Self-employed Professional Indemnity insurance guide

According to the Nursing and Midwifery Council, as a nurse in the UK you must have an indemnity arrangement in place that provides appropriate cover for the relevant risks you practise as a nurse, midwife or nursing associate. Cover does not need to be individually held by you as a nurse, but you will still be required to self-declare that you have the necessary cover in place – held by you or your employer or agency – when you revalidate.

If you are found not to be carrying the necessary arrangement you will be removed from the register and will no longer be able to practise as a nurse, midwife or nursing associate.⁽¹⁾

Social workers provide a service that comes with responsibility and an expectation of professionalism and specialist knowledge. If something goes wrong a social worker may be held to account for any financial losses with legal action. Professional Indemnity insurance is designed to mitigate the effects of such actions and protect the social worker by covering the costs of defending the claim against them.

As a domiciliary care worker you have a great responsibility to look after the wellbeing of those you are caring for. As such, you will be expected to carry business insurance that covers Public Liability, Professional Indemnity and, depending on your role within the organisation, it is likely that you’ll need Medical Malpractice insurance.

The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) guidance states in section 13(1)(a)

“The provider must have insurance and suitable indemnity arrangements to cover potential liabilities arising from death, injury, or other causes, loss or damage to property, and other financial risks.”⁽²⁾

Working in the UK financial sector comes with unique responsibilities, regulations and risks which require accountants and finance consultants to carry comprehensive business insurance. Accountancy carries with it a huge responsibility, and if you were to advise a client poorly, or make a mistake in the preparation of their accounts, they would almost certainly suffer financially.

This can put a strain on business relationships and without PI insurance in place, your accountancy business would be required to resolve the issue itself. Depending on how serious the mistake was, it could end up costing your business thousands of pounds in putting the error right.

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) require their members to have a minimum limit of PI insurance in order to practice. 

Solicitors’ Professional Indemnity insurance is mandatory for all practicing law firms as a requirement of the profession’s regulatory bodies. By providing cover against civil liability claims, it enhances a firm’s financial security, while also protecting the law firms’ clients. Allegations of professional negligence can be difficult and expensive to defend, especially when they relate to events from a long time ago. Key staff may have left since, and even those who were involved can forget details of a case.

If you give advice to your students during your lessons, then you’ll need Professional Indemnity insurance to protect your reputation and livelihood as a music teacher. Professional Indemnity insurance will cover your legal liability if you are deemed to have provided negligent advice to a student.

As a business consultant the advice you give to your clients needs to get the results they are looking for.

You will work closely with your client to create a well-planned roadmap for success and growth for their business. If the results don’t meet your clients’ expectations, then you could be faced with a claim of alleged negligence. This instance can arise even if your client did not allocate the agreed resources to your plan.

Professional Indemnity insurance will respond to provide cover for you defending against the claim.

Your client alleges that the photographs you’ve taken for them aren't suitable for use for a project, or a memory card in your camera corrupts and you lose all the day's photos. The client claims against you for the cost of re-organising the shoot.

Professional Indemnity insurance will respond to cover the cost of this claim.

For self-employed professionals working in the creative industry Professional Indemnity insurance is a crucial type of insurance protection.

Whether you are a copywriter, graphic designer, website developer, or a social media marketer, your clients will be reliant on the work you complete for them generating improved performance for their business.

Yet, because a lot of creative work is subjective it means it is open to misinterpretation, which is why PI cover is so important.

You might have created a fantastic piece of work that your client loves, but if it doesn’t resonate with the clients’ target markets, then you could be blamed for its failure to improve sales and find yourself on the receiving end of a claim of negligent work.