Sole trader insurance

  • UK-based expert support, online and on the phone
  • Get covered and all your documents the same day
  • Get tailored sole trader insurance quotes in less than 7 minutes

Why is sole trader insurance important?

You wear every hat in the business – from financials to marketing, it’s all up to you. That includes insurance, and finding the right policy to fit your work and set-up. Sole trader public liability insurance is designed to cover accidents and injuries – you can have it as a single cover or combined with other options, including professional indemnity insurance, tools, stock, and employers’ liability cover.

  • public liability insurance for sole traders – risks covered up to £10 million
  • rated 4.8/5 based on 39K+ public liability customer reviews
  • tools, accident, and employee cover – you choose what you need


What does sole trader insurance cover?

We’ll start with public and product liability insurance, top of the list for most UK sole traders. This cover can protect you against claims for injuries and accidents, if someone thinks your company is at fault. You can add other popular covers too, like professional indemnity insurance (known as PI), and employers’ liability cover is a legal requirement for most UK employers.


How much does sole trader insurance cost?

Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices for sole trader 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 tailored quotes in 7 minutes

Example sole trader insurance quotes, real prices

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How it works

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Get prices from a range of insurers

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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

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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 sole trader insurance 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

Example claim

Having sole trader insurance through Simply Business has saved UK professionals thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.

Ali saved more than £2,600

A leak in the flat above Ali’s (not her real name) marketing business premises caused significant water damage over the Christmas holiday week, particularly to her ceiling and tile work. The optional buildings cover added to her sole trader insurance policy helped cover Ali’s repair and replacement costs.

Chosen by nearly 1 million small businesses and landlords

Sole trader insurance requirements 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 a sole trader.

You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.

Public and product liability insurance is often an important cover for sole traders – 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.

Sole trader indemnity insurance 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 sole trader business insurance policies are flexible – you can bundle everything into one policy or go for just one or two covers, depending on what you need.

How your sole trader policy works will depend on your chosen profession and its associated risks. Building a policy tailored to your specific work can help keep you protected – as well as any tools, stock, or building premises you rely on.

If you work with members of the public, then public liability can help cover you against claims of negligence. Whereas if your career brings with it risks you could cause a client financial loss, you might want to include professional indemnity.

If you work from home, you may need to take out an additional business insurance policy on top of your home insurance, as a lot of home insurance policies don’t include commercial activity – even if your place of work is also your home.

A good starting point is to take another look at the details of your home contents insurance policy and identify any gaps in your cover. You can then take out additional business insurance to cover your work as a sole trader.

While it’s not a legal requirement to take out business insurance when you’re a sole trader, it can be beneficial to your business. Risks can sometimes happen, and having cover in place to help protect you when you need it most can offer peace of mind – allowing you to focus on the other parts of running your business.

Our insurance for sole traders provides a number of covers under a single package – so you can tailor it to your specific work. Protect your  business premises as well as your business itself, you can add on cover for your stock and contents, business premises, offices, tools, equipment, and plant – as well as loss of income cover.

This will depend on various aspects of your work – such as the size of your business, cost of your equipment, and the risks associated with your work. Chat to one of our advisors if you’re unsure which cover you need.

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.

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

Main building

£200

£4000

Stock

£200

£4000

Contents

£200

£4000

Employers liability

No excess

No excess

Public liability

No excess

£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.