Teachers insurance

Q: Am I covered if I teach students abroad?

You can still get cover if your work is based outside of the UK, or if you teach remotely. When you buy your policy with us, we'll ask you where your work is based – you'll just need to let us know at this stage. If you don't, there is a chance that you won't be covered by your insurance.

Q: Will changing from sole trader to limited company affect my insurance policy?

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 0146 683. 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.

Join over nearly a million customers (including over 6,300 teachers & tutors like you) – we offer public liability cover from £4.95

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10% of customers pay the equivalent of £4.95 a month*

Why do you need teachers insurance?

Teaching insurance can protect you against the cost of accidents at work. You might not be able to stop them from happening, but you can make sure you’re protected. Whether you need to protect yourself, your students, or your staff, teachers’ insurance can provide peace of mind.

it can protect you if a student damages your property
it can mean you’re prepared for the unexpected if a student takes legal action against you
you can be covered if any teaching materials are lost or stolen

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What does teachers insurance cover?

You know teaching best – that’s why we make sure you’re in control of your cover. Whether you want to protect yourself against injury in the classroom or damage to your teaching materials, we’ve got a range of covers for you to pick from.

Public liability insurance for teachers

In case you or your employees injure someone or damage their property.
Employers’ liability insurance

In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.
Professional indemnity insurance

In case a client loses money because of your advice, services or designs.
Stock insurance

In case materials you’re responsible for, like textbooks, are lost, stolen, or damaged.
Business and office equipment insurance

In case your teaching materials are damaged or stolen.
Legal expenses insurance

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

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

Public liability insurance for teachers

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

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
- Legal costs and compensation payouts that result from claims brought against your business for:
- injury caused by you or an employee
- damage to property – either yours or someone else’s
- property damage caused by an employee of yours, such as a teaching assistant
For example:
- a student trips over and injures themselves in your classroom
- you accidentally spill your drink over your student’s laptop
- your employee breaks your student’s iPad
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?

Legal expenses and compensation costs relating to claims made against your business, including:
- an employee of yours injuring themselves while working for you
**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:
- a teaching assistant injures themselves while unpacking some boxes
Professional indemnity insurance

In case a client loses money because of your advice, services or designs.

What’s typically covered by teacher professional indemnity insurance?

Legal expenses and compensation costs relating to claims made against your business, including:
- professional negligence
- advice that you give as part of your work
For example:
- you don’t cover the full syllabus during a course
- a student claims that you’ve taught something incorrectly
Read more about professional indemnity insurance
Stock insurance

In case materials you’re responsible for, like textbooks, are lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?
- teaching materials that you sell on to your students
For example:
- a textbook is damaged in a fire
Read more about stock insurance
Business and office equipment insurance

In case your teaching materials are damaged or stolen.

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- teaching materials, such as books
- laptops, printers and projectors
For example:
- your laptop is stolen from your classroom
- your books are damaged in a fire
What you’ll need additional cover for:
- larger items that aren’t covered by your single article limit. For example, if your policy says that your single article limit is £2,000 and you want to insure your laptop that’s valued at £2,500, you’ll need to specify this as a single item on your insurance policy.
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Legal expenses insurance

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

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs associated with the day-to-day running of your business
- tax and compliance disputes that might come up
For example:
- you’re taken to court after dismissing an employee
- you and your fellow company directors are investigated by HMRC
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?
- the injury or death of anyone you’ve chosen to cover – whether this happens at work or not
- lost income, hospital bills, or other medical costs associated with the accident
For example:
- an employee breaks their ankle running to work
- you trip over a cable and break your arm
Read more about personal accident insurance

How much does teachers’ 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 £4.95 per month

Get tailored 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 £59.34 or less annually between 1st Feb – 30th April 2025. Equivalent to £4.95 a month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). 82% of customers have a £1 million limit and 18% £2 million. If you complete a quote, more types of cover will be available. These all have additional costs.

Example teachers insurance quotes, real prices

£13.82 /month

£118.20 /year

A private tutor working on residential and commercial locations

5+ years’ experience
Sole trader
No employees
Based in Oxford

Public liability

£1,000,000

Employers’ liability

Not included

Professional indemnity

£250,000

£30.38 /month

£270.06 /year

A tutor company working on residential and commercial locations

5+ years’ experience
Limited company
1 employee
Based in Oxford

Public liability insurance

£5,000,000

Employers’ liability

£10,000,000

Professional indemnity

£2,000,000

How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 21/02/2022). 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
Professional indemnity	No excess	£2500
Public liability	£200	£750
Contents	£100	£750
Portable equipment	£100	£500
Employers liability	No excess	No excess

You’ll get a complete breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us. 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

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Get your documents the same day

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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?
Does teachers’ insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

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 teachers’ 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 private tutor insurance or insurance for working with children?
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 cover – £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

Online

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 team any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive.

£68 million in claims paid out in 2024

76% of claims were settled in 2024.

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 26/02/2025.

Example claim

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

Patty saved more than £1,174

Patty (not her real name) was in a student’s house demonstrating a science experiment using dry ice. It caused a crack in a marble table which couldn’t be fixed. Luckily, Patty’s insurance meant she was covered.

Insurance payout

£1,174.25

Covering the cost of the damage

Insurance payout

Covering the cost of the damage

Chosen by nearly one million small business and landlord customers

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

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Based on 39.9K Feefo reviews

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Teacher 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 teachers’ insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

What insurance do I need to teach?

As a teacher, you’re legally required to have employers’ liability insurance if you have people working for you – such as teaching assistants. Employers’ liability insurance covers you if someone who works for you has an accident or damages someone’s property.

Although other types of teachers’ insurance are not required by law, there are some covers you should consider – including contents, stock, and public liability insurance.

Am I covered if I teach students abroad?

Can I add cover for a different trade or profession to my insurance policy?

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 teacher you might also work in a nursery – 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.

What’s the difference between paying by direct debit and paying in one lump sum?

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 offers 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.

Will changing from sole trader to limited company affect my insurance policy?

Does public liability insurance cover my business for the actions of my employees?

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

Teachers insurance

Why do you need teachers insurance?

What does teachers insurance cover?

Public liability insurance for teachers

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Employers’ liability insurance

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Professional indemnity insurance

What’s typically covered by teacher professional indemnity insurance?

Stock insurance

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

Business and office equipment insurance

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

Legal expenses insurance

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

Personal accident insurance

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

How much does teachers’ insurance cost?

Prices start from £4.95 per month

Example teachers insurance quotes, real prices

What kind of excess should I expect?

How it works

Pick what goes into your policy

Get prices from a range of insurers

Buy online in minutes

How do I choose insurance?

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Does teachers’ insurance cover my work correctly?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Talk to an expert

Online

Phone

FAQs

How do claims work?

£68 million in claims paid out in 2024

Example claim

Patty saved more than £1,174

Compare and buy in minutes

Rated 4.6/5

Here to help

24/7 claims

Teacher insurance FAQs

Helpful articles for teachers

What qualifications do I need to be a teacher or supply teacher – and can I be self-employed?

How to become a tutor – a 10-step guide

Benefits for self-employed people – a guide

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