Insurance for counsellors
Counselling requires professional skills, patience and understanding to deal with a wide range of needs. The nature of one-to-one therapy means you’re often alone with a client, so if they accuse you of doing something wrong or giving incorrect advice, or they’re injured at your work premises, you could face legal action. Business insurance for counsellors provides professional treatment liability cover and public liability cover, so your legal costs and any potential settlements are taken care of.
Why you need business insurance for counselling
An injured client
Imagine a client trips and injures their arm while undergoing a therapy session. They need medical treatment and that means being off work for a few days. They decide to make a claim against you for compensation, which means extra time and cost for them, but public liability insurance takes away some of the stress by covering any legal costs you face.
An unhappy client
Unhappy with the counselling you’ve provided, a client believes you’ve prolonged their anxiety and takes legal action, challenging your professionalism and aiming to recover their fees. Professional treatment liability cover within your business insurance for counsellors ensures your legal defence and any settlement is covered.
Computer hacked
Your computer has a virus allowing personal client data and confidential counselling notes to be accessed by a hacker who demands a ransom for the return of the information. The ransom you’ve paid and the services of a specialist risk consultancy firm are covered by cyber and data insurance cover as part of your Hiscox business insurance for counselling.
If you’re not sure what you need, tell us a little more about your work as a counsellor. We’ll help you to build your quote and explore any other insurance needs.
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Key types of insurance for counsellors
Professional treatment liability insurance
Professional treatment liability insurance is designed for people whose professional activities include providing treatment and guidance to patients. It’s there to offer cover in cases where a client claims that they’ve suffered an injury or they’ve fallen ill as a result of your advice or therapy. If you’re faced with a claim of malpractice, insurance means you’ll be covered against the costs of defending yourself against the claim and protecting your reputation.
Cyber and data insurance
Computers are used widely in day-to-day business, from emails to online file storage, but the potential for cybercrime is high. Your professional role puts you in a position of holding confidential and personal information about your clients, so cyber and data risk insurance protects you from data breaches or hacking where that information is targeted. Your business insurance for counselling will cover the costs for a ransom payment, data recovery, loss of business and more.
Public liability insurance
As a counsellor you’re there to help people, but you could face a claim if someone is accidentally injured or their property is damaged while you’re working. It’s not just about the treatments you provide – if someone trips in your reception area or injures themselves entering the building they could still make a claim. Public liability cover will help with the cost of compensation and the legal expenses of the claims process, which can be expensive.
These are just some of the types of business insurance for counselling and counsellors that we can offer. We can provide other specific types of cover and build them into a policy that’s tailored to the exact needs of your business.
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