Indemnity insurance for counsellors is usually bought as a combined therapist policy: professional indemnity for the work, public liability for the room, and often cover for defending a complaint. What decides the price and the wording is what you practise and where.
Modalities, declared
Person centred, cognitive behavioural, psychodynamic, integrative, EMDR, and any adjunct such as hypnotherapy or bodywork are separate activities to an insurer. Declare everything you practise, including anything you offer occasionally, because a claim arising from an undeclared modality may not be covered.
Where you practise
Your own room, a hired room, a client's home, a workplace or online each change the public liability position and sometimes the professional indemnity. Online practice across borders raises a jurisdiction question worth asking about if any clients are outside the United Kingdom.
Supervision and trainees
Supervising other practitioners is its own activity and is not automatically covered by a policy written for clinical practice. Trainees on placement are usually covered by their course or the placement provider, and a practitioner taking a trainee should check which rather than assume.
What it costs and where the scheme rates are
Combined therapist cover is among the least expensive professional insurance in the United Kingdom, because the claims are infrequent and the sums are modest beside clinical indemnity. Several membership bodies negotiate scheme rates for registered members, so it is worth asking your body before going to the open market. Compare the wording rather than only the price, particularly on whether representation at a fitness to practise hearing is included and on whether supervision of other practitioners is covered.
Questions people ask about indemnity insurance for counsellors
What should a counsellor's policy include?
Professional indemnity for the therapy, public liability for the room, and ideally cover for defending a complaint to your membership body.
Do I have to declare every modality?
Yes. An undeclared modality is an undeclared activity and a claim arising from it may not be covered.
Is supervision covered?
Not automatically. Supervising others is a separate activity and needs declaring.