What types of insurance do independent professionals need?
Self-employed people need to arrange their own securities; that's part of being an entrepreneur. But which insurances do you really need? And are they mandatory? Logical questions, which we are going to answer for you.
What insurances are “mandatory” for self-employed people?
The shortest answer is: no insurance is especially mandatory for self-employed people. Health and car insurance in the Netherlands are exceptions, but that applies to everyone and has nothing to do specifically with being self-employed or not. However, zzp'ers can face contractual obligations. Any agreement made in a contract is a contractual obligation. Examples are listed below.
Business liabilit
This insurance protects you if you accidentally cause damage to a person or other people's belongings. This could be if you accidentally damage, dirty or lose someone else's belongings. Or consider situations where someone is injured, their health is affected or they even die. The costs can be high, and that's when you're glad you have insurance.
Professional Liability
This insurance covers liability if you make a professional error, mainly involving wrong advice or miscalculations. They express the damages caused by those mistakes in terms of costs. Errors and costs can be broadly defined.
Legal Aid
Legal expenses insurance is there, quite literally, to help if you are embroiled in legal issues. This can involve a conflict, such as when a client fails to pay collections, or it can involve checking or drafting legal documents. With this insurance, you have access to help and advice, and you don't have to pay legal fees if a conflict gets out of hand.
Cyber
Cyber insurance ensures that you are helped and not left to fend for yourself if you become a victim of a cyber attack or incident. That could be hacking or phishing, for example, as well as cyber theft or damage to programs or data. Insurance is often reactive, paying when damage occurs. The number of cyber insurance policies do more than that - they help prevent, repair and pay for damage caused by cyber attacks. If something does go wrong, you can count on help to restore programs and data, or to manage reputational damage.
Accident
Accident insurance pays out a lump sum of money if you become permanently disabled or even die in an accident. In these situations, a person's life changes completely. With permanent disability, for example, a person's home may require modifications, such as a stair elevator. For that kind of unforeseen high cost, accident insurance comes in handy.
Disability
Disability insurance ensures that you continue to receive a portion of your income if you are (temporarily) unable to work due to illness or an accident. You will then receive a monthly payment, often 70% of your salary. Zzp'ers often do not insure themselves against disability. They often find the AOV too expensive, have their own buffer, can fall back on their partner's income or find that the costs do not outweigh the benefits. Yet a pot often runs out sooner than expected, and even a partner's income does not provide 100% security. And we haven't even taken into account the new costs you may face when you become disabled.
These insurances arranged in one go
In addition to the possibility of acquiring challenging assignments through our Striive platform, you can make use of the Striive Professionals services as you wish. With these, you have all the practical matters that you, as a freelancer, want to have taken care of in one go. Appropriate and flexible for your assignment. Just like you.