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From a few hundred pounds to tens of thousands, a compensation claim can hit hard. As your own boss, it’s up to you to cover it, so insurance for self-employed is considered vital by most businesses. Our public liability insurance is designed to cover accidents and injuries – you can have it as a single cover or combined with other self-employed insurance options, including tools, stock, and professional indemnity.
Damaging a client’s property or financial losses caused by your mistakes – insurance for self-employed professionals can cover a range of risks. A public or product liability claim, for example, often runs into thousands of pounds, especially where serious injuries are involved. We provide public liability insurance for self-employed workers, employers’ liability, professional indemnity, tools, plant, stock, and personal accident cover, plus legal expenses.
Public liability insurance
In case you’re blamed for an injury or property damage.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.
Professional indemnity insurance
In case there’s a claim for loss-causing errors or issues with your work.
Contents and office equipment insurance
In case something happens to your fixtures and fittings or operational equipment.
Tools insurance
In case your trade tools are lost, stolen, or damaged.
Stock insurance
In case something happens to the materials and products you keep in supply.
Building insurance
In case something happens to your business premises.
Own plant insurance
In case your own plant machinery, like an excavator, is lost, stolen, or damaged.
Hired-in plant insurance
In case your rented plant machinery, like a drilling unit, is lost, stolen, or damaged.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you have to pay legal costs connected with your business.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or away from work.
In case you’re blamed for an injury or property damage.
What’s typically covered by self-employed public liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.
For example:
Read more about public liability insurance
In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
For example:
**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.**
In case there’s a claim for loss-causing errors or issues with your work.
What’s typically covered by professional indemnity insurance?
Claims against your business for professional negligence or a loss-causing breach of contract. This can include:
For example:
Read more about professional indemnity insurance
In case something happens to your fixtures and fittings or operational equipment.
What’s typically covered by contents and office equipment insurance?
For example:
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
In case your trade tools are lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by tools insurance?
For example:
Read more about tools insurance
In case something happens to the materials and products you keep in supply.
What’s typically covered by stock insurance?
For example:
Read more about stock insurance
In case something happens to your business premises.
What’s typically covered by building insurance?
For example:
What you’ll need additional cover for:
Read more about business buildings insurance
In case your own plant machinery, like an excavator, is lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by own plant insurance?
For example:
What you’ll need additional cover for:
Read more about own plant insurance
In case your rented plant machinery, like a drilling unit, is lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by hired-in plant insurance?
For example:
What you’ll need additional cover for:
Read more about hired-in plant insurance
In case you have to pay legal costs connected with your business.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
For example:
Read more about legal expenses insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or away from work.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
For example:
Read more about personal accident insurance
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
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.
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*The price is for £1 million of public liability insurance - 10% of customers paid £41.87 or less annually between 1st Oct 2023 - 31st Mar 2024. Equivalent to £3.49/month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). If you complete a quote more types of cover will be available, these all have additional costs.
£8.46 /month
£64.55 /year
A self-employed bricklayer with less than one year’s experience and no employees
Public liability
£1,000,000
Tools
£1,000
Stock
Not included
£19.35 /month
£171.96 /year
A self-employed hairdresser who rents a chair in a salon
Public liability
£2,000,000
Tools
£3,000
Stock
£2,500
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 07/03/2023). 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.
Depending on your set-up, clients and business type, these expert covers might be helpful too:
When you run a quote you can select from a range of covers.
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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.
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.
Having self-employment insurance through Simply Business has saved professionals thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
While fitting some skirting for a client, Michael (not his real name) put a nail through some copper pipes, causing water damage in their kitchen. The self-employed public liability insurance he’d taken out helped provide cover for the damage claim raised by his client.
£3,833.32
Covering the cost of accidental damage
£100
The excess amount stated in Michael’s policy terms
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
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Whether you’re new to buying business insurance for self-employed or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about insurance for self-employed workers.
You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
Public and product liability insurance is often an important cover for self-employed workers – it’s designed to protect you if someone is injured or gets sick, or their property is damaged, because of your business.
Do you employ any staff? If so, you’re usually required by law to take out employer’s liability insurance, even if it’s for a contractor team member, or casual and seasonal staff. You’ll face fines of up to £2,500 a day for anyone you haven’t covered correctly.
Professional indemnity insurance for self-employed people is another popular cover, providing protection against compensation claims for an error or oversight which ends up costing a third party money to fix, or causes a financial loss.
From there, you can pick and choose from other specific protection for your stock and equipment, plus legal expenses for things like employee disputes and personal accident cover for the slip-ups that can delay business as usual. Our self-employment insurance policies are flexible – you can bundle everything into one policy or go for just one or two covers, depending on what you need.
Yes. You may start offering additional services that require you to use different skills or carry out different tasks. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to give us a call on 0333 0146 683 to update your policy before you take on this new work.
If you don’t have the correct type of cover in place for the work you do, you may be unable to claim on your policy if something goes wrong.
Each insurer looks at CCJs and IVAs differently – some apply stricter rules than others, but having a CCJ or IVA doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t be able to buy insurance.
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:
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 provide a range of cover options for specific business types, including:
Is your profession not listed? When you run a quote you can select your trade from over 1,000 options.
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
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© Copyright 2024 Simply Business. All Rights Reserved. Simply Business is a trading name of Xbridge Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services Registration No: 313348). Xbridge Limited (No: 3967717) has its registered office at 6th Floor, 99 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7NG.