Contractor Business Insurance

Getting the right protection at the right time is essential for any contractor or freelancer. Whether you're new to UK contracting or have been working in this way for some time, it's essential to protect yourself against the inherent risks of running your own business.

We're delighted to partner with award-winning contractor insurance specialist, Qdos Contractor. Qdos Contractor is authorised and regulated by the FCA and offers the essential contractor business insurance you need.

Qdos has been specialising in the contractor market for over 30 years. More than an insurance provider, they're also the UK's leading IR35 experts.

Get your essential contractor business insurance quote!

Business Insurance for Freelance Contractors

There are generally three key insurance policies that contractors should hold. This may differ, depending on the type of services provided, and any contractual terms you enter into with an agency or end client:

1. Professional Indemnity

As a contractor or freelancer, you're responsible for providing a service to your client. Therefore, if any of the work or recommendations you make are incorrect, you could be held liable.

For contractors providing advice or design services such as consultancy, Professional Indemnity Insurance protects your business against claims for financial loss as a result of negligence, error or omission in your services.

2. Public Liability

The most popular contractor business insurance policy is Public Liability Insurance. This policy protects you if a third party claims you have caused them injury or damaged their property.

The more manual the services you provide, the more risk you face. However, even contractors working in an office can face claims of this nature. Public Liability is a policy all freelance contractors should hold.

3. Employers Liability

If you have any employees working for your limited company business other than yourself, you may need to legally hold Employers Liability Insurance. This is true of any company. But, for contractors, contractual agreements often include Employers Liability regardless of how many employees you have.

Contractors can buy all the above policies online in minutes with Qdos from as little as £4.68 per month. This includes a free IR35 Contract Assessment to check your contract and an account-managed service, so you'll never be passed around a call centre.

Tax Enquiries and IR35

Any HMRC enquiry is daunting, stressful and generally expensive. Small errors can end up as large tax demands and a lengthy enquiry process.

If you've done nothing wrong, paying expensive representation costs just to prove your innocence leaves a particularly nasty taste in the mouth. Furthermore, under Self Assessment, anyone can be randomly selected for enquiry.

No contractor should face an enquiry without representation or having sought professional advice beforehand.

Qdos Tax Enquiry Insurance covers up to £50,000 of defence costs for a range of HMRC enquiries, meaning one of the UK's top tax experts will deal with your case. It is just £99 per year, and covers all backdated tax years.

IR35 (Intermediaries Legislation)

IR35 was introduced by HM Revenue & Customs in April 2000. HMRC originally designed the legislation to catch 'disguised employees'.

Disguised employees were people who were an employee of a company on a Friday, then returned as a contractor the following Monday purely to take advantage of contractors' tax benefits.

The off-payroll working rules now mean that the end client is usually responsible for checking a contractor's status (inside or outside IR35). But, for contractors working for a small client in the private sector or who were providing services prior to the changes, the inherent risks remain.

Prevent uncertainty and heartache with the UK's leading IR35 expert

An IR35 enquiry can cause the contractor under investigation huge levels of uncertainty and worry. Enquiries often take over two years to conclude and, if the contractor's unsuccessful, can mean an enormous tax bill.

Qdos pioneered IR35 insurance specifically to help contractors with this risk. They've successfully defended over 1,600 enquiries since 2000, becoming the UK's leading IR35 expert.

Tax Liability Cover will cover the liabilities, penalties, and interest resulting from an IR35 enquiry (up to £250k) if the defence is unsuccessful. Plus, it covers the representation costs to defend your case.

You've worked too hard establishing your business to let it become a liability. Get the cover your hard work deserves in a matter of minutes with Qdos.