Insurance for a tutor or private teacher
As a private tutor, you always aim to provide the best education and experience for your pupils. If a school, education authority, student or parent claims there’s a problem with your work, such as failure to cover a syllabus correctly, or your student doesn’t achieve expected grades – defending yourself could be expensive and time consuming.
There might even be circumstances where a student is injured while under your tuition – if this is blamed on your alleged lack of supervision, having the right insurance cover in place ensures you’re protected.
Hiscox can provide cover for allegations of abuse and molestation made against you and your employees, provided that you follow a robust written safeguarding policy. Your policy schedule will show whether this is included, however we will not provide cover to any party who commits, condones or ignores any abuse or molestation.
Our tutors and private teachers’ insurance offers a choice of limits up to £10m, as required by certain schools and councils – so you can be reassured that you’ve got the cover you need.
With Hiscox, you also receive access to our Business Support Hub – here you’ll find access to a range of handpicked services for free or at significantly discounted rates to help your business succeed.
If you’re not sure what you need, tell us a little more about what you do. We’ll help you to build your quote and explore any other insurance needs.
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Why do private tutors and teachers need business insurance?
Parents claim negligence
Failure to achieve a top grade in an A-level language exam leads to a student’s parents claiming the private teacher missed out parts of the syllabus during tuition. A legal defence is required and clears the teacher of negligence. The defence costs are covered by the professional indemnity insurance for both full-time and part-time self-employed teachers.
Held liable for a student’s accident
A child trips over sound system equipment during a lesson, breaking her arm in the process. The equipment belongs to her private dance teacher. The student’s parents believe the teacher wasn’t supervising appropriately and was therefore negligent. A legal claim and the costs of a settlement are covered by the teacher’s public liability insurance.
Injured and unable to work
A cycling accident on the way to a leisure centre results in a part-time swimming teacher suffering a serious injury. It means she’ll be hospitalised for several weeks and unable to work for a while. The personal accident cover she has as part of her insurance for teachers ensures a weekly pay-out to help cover rent, bills and other costs.
Key types of insurance for tutors and private teachers
Public liability insurance
If someone takes legal action against you for illness or injury, you’ll need to be protected. It doesn’t matter if you teach piano lessons full-time from your home or you tutor French language part-time in other people’s premises – you could face a claim if someone is injured or their property is damaged while you’re working. Public liability insurance for teachers covers the cost of compensation and legal expenses to defend the claim.
Professional indemnity insurance
If clients claim they’re unhappy with your work, or say you’ve been negligent, you’ll need to defend yourself and your reputation - whether the claims seem justified or not. This could come from a student, a school or an education authority claiming you haven’t covered parts of the maths syllabus or that you’ve failed to help achieve expected history grades. Professional indemnity insurance protects you in these circumstances by helping to deal with the legal costs of defending or settling a claim.
Legal protection insurance
In your line of work, you could run into legal disputes over things such as contractual disputes relating to the services you offer or data protection legislation. Whether you’re part-time or full-time, these situations can prove costly both financially and for your time. Even if you don’t think it’s likely, you need to be prepared for the unexpected, so it’s good to know you’re covered for any eventuality. Legal protection insurance covers you for legal costs in defending yourself against a claim and provides free access to a legal advice helpline.