Web design is a massively growing field as more and more businesses take their business online and do it over the internet. The need for insurance for web designers, web developer insurance, online store insurance and e-commerce insurance is ever-growing, since every business needs a website if they want to be able to compete effectively and if they want to bring in a whole new generation of customers that mainly picks the businesses they work with over the web.

Today, we’re going to explore all of the details of website design insurance. While web design may not seem like the kind of field in which you’ll need a huge amount of insurance coverage, there are certain web designer insurance policies that are more suitable for web design firms and freelancers. We’ll also take a closer look at the average web design insurance cost.

Let's sketch it!

Web Design Liability Insurance

General liability insurance is the most common form of insurance for businesses because it covers them from the most common risks when dealing with vendors, business owners, workers, customers and other members of the public. There are various types of web design liability insurance that differ based on the people that they cover.

For example, general liability insurance is one of the more expensive forms of coverage because it will apply to anyone that works at your web design firm. From employees to the owner, general liability coverage will pay out if someone ends up getting injured or sustaining property damage at your place of business.

Another kind of web design liability insurance is public liability insurance, which will only apply to members of the public, including customers or third parties that come to your business. However, as web designers don’t tend to have customers come to them in person, many web design firms opt for general liability insurance instead, as it also covers them more broadly.

Web design liability insurance coverage is also packaged in comprehensive web design business insurance policies, which are also known as BOPs. BOPs combine liability coverage with commercial property coverage, and sometimes other coverage types such as business interruption insurance. What makes BOPs attractive is that they have better rates than if you were to get these kinds of coverage individually.

Web Design Business Insurance

We briefly touched on business owner policies for web design earlier on in the guide when we mentioned that they combine property and liability coverage for businesses. The exact kind of liability coverage you get out of a BOP depends on the carrier providing it, though most BOPs will include general liability insurance.

Business insurance policies are only worth it if your web design firm has an office or a physical workspace. Some web design firms operate fully remotely, so BOPs and sometimes even liability policies are superfluous for them.

However, if you have a physical office space, BOPs are usually a good investment because of how much you’ll save when you purchase the two policies in a bundle instead of one at a time. 

Web Design Insurance Cost

Determining the cost of insurance for web designers is often a challenge unless you’re getting a direct quote because of how many different factors go into determining a business’s premium. One thing to consider is your policy limit, which is usually between $1 million and $3 million.

If you’re looking for more coverage than that, you may have to pay extra to increase your limit. Another thing to account for is the coverage limit for a single claim, which is often 33% to 50% of your overall policy limit. If something goes dramatically wrong in one event, it may exceed your claim limit.

The size of your web design business is yet another factor, since larger businesses have people coming through their doors more frequently. This means that there’s a higher chance of you needing to make a claim because you likely won’t have issues if you only see one or two customers a day.

Insurance companies will also look at the history of your web design business. If you have a history of people getting injured when they come to your place of work to meet with you, then your premiums will be a lot higher. 

That said, in general, the average website design insurance cost is about $30 per month or $360 per year for a standard general liability insurance coverage. Below are the average web design insurance cost for medium-sized web design businesses with clean histories from 3 leading insurers:

Best Web Design Insurance Companies

There are several companies operating in the web design insurance industry, and selecting the right one will determine what you can expect to pay for coverage and the kind of service that you get. While below are reviews of some of the best and most popular web design insurance companies, your best thing to do will be to click the 'Get Quotes' button, complete the form and compare quotes and coverage options online from the best web design insurance companies and have them compete for your business.

Hiscox Web Design Insurance

Hiscox is an underwriter of Lloyd’s of London and they specialize in niche forms of insurance that you generally won’t get from other carriers. Web design is one of the many industries that Hiscox specializes in, and while they’re a British carrier, they still do business in the United States.

Hiscox Policy Details

Hiscox has three policies available for web designers, including professional liability coverage, general liability coverage, and BOPs. One of the unique things about Hiscox’s policies is that they add copyright infringement coverage to them with a limit of $200,000 due to how common this risk is for web designers.

Pros:

• Copyright infringement coverage

• Three different policy types

• Quick claims responsiveness

• Affordable

• Good value for money

Cons:

• Customer service can be slow

Average cost: $26 per month

Best for: Small web design firms and freelancers

Our Rating: 4.4/5

AXA Web Designers Insurance

AXA is an insurance company headquartered in France, though they work in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Unlike other insurance carriers, AXA is a conglomerate of many smaller businesses, which is why the company is able to operate in so many different countries.

AXA Policy Details

AXA offers a range of different types of insurance for website designers, including contents coverage, professional indemnity, and employers’ liability insurance. They also offer add-ons to their policies that cover data risks, which is a common issue in the web design industry, and this shows that AXA knows their clientele.

Pros:

• Data risk add-on

• Higher limits than the competition

• Public and employers’ liability coverage

Cons:

• Relatively expensive

Average cost: $37 per month

Best for: Businesses that need higher coverage limits

Our Rating: 4.3/5