Insights and Resources

You finish photographing a wedding, but a storage failure corrupts part of the shoot and important images cannot be delivered. At another job, a guest trips over a lighting cable and injures their wrist.

Freelance graphic designers can face two different types of business risk. A client may allege that a design error, missed specification or copyright issue caused financial loss.

As a yoga instructor, you make professional judgements every time you teach. You decide how to cue alignment, modify poses, supervise students and structure a class from one movement to the next.

Whether you are retiring, changing careers, closing down your business, taking a career break or trying to cut costs when money is tight, cancelling your Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance might seem like an easy way to save money.

Yes, Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance premiums are generally tax-deductible for Australian sole traders because they are business expenses associated with the professional services they provide and the income they earn. This reflects the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)’s general rule that expenses incurred in earning assessable income may be deductible.

Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance is designed to respond to claims alleging that a client suffered financial loss due to professional advice, services, errors or omissions. Depending on the policy, it may help cover legal defence costs and compensation that the insured is legally liable to pay.

One client complaint can quickly become more than an uncomfortable conversation. If a client alleges your advice, design, strategy or service caused financial loss, you may need to respond formally, even if you believe you did nothing wrong.

A landlord is asking for proof of liability cover before handing over the keys to a new studio. A market stall booking for tomorrow morning is confirmed only if you have cover. A client will not sign off on a project until they see proof of insurance. These requests tend to arrive with little notice.

Say you run a business coaching practice. During a workshop, a client trips over a cable and injures their wrist. Months later, another client claims the growth strategy you recommended caused them a $60,000 financial loss. Same business. Two incidents. Two entirely different risks.