Designers' insurance

Why do designers need professional indemnity insurance?

If anything, you need it more than most.

Because it’s not just dissatisfied clients who cause problems (and they DO cause problems). Often, your work is out there in front of the general public too, and that means open season.

What if someone thinks your great design idea was their great design idea first? The reality is, rightly or wrongly, accusations and allegations happen every day. Before you know it, solicitors get involved and people want payback.

Claims and allegations have a nasty habit of not going away, too. And ultimately, it doesn’t really matter who’s pointing the finger. The fact is you have to do something about it for the sake of your business.

So, you need professional indemnity insurance because you have a business to run. But you also need it because you don’t have a bottomless pit of money. And because you’re not a legal expert. And because your reputation is everything.

What else is there?

How much professional indemnity insurance do I need?

If you’ve decided you need some cover, all you have to do is decide how much ‘some’ is. Easier said than done.

There are no hard and fast rules. Our best advice is to remember that your policy covers you and your business. Seems obvious but that means thinking about what you do, who you do it for and how much it’s worth. If something goes wrong, what could the knock-on effect be (worst-case scenario in other words). What’s the most expensive mistake you could make?

In fairness, actual professional negligence is pretty rare. It’s more likely you’ll just be accused of it. Even so, defending you can cost tens of thousands of pounds and your level of cover has to be enough to cover, potentially, more than one allegation.

If you’re looking for more help, read of this guide or give us a call.

What does professional indemnity insurance cover?

Negligence claims and allegations made against you by clients and third parties, leading to financial losses, and because of mistakes you’ve made and things you’ve failed to do.

Specifically (but depending on the policy wording):

• Defamation
• Intellectual property infringement
• Loss of documents or data
• Negligent misrepresentation or misstatement
• Employee dishonesty
• Virus transmission
• Breach of confidentiality
• Failure of third-party equipment

Here’s the good bit. Decent professional indemnity insurance for designers can pay to fix a mistake before your client is even aware of it, thereby preventing a claim in the first place.

Clever stuff.

What else do I need?

Public liability insurance is for when you go out and about on business, or have visitors to your studio. It’s for claims of physical damage to property and people. Useful if you’re clumsy.

Employers’ liability insurance covers your business if an employee sues it for damages. Claims are usually because they’ve suffered injuries and illnesses as a consequence of working for you. It’s a legal requirement for UK businesses with employees.

Office and property insurance covers the things in your studio (furniture, plants, fixed IT equipment etc) and portable insurance covers gadgets and technical equipment away from the studio (laptops, tablets, projectors etc). If you’re not sure it’s worth insuring, add it all up – it’s probably worth more than you think.

Business interruption insurance means you can still work when your studio is out of action. Be it flood, fire or flea infestation, you’re covered for the costs of setting up elsewhere and for any lost revenue in that time.

Directors’ and officers’ insurance covers your company bosses. Anyone from regulators to shareholders to competitors can accuse you of not running a business with due care. Worse, directors are personally liable for their actions. The good thing is this insurance covers your defence costs and any compensation you have to pay. So you can put away your chequebook.

Why choose us?

We know time’s a luxury most small businesses and self-employed peeps don’t have. That’s why we make buying insurance as quick, easy, and fuss-free as possible.

Not to blow our own trumpet, but our platinum-rated feedback shows our customers really like how we do things.

Like how we give them the option to get their quote online, or pick up the phone and speak to us one-on-one. Whatever they’re comfortable with.

As our customer, you get the insurance know-how you need, when you need it. Whether that’s by speaking to our friendly team or browsing our advice hub.

You get extra perks and benefits, like a free “I’m insured” badge for your website, money off legal services, and a reward when you recommend us.

Lastly, you get a broker behind you who a) understands what you do, and b) works as hard for you as you do.

You can’t put a price on that.