Professional Insurance for Web Designers?

coolaboola

A quick query for those of you who are self-employed website designers:

1. Do you have professional insurance?
2. If so, what sort of insurance do you have?
3. Who is your insurer?
4. How much did it cost?
5. Would you recommend them?

cormee

Insurance against what? Seems unnecessary.

Graham

cormee wrote: »

Insurance against what? Seems unnecessary.

those stray pixels can be pretty sharp and if you haven't resized things properly the jaggies can be lethal.

Smart arsery aside, if you're responding to some government tenders insurance may be a requirement. Best bet is to call a broker.

OP if you do definitely need it, repost and I'll find out some details for you.

cormee

Graham wrote: »

the jaggies can be lethal.

That's why I ALWAYS use alpha transparencies.

Graham

cormee wrote: »

That's why I ALWAYS use alpha transparencies.

The danger with transparencies is people may not see them which can cause other types of accidents. You may be better off to stick to a softer colour palette which is less likely to cause injury.

:pac:

ifah

Is there a question here about Professional Indemnity ? What if you deliver a site that is subsequently hacked and ends up costing a company a ton of cash or reputation damage ?

What's to stop them coming after you ?

coolaboola

Sharp pixels aside I was thinking more along the lines of professional indemnity. What ifah pointed out... Even if you're working from home as a sole trader (no premises, no employees, no product) you are still providing a professional service and could be liable for any losses arising from that service (however far-fetched!)

I've been shopping around but its like pulling teeth just to a get a quote. All I've learnt so far is that I have to go through a broker and there are forms to be filled out before getting a quote (they're winging their way to me as I write)

I thought the more experienced website designers might have some experience in this... ?

coolaboola

P.S. Thanks Graham, more details would be much appreciated

(I'm not sure I would need it but as I'm setting out it seemed like the prudent thing to do...maybe I'm being too prudent)

KonFusion

I don't have it anymore, but when I did I believe I went through these folks:

http://insureplus.ie/commercial/technology.htm

Most biz insurance brokers should be able to sort this out for you though.

coolaboola

Thanks KonFusion. Do you mind me asking what sort of annual premium you paid (ballpark)?

KonFusion

coolaboola wrote: »

Thanks KonFusion. Do you mind me asking what sort of annual premium you paid (ballpark)?

Around 400 quid, but you could bring that down. It'll depend on your circumstances though and the type of work etc.

Edit: Just to add, I'd also try and build a professional/working relationship with a solicitor. Completely worth it, and if someone was to claim against you you'll need one anyway.

coolaboola

Thanks KonFusion! That's more than I was anticipating. I've just sent my proposal forms to a couple of brokers. I'm curious to see what they come back with...

Thanks also for the advice re solicitor (though I hope I never need to avail of one!)

KonFusion

coolaboola wrote: »

Thanks KonFusion! That's more than I was anticipating. I've just sent my proposal forms to a couple of brokers. I'm curious to see what they come back with...

Thanks also for the advice re solicitor (though I hope I never need to avail of one!)

Yeah you could definitely go lower.

I think I had ~1.2 million cover, up to projects with a total cost of ~300K, or something like that. And it covered all previous work (up to a certain point).

Now, I was probably never going to work on a project with a 300k budget just for my end, so it was prob a tad overkill :P But I got it as had I worked on any banking software (or something of similar scale/financial importance), it probably would have been a requirement.

coolaboola

The Deluxe CYA cover Probably a good idea given you were working with banks. Thanks for that KonFusion.

coolaboola

Oh dear. Got first quote back: €460 (excess €500, limit of indemnity €325k) Eyewatering.

For comparison, in another existence I held professional indemnity and public liability insurance for a completely different capacity - complementary therapies - and is was almost exactly one quarter of that. And I would have though those risks, such as they were, were significantly higher that those facing a web designer.

Any more suggestions on where I might find reasonably priced professional indemnity insurance?

coolaboola

Update: Well, that eye-watering quote lit a fire under me. I've since found a couple of online places that have cheaper quotes (online forms too - much quicker than the 32 ... yes, 32! ... pages of forms I filled in, scanned and emailed earlier in the week for that huge quote). Both quotes ended up sub €200. Here they are in case anyone else is looking for similar:

professionalinsuranceagents.co.uk

policybee.co.uk

N.B. I've no experience with either except for getting an online quote.