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Counselling insurance

Join over 900,000 UK customers like you with cover from £3.19 per month*. Compare counsellor insurance from trusted brands.

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  • Compare tailored insurance for counsellors from trusted brands
Counseller looking at patient during session

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Rated 4.7/5

Based on 39,755 reviews

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Claims paid in 24 hours

For 80% of settled claims

What's on this page

  • Why is insurance important?
  • What does it cover?
  • How much does it cost?
  • How do I choose insurance?
  • How do claims work?
  • FAQs
  • Helpful articles

Insurance for counsellors – why is it important?

The time, expertise and treatment UK counsellors provide is relied on by so many. Whether it’s a new patient or someone you’ve worked with for years, your profession carries specific risks and liabilities. If a claim came up, would you have the funds ready to handle it, and keep the business going? Counselling insurance can provide a backstop, letting you focus on work, not the what-ifs.

  • public liability insurance from £1 million
  • rated 4.7/5 based on 39K+ public liability customer reviews
  • cover for your laptop, plus personal accidents, legal costs, and more

Start your quote

What does counsellors insurance cover?

For counsellors, we’ll usually start with public liability insurance. It’s designed to keep you covered against third party injury or damage claims, for example if you caused a trip-and-fall accident before starting a counselling session. From there, you can add employers’ liability cover for anyone you’ve hired, along with specific cover for legal costs, personal accidents and your equipment.

Public liability insurance for counsellors

In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

  • damage to someone’s property, caused by your counselling business
  • an injury or illness caused by your business activities or products
  • accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees

For example:

  • while waiting for you to start a session, your client trips and falls down three steps in your reception area, breaking their ankle
  • your receptionist takes a client’s bag and their laptop falls out, smashing onto the concrete floor

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

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ 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:

  • an injury or illness that happens as a result of working for you (including temps 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:

  • the water dispenser in your waiting area leaks and your receptionist slips, breaking her arm
  • a counsellor you’ve hired falls down a flight of steep steps in your premises, fracturing her knee

Business and office equipment insurance

In case things like laptops or office filing cabinets are lost, stolen, or damaged.

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

  • theft of the equipment you use to run your counselling business
  • loss of your equipment
  • flood, fire, or accidental damage

For example:

  • your laptop is stolen from your table in a busy coffee shop
  • a leak from the toilet next to your consulting room damages your furniture and fittings while you’re on holiday

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Legal expenses insurance

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

  • legal costs attributed to your counselling business
  • property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
  • tax and compliance disputes and investigations you need help with
  • access to expert advice – including a tax advice phone line, confidential 24/7 legal phone line, and crisis support to help you protect your professional reputation

For example:

  • you hire another counsellor to take on more clients, and incur legal costs during a contract dispute
  • a client raises a legal claim against you and you need to hire professional support

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

  • accidental injury or death at or outside of work, for anyone covered on the policy
  • lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit

For example:

  • you suffer a head injury while on holiday, and can’t work for at least three weeks
  • while locking up the practice, you trap your hand in the office door, breaking three fingers

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

How much does counsellor 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 £3.19 per month

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

Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes

Start your quote

10% of our customers paid up to £38.32 a year for a public liability insurance policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £3.19 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.

Example counselling insurance quotes, real prices

axa insurance

£8.43 /month

£64.34 /year

A part time counsellor that works in local schools and colleges

  • 2-3 years' experience
  • Sole trader
  • No employees
  • Based in Coventry
  • Public liability

    £1,000,000

  • Employers’ liability

    Not included

  • Contents & business equipment

    Not included

chiswell insurance

£32.13 /month

£285.58 /year

A small counseling company that works for various charities and addiction organisations

  • 5+ years' experience
  • Limited company
  • 2 employees
  • Based in Aberdeen
  • Public liability

    £5,000,000

  • Employers’ liability

    £10,000,000

  • Contents & business equipment

    £2,500

How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 25/10/2022). 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

Public liability

£100

£2500

Employers' liability

No excess

No excess

Tools

£60

£500

Stock

£100

£500

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

  • Pick what goes into your policy

    Only pay for what you need

  • Get prices from a range of insurers

    Choose the best fit for you

  • Buy online in minutes

    Get your documents the same day

Start your quote

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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.

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 counselling 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 speech therapy insurance or carers insurance?

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

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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. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.

£39 million in claims paid out in 2022

Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022

Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords

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.

  • Compare and buy in minutes

    Documents arrive today

  • Rated 4.7/5

    Based on 39,755 reviews

  • Here to help

    Help from UK-based experts

  • 24/7 claims

    Make a claim any time

Counselling insurance FAQ

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 insurance for counsellors in the UK. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

  • 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 counsellor, you may also provide training, or run seminars – 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.

  • If you change your business legal structure from sole trader to limited company mid-way through your policy, give us a call straight away on 0333 043 8527. It’ll only take us a few minutes to cancel your existing policy and replace it with one that correctly covers your new legal structure. It’s worth bearing in mind that your insurer and premium amount may need to change.

  • 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

Helpful articles for counsellors

Two business owners discussing a business plan late at night in the office

6 Nov 2020 • 6-minute read

How to write a business plan and business plan template

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