Industry - Creative Industry Business Insurance, including all types of designers

FreelanceInsure offer a number of policies to suit the freelancer or consultant working in the Creative sector including specific roles like interior / web designers.

Professional indemnity insurance is one of those extra expenses which people in the creative industries may prefer to avoid – after all how likely is it that a claim will ever need to be made? Actually there are many ways in which someone working in a creative field may need professional indemnity insurance.

Legal requirement or money wasted?

Professional indemnity insurance (PII) is a legal requirement in some industries such as those related to finance, banking or accounting. Other service industries do not legally require this type of insurance, but it is recommended for peace of mind for yourself and for your client.

A client will be able to sue you if they are damaged in some way due to your negligence while you are carrying out services for them. This relates to the creative industries as much as it does to any other service industry. It may simply be a case of you not needing the same level of cover as someone who works as a banker, for example.

Creative industries which should have professional indemnity insurance include interior designers, writers, artists, web designers, musicians, photographers. In fact anyone who provides a service for a client which could have an impact on them if it goes wrong.

Examples of how the provision of these types of services go wrong could be a writer who has infringed copyright or committed slander, an interior designer who has suggested a decorator who went on to ruin a wall, a web designer who stole ideas and passed them off as his own or a photographer who used images of a client in his advertising without permission. These types of mistakes could lead to a loss of confidentiality for the client or actual financial harm.

As the creative industries are generally run on a freelance basis and do not have the backing of a large company, getting PI insurance is even more important.

With tight budgets and sometimes, low incomes, you could find yourself in a position of being sued and not having the money to defend yourself. Legal aid is rarely available in these circumstances. PI cover will take care of that and pay any damages which you are required to pay. It could be the difference between having to go bankrupt or putting it behind you and building your business.