Which Type Of Insurance Is Best For Web Designers?

Professional web designers offer a unique and highly specialized service. Consequently, the risks that they face in their career are unlike those experienced by most other professions and their needs regarding insurance to protect them from liability are similarly unique.

In this article, we take a look at the different types of insurance that are on offer and which are most suitable for individual developers.

Professional Liability Insurance

Errors and omissions or professional liability insurance provides coverage for businesses which are deemed to be providing a service that is professional and personal, so web design certainly falls into this category.

Professional liability insurance will help you to deal with situations where there are creative differences or allegations of copyright infringement. For example, if there was an article on thisblogrules.com that used a copyrighted image the website owner believed was in the public domain but was in fact copyrighted, they could face litigation.

Sometimes, there will be creative disputes between you and the client. They might object to some specific aspect of the website that you have designed, or they might be unhappy with some of its functionality. In these situations, professional liability insurance can protect you.

One of the more common risks for web designers, particularly those that also fulfill the role of graphical designer, is claims made for copyright infringement, but professional liability insurance will protect you against such claims.

General Liability Insurance

Also known as as ‘commercial general liability’ (CGL) insurance, this type of insurance protects you and your business from liability related to claims of property damage, bodily injury, and any repair or medical costs associated with these.

Property damage encompasses a wide range of situations. For example, let’s say that you are taking a business meeting with your client and while there, you inadvertently spill a glass of water over their laptop. In this scenario, you could be held liable for the damage to their property and they could file a claim for compensation to recoup the costs of replacing or repairing the machine. If they did so, general liability insurance would keep you protected financially.

Instances of bodily or personal injury encompass any situation where another individual sustains an injury, even if it is only a minor one. The pay-out in such cases where a judgment is rendered against you is not necessarily proportional to the severity of any injuries they sustain. If the injury is your fault, then you will be liable.

Business Owners Policy

A business owners’ policy is a type of insurance which offers a combination of the kind of coverage provided by both of the above types. It Is generally used to provide smaller businesses with an affordable level of balanced coverage.

Many web designers and other self-employed individuals never think to take out an insurance policy, but there are numerous reasons for doing so. For one thing, you will be protecting yourself financially from the unexpected and minimize the risk you face on a daily basis.