Essential insurance types for freelance web designers

For many businesses and organisations these days, their website is everything. It’s their advertising, branding, sales portal, customer database, shop window and much, much more. So, when a client gets you in to work on their web presence, they are putting a whole heap of trust in your hands. Once something is published on the web, there’s no taking it back. We’ve seen how, even if you can edit and correct mistakes, all it takes is for the site to have been archived or a screenshot taken, for a bad decision or a careless mistake to go viral. 

That’s why it’s sensible for freelance web designers to get a good package of business insurance in place before they start work. But the world of business insurance can be confusing. There’s lots of different types of policy, and they all seem to come with incomprehensible jargon that makes them impossible to understand.
 

Do IT freelancers need business insurance? 

As a freelancer, you don’t have the support of a larger business behind you. This means that if there are any mistakes or if anything goes wrong, it is down to you to sort it out. This could include defending yourself against being sued or protecting your business against lost income. 

It’s likely that you may have some money put aside for emergencies and quiet periods. But it’s unlikely that this rainy-day fund will be enough to cover the costs of legal expenses due to being sued by a client or someone injured in the course of your work.  

In this guide, we have laid out simply what different types of freelance business insurance a web designer should consider. We recommend having cover in place before you start work, because there’s always a risk that things could go wrong or you could make mistakes, but if you haven’t yet sorted out insurance, today is better than tomorrow, and tomorrow is better than never. 

Professional Indemnity insurance for freelance web designers  

Think of this as the policy that protects you, your finances, and your reputation. In some ways, it acts as a guarantee on your work. If a client accuses you of making a mistake in the course of your work or claims that something you’ve done has caused them a loss, they may try to take you to court to recover that money. This could be for things like negligence (if you don’t take proper care), giving bad advice, defamation, copyright breach, or breach of confidentiality. 

In this instance, if you didn’t have insurance, you’d be out on your own, footing heavy bills, trying to sort out a legal defence. Having a claim against you is likely to cause you stress, worry, and fill your to-do list with tasks that take you away from the rest of your work.  

Professional Indemnity insurance will often provide a team of expert lawyers to fight the case on your behalf, and cover any legal fees and compensation awarded to the other side. It’s also worth remembering that even if you don’t think you have made any mistakes, you would still have to defend yourself against an allegation if a client made one. Proving that you’re in the right can be a costly business.  

Professional Indemnity claims also might not emerge straightaway – a client typically has 6 years to claim against your Professional Indemnity insurance. 

Example freelance web designer Professional Indemnity claim:  

You’ve created a website for a jewellery business. While you wait for images to be ready from a photographer, you pop some stock images in as placeholders. However, when you publish the website, you forget to switch the images over. The original copyright owner sees that the images have been used without permission and tries to claim for copyright infringement. 

Public Liability insurance for freelance web designers 

This is the policy that protects other people around you and their property. It insures against injury or harm to another person, or damage to property and belongings, caused by you in the course of your business. This could include things like accidents when you’re working out and about, damage to a client’s premises when you’re visiting or accidentally breaking a client’s expensive equipment.  

These types of claims can be costly and stressful, especially when people have been hurt. Many Public Liability insurance policies will support you with an experienced legal team and cover the costs of putting things right. 

Example freelance web designer Public Liability claim:  

You’re working from a coffee shop, just putting the finishing touches to a client’s new website. A barista rushes past with a tray of hot drinks, and trips over the strap of your laptop bag. They are badly scalded and have turned their ankle, meaning they can’t work for a few weeks. The barista lodges a personal injury claim against your business. 

Cyber insurance for freelance web designers 

Scams are getting more sophisticated every year, so it makes sense to protect your business however careful you are when it comes to the risk. Whether this is loss of access to your systems and equipment and theft or corruption of data. 

It’s likely that you are holding more client data than you’d think and some of this may be confidential, so you need to be careful about theft of client data too. There may also be regulatory and contractual obligations for your business to protect the data you hold for your clients. 

Many Cyber Liability insurance policies provide you with a 24-hour service to report incidents and help you get help straight away, including covering the costs of data recovery and any regulatory defence and penalties. They often also include business interruption to help cover the costs of lost income, and financial support to improve systems post attack to avoid future issues. 

Example freelance web designer Cyber Liability claim:  

Although you are fastidious about using a password manager, unfortunately, the password you use for a client website is leaked online. This means the site is held by ransomware, you are locked out of the site and unable to continue with your work putting the project timelines at risk. With a Cyber Insurance policy, you’ll be supported through the process of getting back into the site safely and could also claim for lost income if the project timelines and your income are affected. 

Why choose Kingsbridge for the insurance for your freelance web design business? 

Here at Kingsbridge, we have many years of expertise in providing freelance web design insurance. We have been able to use our years of experience with freelance web designers to craft a tailored policy package, providing all the cover you could ever need.  

We also offer flexible payment options and the ability to adjust your coverage if your business grows. If you find the same coverage for less elsewhere, we offer a Price Promise and can beat any like for like quote. 

Hopefully, you now have a better idea of the types of cover you need as a freelance web designer. If you would like to get a quote you can do this online or by ringing our team on 01242 808740.