Insurance is one of the most undervalued tools when it comes to helping you run your business, but that’s only because it’s misunderstood. Beneath the legal jargon and ambiguity are real problems that insurance can help freelancers solve. We share some of them below.
Removes the time and stress of searching for legal help
Being insured means not having to search for the right lawyer for your problem or pay expensive fees. Even a consultation doesn’t come cheap. That service—and the cost of it—is covered under your policy, which starts at £14 a month.
If you find yourself in need of legal help, it likely means you’re already in a stressful situation. Instead of searching for the right person to help you, which only adds to your anxiety, your insurance gives you access to a team of legal experts ready to back you.
Being insured removes the friction of finding the right lawyer and paying expensive, upfront fees.
Gives you confidence when dealing with clients
Being insured gives you the confidence to:
- say no to scope creep
- end a project if it isn’t right for you
- say no to unreasonable requests
Insurance acts as a buffer and gives you the confidence to say, “I’m sorry you’re not happy with the work, but I’ve delivered what was agreed”. Or “I can complete the additional work, but it will cost extra”.
If the client pursues further action or becomes threatening, your insurer can help you negotiate with your client. Remember, the cost of this is covered under your policy.
Being insured means having client confrontations without suffering the financial consequences.
Helps you get paid
Whether it’s having a lawyer chase overdue invoices on your behalf (legal expenses) or being reimbursed for the fees owed to you by your client if there’s a threat of a claim (professional indemnity), insurance can help you get paid.
Most of our professional indemnity claims have been triggered under the ‘mitigation costs’ clause. This means that if a client is dissatisfied with your work and refuses to pay your fees and threatens to bring a claim against you, the insurer will pay you the amount owed to you if they believe this will avoid a claim for a greater amount.
You can read a real story about this on our blog.
Being insured means getting paid for the work you’ve completed.
Prevents bad clients from taking advantage of you
According to our freelance friends, one of the pain points of freelancing is dealing with the 5% of clients who are difficult people. No matter how skilled you are, there are some clients who will make life difficult.
We’ve witnessed situations where clients have tried to take advantage of freelancers or make unreasonable demands. But with insurance you’re no longer a one-person band—you have a world-class legal team fighting your corner. This means situations with difficult clients are diffused a lot quicker.
Being insured means having a team of people behind you.
Insurance is valuable for everyone
Yes, only a small percentage of freelancers will actually make a claim, and for those that do the value is easy to measure. Our average professional indemnity claim is £17,000, yet our policy starts at £14 a month.
But for those that are lucky enough to never have to make a claim, insurance still provides value in other ways; helping you be a confident freelancer. This leads to a happier, more secure life as a freelancer.
When it comes down to it, being insured can help to keep you in business.
