Teachers and tutors insurance

Specialist cover for a wide range of teachers and tutors from £5 a month*

  • Fast, easy online quote in 90 seconds

  • 24hr legal advice helpline and legal hub

  • No hidden fees or cancellation charges

Our teachers and tutor insurance offers specialist cover for a wide range of education professions, including school teachers, supply teachers, music teachers and private tutors.

Teaching students carries a whole host of risks. An allegation of poor tutoring, a student injuring themselves whilst visiting your workplace or the theft of a laptop containing course material could have a serious knock-on effect for your business.

Our insurance for teachers and tutors can be tailored to cover your business for these risks and many more, giving you the peace of mind that if something goes wrong, you are covered.

What is teachers insurance?

Our comprehensive insurance for tutors and teachers will help you feel confident that you are covered for a range of potential insurance claims. Whether it’s an allegation of poor teaching practice, or the theft of equipment that stops you from teaching for a while, or an injury a student sustains whilst under your care.

Our range of tutors insurance policies, including professional indemnity insurance and public liability cover, will respond to cover legal fees incurred and compensation awards you could be liable for because of a claim against you. Whatever you need, teacher and tutor insurance can be tailored to suit you from a range of different covers.

Why do teachers and tutors need insurance?

A claim against a teacher or private tutor can cause irreparable reputational damage, even if the teacher in question feels they have done nothing wrong. This can result in a potentially career-ending scenario as well as significant financial hardship.

Our Professional Indemnity insurance (PI) offers comprehensive protection should a claim of negligence be made against you. The policy will respond to cover legal fees incurred in defending a claim, including the associated compensation awards.

Our Public Liability cover (PL) will provide cover for claims including damage to property and if you are alleged to have caused an accident which causes injury to a pupil whilst under your tutelage.

What insurance do I need to teach?

There are many reasons why you might need teaching insurance, and a wealth of insurance covers to match them. Wondering what insurance teachers and tutors need? Professional indemnity insurance and public liability insurance cover are both worth considering, to protect you against claims of negligence in your role, or claims that you have caused an accident at work. So how much insurance do tutors and teachers need? Well, looking at things from a wider perspective, other forms of cover you should consider include cyber and data risk insurance if you deal with confidential student or pupil data, or employer’s liability insurance if you have a teaching business with employees working for you.

Public liability insurance for teachers

Teachers and private tutors should consider having public liability insurance because it protects them financially if a student or member of the public is accidentally injured, or if property is damaged during a lesson or workshop. Without this cover, teachers could be personally liable for costly legal claims, even if the incident was unintentional.

Professional indemnity insurance for teachers

Having professional indemnity insurance is an important consideration for private teachers and tutors to make, because it covers legal costs and compensation if a student or parent claims that your advice, teaching, or materials caused them financial loss or reputational damage. Even a simple misunderstanding or an honest mistake could lead to costly disputes, so it’s fair to say that this form of cover offers vital protection for both your professional reputation and finances.

How much does teachers and tutors insurance cost?

At Markel Direct, we offer teacher insurance and private tutor insurance from £5 a month for £1 million worth of public liability cover*. When it comes to insurance, the cost varies from business to business depending on;

  • The size of your business - your turnover and whether you have any employees
  • The level of cover you choose
  • The types of projects you work on and the equipment you use.

To get a clearer idea of how much you’ll pay, simply get a quote online.You can buy all or just some of the covers quoted, so you will only pay for the cover you want. Click the quote button to start your quick online quotation.

*From £5 a month based on Cyber & Data Risks Insurance only.

More teaching professions we cover

Dance teachers and performing arts instructors insurance
Drama teachers insurance
Yoga teachers and pilates instructors insurance
Music teachers insurance

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More teaching professions we cover

Cover starting at just £5 a month

Choose from these covers to tailor your teachers and tutors insurance

  • Employer’s liability insurance

    Employer’s liability insurance is a legal requirement if your business has employees. It covers your business against claims for injury or illness suffered by employees arising from their employment.

    An example of a claim would be:

    • A student lashes out at one of your employees and injures them. The employee makes a personal injury claim against you seeking compensation.

    If your teaching business has any employees, you need this cover. Cover for £10m.

  • Legal expenses insurance

    Commercial legal expenses insurance covers the costs of defending you as a director or officer of your company against allegations of wrongful acts and any damages subsequently awarded against you. Cover is also provided for the legal costs and expenses of defending actions for disqualification as a director, investigations and extradition proceedings. Limits range from £100,000 to £5m.

  • Directors and officers insurance

    Directors and officers insurance covers the costs of defending you as a director or officer of your company against allegations of wrongful acts and any damages subsequently awarded against you. Cover is also provided in respect of the legal costs and expenses of defending actions for disqualification as a director, investigations and extradition proceedings. Limits range from £100,000 to £5m.

  • Office insurance

    Office insurance covers your office buildings, office contents and computer equipment against accidental damage (including theft) whilst on your business premises. You can also choose to cover your business equipment (such as laptops and mobile phones) on a worldwide basis, and insure your business against loss of income and/or additional trading expenses following events such as damage to your property.

  • Occupational personal accident insurance

    Occupational personal accident insurance provides a weekly payment if you are unable to work due to temporary total disablement (subject to a 14 day deferment period).

    In the event of loss of limbs, sight, speech, hearing, permanent total disablement or death, a lump sum would be paid out.

    If you would struggle to maintain an income following an occupational accident (i.e. one sustained while you are working as a teacher), you should consider having occupational personal accident insurance to help ease the financial burden.

  • Cyber and data risks insurance

    Cyber and data risks insurance pays the costs of restoring data and equipment, informing clients, meeting ransom demands and loss of your net profit following a cyber attack. It also pays your legal defence costs and damages you are legally liable to pay to other parties. If you hold confidential information about your students (including their work, grades and progress plans) on computers and other internet connected devices, you should give consideration to this cover.

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Frequently asked questions

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Cover starting at just £5 a month

Frequently asked questions

  • What's the difference between professional indemnity and public liability? Do teachers need professional indemnity insurance?

    Professional indemnity insurance covers against allegations of professional negligence - which means it would cover you if you were to make an error or mistake in a piece of work (such as a project or report) for a client.

    So, do teachers need liability insurance? Well, public liability insurance covers against allegations of injury or illness caused to third parties by your negligence. This includes many of the slips, trips and falls that are associated with personal injury claims. In addition, public liability insurance covers against damage to third party property - for example, if you were to damage a client-owned laptop or smartphone.

    As public liability and professional indemnity insure against different scenarios, it's important you consider arranging both types of cover to ensure you are properly protected.

  • Do private tutors need insurance?

    Private tutors are not legally required to have insurance, but having cover such as public liability and professional indemnity insurance is highly recommended to protect against unexpected claims or disputes. Insurance provides peace of mind and financial security if something goes wrong during your work and activities as a private tutor.

  • I teach lessons at different venues - is this covered?

    Yes. Regardless of where you teach - for example, at home, a rented premises or your student's house - you'll be covered under our policy.

  • I teach several different subjects - will I be covered?

    Yes. We don't restrict the subjects you teach, so if you teach English to some students and Maths to others, you'll be covered by our policy.

  • Do teachers need insurance and if so, what limit of cover should I choose?

    Many clients and industry bodies with regulatory requirements will require you to have a minimum level of cover for you to undertake a contract, so it's worth checking this before you arrange cover. If you're unsure, give some thought to a worst-case scenario and the likely costs involved in putting your mistake right. We offer a range of limits on insurance, so you're sure to find the right cover for your business.

     

  • How are Markel Direct regulated?

    Markel Direct is a trading name of Markel International Insurance Company Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Find out more on the Financial Services Register.

    We are a division of Markel International, a Lloyd’s of London market insurer that wrote gross premium totals of £2.4bn in 2023

Access these specialist services with your Markel Direct insurance policy

Our specialist insurance for teachers and tutors not only offers comprehensive protection against claims - it gives you access to time-saving business services designed to make your life easier in tricky situations.

24 hour legal helpline  24 hour legal advice helpline

When you insure with Markel, you'll benefit from 24/7 telephone access to a qualified solicitor at no additional cost. Expert legal advice can be costly when you're working for yourself and it's difficult to know who to turn to for a trustworthy answer. Whether it's a question on health and safety, employment law, legal structures for your business or how to handle a difficult client, an experienced team of solicitors are on hand day and night to help you with any business-related legal queries. Included as standard with all policies.

Legal hub access Markel Business Hub access

In addition to our 24 hour legal helpline, you'll have access to the Markel Business Hub - an award winning online resource of legal and business guides, templates and content written and created by our team of expert solicitors. Instantly download ready-made contracts, policies, procedures and guidance you can use for your business - without paying any expensive legal fees. Included as standard with all policies.

  Fee dispute service

Chasing unpaid invoices or fees takes up valuable time for every teacher and tutor. We offer our policyholders access to a unique fee dispute helpline operated by one of the UK's leading law firms, who will provide specialist legal guidance and support on fee dispute issues. Included as standard with public liability and professional indemnity insurance.

  Public relations crisis management service

Public relations disasters can occur at any time, particularly in today's 'blame and claim' culture and when you're working with children. When there is a risk to your business as a result of negative press attention, our specialist public relations crisis management firm, The Counsel House, will work with you to help manage allegations of fraud, injury caused to employees or the public, and official investigations into your company's affairs. Included as standard with public liability and professional indemnity insurance, directors and officers insurance, cyber and data risks insurance and legal representation and employment disputes insurance.

  Cyber response helpline

If you're the victim of a targeted cyber attack, our cyber response helpline provides access to specialist solicitors and information security experts who will give expert legal and technical IT security guidance on the issues arising from cyber and data protection risks. Included as standard with cyber and data risks insurance.

  Discounted IR35 contract reviews

Falling within IR35 legislation - which determines that an individual is avoiding tax by using a limited company to disguise employment - is a huge concern for contractors and consultants, with the fees and penalties due to HMRC eye-wateringly high. Our policyholders receive an exclusive discount on IR35 contract reviews from Markel Tax, who have over 20 years experience advising individuals and businesses on their tax status. As part of the service, Markel Tax will review your contract, along with your working practices, to determine whether or not you are operating outside of IR35, and you'll receive a written report with suggested contract amendments where appropriate. Policyholders can access this service by calling 0345 223 2727 or emailing contractreviews@markel.com, quoting 'MKLD' and your policy number..

Cover starting at just £5 a month

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