well as an expensive bespoke desk

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you face legal costs while running your project management 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 talented project manager

For example:

• you dismiss an employee and need to defend your legal rights
• your home office is vandalised and you need to raise a legal case

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 an errand on your lunch break and trip over the curb, breaking your ankle
• your employee breaks their leg at a wedding, and needs time off work for hospital treatment

Read more about personal accident insurance

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.

Does project management 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. For example, do you need to consider builders insurance or carpenter insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

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

• Business consultant insurance
• Marketing consultant insurance
• It consultant insurance
• Public liability insurance beauty
• Business analyst insurance
• Surveyor – project management
• Engineers – project management

Other types of insurance

• Limited company insurance
• Self-employed insurance
• Freelance insurance
• Consultant insurance
• Contractors insurance
• Sole trader 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.