Translator insurance covers a profession paid for precision, in work that can be checked line by line. A mistranslated clause in a supply contract, a dosage rendered wrongly in a patient leaflet, a term of art in a witness statement that shifts the meaning: unlike most professional judgement, a disputed translation can be laid alongside the source and marked. That is what makes professional indemnity the cover this profession actually needs.
Professional Saver arranges business insurance for translators and interpreters, from self-employed freelancers to small businesses, from £55* a year, with public liability as standard and professional indemnity scaled to the documents you handle. Get a quote online in five minutes; documents arrive the same day.
Professional indemnity insurance answers for the words. Where a client alleges your work caused them financial loss, a contract misrendered, a deadline missed on a filing, a certified document rejected, an interpreted exchange disputed afterwards, professional indemnity insurance pays the compensation and the legal costs of defending it. Agencies, law firms and public-sector language frameworks routinely name a required level of professional liability cover before assigning work to a translator or interpreter, so for many freelancers the cover is what unlocks the contract as much as what protects it.
The same cover carries confidentiality, which is this profession’s quiet exposure. Translators see draft contracts, medical records, case files and unannounced commercial deals. A breach of confidence, even an accidental one, is a professional claim rather than an accident.
Public liability insurance matters more for interpreters than people expect, because interpreting happens in person: courts, police stations, hospitals, schools, client offices and factory floors. Where a third party is injured or property damaged around your work, public liability insurance covers the compensation and legal costs, with £1 million as standard and options up to £10 million, which is the level many public-sector and site inductions ask to see.
Business equipment cover protects the laptop, headset and reference library the work runs on (£100 excess), and employers’ liability applies once you employ anyone, as the law usually requires. One honest note: we don’t sell standalone cyber insurance, so if you hold large volumes of client data under a data processing agreement, name that at quote stage rather than assume the point is covered.
Get a Quote
Learn about Public Liability