Guide to Professional Indemnity for Artists and Art Professionals

What is professional indemnity insurance?

Professional indemnity insurance can help protect Artists and Art Professionals who have clients and if a client claims that there is a problem with the work you’ve done for them.

It can offer cover if you need to pay compensation to correct a mistake or settle a claim, and can also cover your legal defence costs.

Even though you may strive to deliver an impeccable service to your clients, mistakes do happen. Professional Indemnity Insurance is designed to protect you against the cost of dealing with a claim from a disgruntled customer. Whether that’s due to a project overrunning or strategic advice that ends up losing a client money, it’s important to ensure you’re covered should an error occur.

For example, you may be faced with paying compensation to a client if they make a claim of:

• negligence – being careless in your work, such as giving bad advice or making a mistake
• infringement of intellectual property rights – for example re-using third-party content without permission
• defamation – making false or damaging claims about a person or organisation
• breach of confidence – sharing confidential or commercially sensitive information without consent

How does it work?

A couple of examples for what Professional Indemnity Insurance would cover:

• You made some recommendations to a client regarding a Public Art Strategy. The client made business changes based on the advice you gave them. The changes didn’t bring the benefits they expected and cost them money. So they make a claim against you for compensation. Professional indemnity insurance would cover the claim for compensation plus the costs of defending or settling the claim.
• You share a case study about a former client in a presentation at a conference. Afterwards that former client makes a claim against you for defamation, alleging that you made a false statement about them, and demands you pay compensation. Professional indemnity insurance would cover the compensation payable plus your legal defence costs.

How much does professional indemnity insurance cost?

Professional Indemnity cover can be expensive. One member artists told us they were paying £500 per year. For qualifying artists and art workers Axis Membership includes Professional Indemnity Insurance. 

Why choose Axis

Choosing Axis means partnering with "the caring art organisation," where your growth and success are our top priorities. Here's why Axis stands out:

• Supportive Community: You will be part of a network of artists, makers, and art workers dedicated to mutual support and collaboration.
• Independent and Caring: Our independence from public funding allows us to focus solely on what's best for our members. We're here to support, not profit from, artists.
• Diverse and Inclusive: Axis champions diversity and inclusivity within the arts, offering a welcoming space for all creative voices.

Start your Axis membership today and be part of a community that values and supports the transformative power of contemporary visual arts.