Business Insurance For Social Workers

There are several types of business insurance you should consider if you’re a self-employed social worker. These include: 

Professional indemnity insurance 

Professional indemnity insurance covers you against claims that the service you provided was either incorrect or negligent. This type of insurance (sometimes also called malpractice insurance) can offer you protection against many types of claims, including: 

• Allegations the care you provided was incorrect, ineffective or unsuitable  
• Claims the care you provided led to personal injury 
• Claims the advice you offered was incorrect, negligent, misleading or contrary to professional standards  
• Allegations of misconduct (either clinical or administrative) 

Professional indemnity insurance is compulsory in order to be employed as a social worker in many situations, but this form of insurance is often provided by the Australian Services Union. It provides free indemnity insurance for all its members, including self-employed people and sole traders earning $200,000 p.a. or less.  Non-union members will need to arrange their own cover, which you can do right here with Savvy. 

Cover starts at $250,000 and can go up to $10 million or more. The amount of cover you require may depend on the setting in which you are employed.  

What it covers 

• Payment of compensation if there’s a successful claim against you 
• Payment of court-awarded damages to the litigant 
• Cover for your legal defence costs 
• Cover for the cost of disciplinary proceedings or an investigations 

Public liability insurance 

Public liability insurance is essential for anyone who has regular contact with members of the public. It’ll cover you against claims that your actions caused injury to a member of the public or damaged their property. This insurance can offer between $5 million and $20 million worth of coverage. 

What it covers: 

• Third-party personal injury claims 
• Damage to a third party’s property 
• Legal fees to defend yourself 

General business insurance 

General business insurance may also be worthwhile, particularly if you choose statutory liability insurance as an add-on to your general business insurance policy. Statutory liability insurance provides cover in the event of an allegation that a social worker breached relevant legislation in the course of their work. It will cover the cost of any fines or penalties imposed if a successful case is brought against the social worker.   

What it covers: 

• Fire, storms, theft, vandalism and collision which cause damage to your business assets 
• Cover for portable equipment such as laptops 
• The costs of complying with official investigations 
• Any fine and penalties imposed as the result of an investigation or enquiry 

Cyber liability insurance 

Unfortunately, cybercrime is just as frequent in Australia as it is around the world. If you’re a social worker (or work in another field such as occupational therapy), you may be required to store confidential patient information on your laptop. Cyber liability insurance can protect you from damaging costs in case there’s an attempt to gain illegal access to your confidential client information. This could result from having your laptop stolen or hacked, for example. 

What it covers 

• Data breaches including theft of client information stored on a computer or laptop 
• The cost of a forensic investigation into the cause of the breach 
• Data recovery costs 
• Cyber extortion and denial of service threats 
• Crisis management costs 
• Advertising and communicating with customers 
• Legal costs including any fines and penalties imposed 

You can opt to buy an insurance package that offers professional indemnity, public liability, cyber liability and statutory liability insurance in one bundle, so you only have to deal with one insurer for all your business insurance requirements.