Your inputs
Illustrative annual cost
Cost factors at work
| Factor | Multiplier |
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Important: this is not a quote
Illustrative estimate only. Actual insurance premiums depend on individual factors a calculator can't model — claims history, specific services performed, client base, geographic exposure, sub-limits, excess levels. Use this as a budget guide, then get real quotes from at least 2–3 providers.
How this estimate works
The calculator multiplies four factors:
- Base premium for your selected cover type
- Industry risk multiplier — accountancy/legal/consulting carry the highest PI risk; trades and photography carry higher PL risk
- Revenue scaling factor — premiums rise less than linearly with turnover
- Cover amount factor — moving from £100k to £250k cover typically adds 30–40% to premium, not 150%
The output is a low–high range (±25%) acknowledging individual underwriting variability.
What the calculator can't model
- Your claims history
- Specific high-risk services you may perform
- Geographic risk (London-based services often premium-adjusted)
- Sub-limits, excesses, retroactive cover dates
- Multi-policy discounts
- Bundling discounts when buying via brokers
For a quote you can actually buy from, you'll need to go through a real insurer or broker's quote flow — typically 5–10 minutes per provider.
Individual underwriting introduces meaningful variance even for similar businesses. A ±25% range reflects realistic spread across insurers for the same case. Treat the midpoint as a budgeting baseline, not a quote.
Depends on client requirements + risk exposure. Most UK B2B service contracts ask for £1m PL minimum and £100k–£250k PI minimum. Public-sector and large-corporate contracts increasingly require £1m+ PI. Read client contracts before deciding.
Insurers price on historical claim frequency and severity by category. Accountants and lawyers get sued professionally more often (and for larger amounts) than copywriters. The pricing reflects that. The category labels here are broad — actual underwriting uses more granular industry codes.
Higher turnover means more client work, more exposure to claims. Insurers cap their liability via the cover amount you buy, but revenue is used as a "size of business" indicator. Pricing typically scales with the square root of revenue rather than linearly.
Depends on your work. Pure-service freelancers (consultants, designers, writers) who never visit client sites often need PI but rarely need PL. Trades, photographers, anyone visiting client premises need PL. Most UK freelancer policies bundle PI + PL because the marginal cost of adding PL to a PI policy is small. See our insurance anchor guide.
Increasingly relevant — particularly if you handle client data. Cyber covers GDPR breach response, ransomware recovery, business interruption from cyber events. Often bundled with PI; can be standalone. Premiums depend heavily on the volume of personal data you handle.
Yes — business insurance (PI, PL, cyber, equipment cover) is an allowable expense for UK sole traders and limited companies. Reduces your taxable profit. See our allowable expenses guide.
The calculator's ranges are calibrated against publicly-available UK freelancer insurance benchmarks (Hiscox, Simply Business, PolicyBee published indicative quotes) as at May 2026. Premiums change year-on-year — typically rising 5–10% annually in the freelancer space. Always confirm with real quotes.
Illustrative estimate only — not regulated insurance advice or a quote. Actual premiums depend on individual underwriting factors. For decisions, use real quotes from at least 2–3 providers via direct insurer journeys or a broker. FreelanceToolkit UK is not a regulated insurance intermediary.