General Liability Insurance for Freelancers

The freedoms of working as a freelancer can involve unexpected risks. If you cause damage in the course of your self-employed activity, you are personally responsible. In the worst case, this can mean your financial ruin. Therefore, a general liability insurance is especially important for freelancers. The General Liability Insurance for Freelancers from exali.com offers you the right insurance coverage - tailored to the special risks and needs in your industry.

 

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    What does General Liability Insurance for Freelancers cost?

    The General Liability Insurance for Freelancers offers protection if a third party (e.g. a customer, principal or landlord) demands compensation from them due to operational risks. The General and Personal Liability Insurance covers in particular personal injuries, property damage and consequential losses, for which you as a freelancer are liable for damages and are personally liable with your private assets. The exali.com claims practice shows, however, that in the professions of the digital world, in addition to personal injuries and property damage, financial risks - so-called financial losses - are particularly common. According to an exali.com evaluation, more than 90 per cent of the damage events that freelancers cause in these industries are financial losses. We therefore always offer you general and personal liability insurance in combination with a financial loss liability insurance. As a freelancer, you are fully insured against all types of damage in your business.

    As a Freelancer, Why do you Need General Liability Insurance?

    By working as a freelancer or self-employed, you bear special professional and operational risks. These liability risks are not covered by your private liability insurance or legal expenses insurance. Since you, as a freelancer, are liable for these operational risks with your private assets, general and personal liability insurance is one of the most important components in making the risk of freelance work calculable.

    As soon as you start a freelance activity, it is therefore advisable to take out a special general liability insurance for freelancers. This covers personal injuries and property damage and the resulting consequential losses (so-called special damages) that arise from your business activities.

    As, in our experience, freelancers frequently cause pure financial losses, at exali.com, in addition to the general liability insurance, a financial loss liability insurance is also offered as part of the basic coverage. This can be expanded by a freely selectable add-on module.

    General liability benefits

    This allows you to adapt the scope of insurance very individually to your risk situation. The following overview will tell you which general and personal liability insurance in combination with financial loss liability is the right one for your industry.

    General Liability Insurance for your Industry as a Freelancer

    IT and Engineering
    (e.g. programmer, software developer, system administrator)
    IT and Engineering
    Media and Creative
    (e.g. media agencies, graphic designers)
    Media and Creative
    Consulting
    (e.g. business consultants, data protection officers)
    Consulting
    Other Service Professions
    (e.g. experts, accountants, virtual assistants and personal trainers)
    Other Service Professions

    What Risks are Freelancers Insured Against in the General Liability Insurance?

     

    The General Liability Insurance generally covers operational risks that arise, for example, from owed services or products, the running of an office, an agency, a law firm. When looking at the private sphere, General Liability Insurance can best be compared with private liability insurance, with the difference that here risks from the business environment are covered.

    General Liability Insurance Covers Risks from the Following Three Areas:

    • Office and permanent establishment risks
    • Product liability risks (liability for products and services)
    • Environmental liability and environmental damage risks
    General Liability benefits for freelancers

    For Example, these Risks are Insured:

    • Personal injuries and property damage due to faulty service provision
    • Damages on business trips, at trade fairs, exhibitions or events (worldwide)
    • Damage to rented office space or event rooms (rental property damage)
    • Damage in the organisation and execution of seminars or training courses
    • Damage caused by the professional operation of aerial drones up to 5 kilograms (incl camera)
    • Damage of items in the care of the insured that are rented, leased or borrowed for up to 6 months
    • Personal injuries and property damage at customer appointments
    • Product liability damage (guaranteed properties)
    • Loss of customer keys and code cards
    • Damages to third-party property due to activities
    • Environmental liability damages
     
     

    Quick Facts about General Liability Insurance for Freelancers

     

    Who is the Insurance for?

    Freelancers who focus on the digitization of the web, planning or in the service sector can already cause major damage to their customers and principals through small operational errors. That is why General Liability Insurance in a package with Financial Loss Liability for these professions is one of the most important insurances for the self-employed. A General and Personal Liability Insurance covers the liability risks of the respective industry and thus optimally protects the existence of the freelancer or self-employed person.

    Passive Legal Expenses Insurance

    The general liability insurance also protects freelancers legally against possible claims for damages. The insurance company first checks whether the claims themselves and the amount of the compensation claims are justified and whether the freelancer can be made liable for them. If the claims are unlawful, the insurer will bear the costs of defending against this claim, similar to legal expenses insurance. With this passive legal protection, you as a freelancer are optimally protected with exali.com's General and Personal Liability Insurance.

    Personal Injuries and Property Damage

    The General Liability Insurance for freelancers insures personal injuries and property damage as well as the resulting consequential losses. The causes of damage range from damages caused due to incorrectly performed work, damage to rental property and damage during executing an order on site at the customer’s or on a business trip. However, since financial damage (so-called pure financial loss) is also caused in over 90 per cent of insured events, exali.com provides you with additional financial loss liability insurance as part of the basic coverage.

    Deductible Amount

    The amount of the deductible - also known as the excess - depends on the industry in which you work as a freelancer. The average excess for property damage is 250 euros. In the event of personal injuries, no excess is usually deducted from the amount of the damage. Which deductible applies to your offer is shown in the premium calculator on our website.

    Frequently Asked Questions about General Liability Insurance for Freelancers

    Even if advancing digitization in all service areas has increased the risk of damaging a customer or other third party, there is still no statutory insurance requirement for most of these professional groups.

    Regardless of this, there is an obligation (statutory liability) for every freelancer to pay, with their own private assets, for damage that he inflicts on a third party in the course of his professional activity. We therefore strongly recommend that every freelancer take out Professional Indemnity Insurance with integrated General Liability Insurance.