Why do copywriters need insurance?
Why do copywriters need insurance?
Plagiarism accusation
As a proud wordsmith, you always carefully research your subject and strive to write unique copy. However, when a client’s competitor says the informational website copy you’ve written has been lifted from theirs, your reputation and finances are on the line. You offer a professional service to your clients, so having professional indemnity insurance as part of your copywriter policy can help to defend your name in court. The cover can also assist with the financial burden of settling a plagiarism case.
Employee accident
The busier your copywriting business becomes, the more help you need to deliver to brief and deadline. You employ another copywriter to assist you part-time. Unfortunately, the chair you provide for their workspace collapses as they sit down one day, resulting in a back injury. As this leaves them unable to work, they decide to level a claim against you for damages. The support of employers’ liability insurance within your copywriter policy can help with paying for legal defence and for compensation pay-outs.
Client injury
Your role involves meetings in various locations and you often welcome clients to your premises for updates. During one client visit, you forget the delivery of new office furniture sitting in the hallway of your building. Unfortunately, your client spots it too late and knocks into the boxes, resulting in a fall and head injury. Should the affected client choose to make a claim, public liability insurance can step in to assist with legal costs and resulting compensation payments.
What insurance is available for copywriters?
What insurance is available for copywriters?
Professional indemnity insurance
As a copywriter, you provide a professional service to your clients – this means they rely on you for expertise and accuracy. When someone says you’ve accidently breached confidence, been negligent or made an untrue statement, professional indemnity (PI) insurance can offer reassurance. Your content refresh might result in a search engine ranking decline, or you could share private information with the wrong person. Hiscox PI insurance covers breach of contract for your sector as we know claims can arise from such incidents – and while some other insurers looks to exclude this, we include it as standard. If a client claims you’ve made a mistake in your work that’s led to negative consequences for them, PI cover can help with the cost of defence or settlement.
Public liability insurance
Your work can rely on spreading the word about your services and meeting with clients. This involves regular interactions with many different people. Due to this, public liability insurance could be a key consideration for you as a copywriter. If someone becomes injured, or their property damaged as a result of your business, you could be liable. So whether a claim comes from a trip over your charger cable or a spillage on a client’s smartphone, this cover can help with paying out legal costs, compensation and expenses.
Employers’ liability insurance
As soon as your copywriting business expands to bring on additional writers, employers’ liability cover may become a legal requirement (external link). It can step in to support you financially when faced with a claim from an employee that they’ve been injured or have fallen ill due to their work. It might be a repetitive strain complaint, a workplace fall or an illness that’s developed due to factors you didn’t know about. Employers’ liability insurance can support a copywriter with legal costs – and if you’re ordered to pay compensation, we can help.
A copywriter may build other covers into their policy, including legal protection, cyber and data cover and personal accident insurance.
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build my coverInsurance for copywriters: FAQs
How much is copywriter insurance?
How much your copywriter insurance costs will depend on the type and number of covers you add to your policy.
The overall price of your policy will also rely on the size of your business, the kind of copywriting contracts you take on and where you carry out your work.
However, it may be a helpful benchmark for you to know that small business insurance quotes from Hiscox start at £8.40 a month*.
*Figures based on an average of all business insurance policies sold to at least 10% of our customer base between April 2023 and April 2024
What insurance do I need for working in an agency?
If you’re freelancing or working for an agency as a copywriter on a contract basis, you may need to check the details of your insurance with them to understand your cover needs.
Once you have this information, you can then tailor a policy based on what you may not be covered for by the company. The agency role is potentially not the only work you service either – do you pick up editing jobs or help a local business with their website content, for instance?
Having a business insurance policy to cover all your activities may offer a self-employed professional the reassurance they need to create sharp copy.
How much professional indemnity insurance do I need?
How much professional indemnity insurance a copywriter might need could depend on how much it could cost to defend or settle a mistake in your work.
Professional indemnity insurance includes the following:
- Professional negligence or a breach of a duty of care
- Negligent misstatement or misrepresentation
- Defamation
- Breach of confidence
- Breach of copyright
- Lost or damaged documents
It may be prudent to consider each risk area before setting your policy limit. The limit refers to the highest amount we could pay – checking project values and the particulars in your contracts can give you an idea of the scale of a potential claim.
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