Over the years, we’ve done a variety of articles on why it is necessary for virtual assistants to have insurance in place if they are working with clients or as associates, but we’ve never really gone into details of what cover is needed or what the different definitions mean, so let’s have a look at what Virtual Assistants need.
The most normal things to include in virtual assistant insurance are:
Professional Indemnity Insurance:
Professional Indemnity is the absolute minimum you must have in place as a Virtual Assistant, and you will need this from the point at which you start advertising and marketing your services. Professional Indemnity insurance covers you if you make a mistake and the client suffers a material loss. You can indemnify yourself by having the correct T&CS/contract (this is why it’s important to obtain your contracts from a reliable source), but it could be argued that an element of your fee is for professional services and the client is relying on you to perform your job properly. The likelihood of a court upholding that claim is increased the more you charge.
Cover for virtual assistants is generally £1million, and there can be a limit on each claim or the insurer may just cover you up to the value of the whole insurance policy – it’s very important to check this with your insurance company!
You need to assess what the likely exposure is if you get something wrong. E.g. a medical secretary could mistype a dosage and kill someone, whereas someone typing a fiction book will just have a typo in the book. Those offering riskier services should consider upping the cover – we would suggest that people offering, for example, medical or legal transcription, legal transcription, accountancy/bookkeeping, or those with a large turnover need extra cover.
Public Liability Insurance:
Technically, if the postie trips on your pathway while delivering business mail, they could claim against you. If you meet a client in a coffee shop and spill coffee all over their laptop, this would cover you, or if someone passes your table and trips on your laptop cable, you would be covered by public liability insurance. The overall cost is about £30 a year, so not a massive amount for peace of mind.
Contents Cover:
There is a bit of a misunderstanding around where virtual assistants think they don’t need this as they are covered under their home insurance… However, your insurance company will not cover anything that is used for work, and they will dig around to find out if you are in business and check up on you! Make sure the replacement value is covered on your business insurance policy – add up how much it would cost to replace the computer, furniture, gadgets, printer, and all the software and equipment you might have to repurchase.
Cyber Insurance:
Cyber insurance protects your business against losses resulting from cyber attacks, viruses, hackers, if you fall victim to a scammer and much more. Some cyber insurance will also protect you against accidental data breaches – you need to check if this is included. It should cover investigation costs and also costs of continuing in business whilst you sort out the attack. The FSB include £10k of third-party cyber cover and £5k of first-party cover in their standard membership – their average claim for cyber insurance is £3k per claim.
Added extras which you might need depending on the kind of VA business you run:
Employer’s Insurance:
Legally you MUST have this if you have employees or even apprentices and work experience students. This is also the case if you are a limited company and you are the sole employee of the company. Quite often this is a very small amount on top of your policy, ask your insurer.
Subcontractor’s Insurance:
A lot of VAs will insist their associates have insurance coverage before working with them, which is important and certainly the right thing to do – it shows that a virtual assistant has everything in place and is adhering to best practices before you start working with them. However, you also have to be aware that your client is going to pursue you for any losses (not your associate), and then you have to claim back losses from the subcontractor virtual assistant’s individual insurance – meanwhile you are out of pocket.
Levels of cover vary hugely between different policies. We would recommend asking your new associates for a copy of their insurance policy anyway but do that the type of work they are doing is covered under the scope of their policy. Also, check their maximum single-claim limit.
Bear in mind that your own insurance may not pay out if you haven’t told them about subcontractors working in the business. Do tell your insurer that you have associates working for you.
Bookkeeping/Accountancy Insurance:
You will need Bookkeeping/Accountancy Insurance if you are offering those services. Please note, that this will increase the cost of your insurance, but it’s better than making a claim only to discover you’ve invalidated your insurance cover by offering this service. (Plus, check if you need to be registered for Anti Money Laundering Regulations! because if you are not when you should be, it could invalidate your insurance).
Retrospective insurance:
If you’ve been working without professional indemnity cover for some time, you might want to include a retrospective policy which covers work done to date.
Car Insurance:
If you are planning on using your car for business, you will need to update your car insurance to include business use. There is a hefty fine if they find you are stopped and found to be travelling to a client’s place or using your car for your business without business car insurance in place.
Other things you must mention when taking out insurance:
- Whether you hold banking or credit card details for any clients.
- If you book travel for clients.
- If you offer training, mentoring or coaching.
- The size of the businesses you work with – some will insist on a much higher level of professional indemnity coverage than is standard for virtual assistant cover.
- If your clients come via Access to Work
- If you offer Lifestyle Services to your clients.