Being self employed removes the employer who used to buy insurance on your behalf and hands you the whole decision. Very little of it is compulsory, and quite a lot of it is required by the people who pay you, which is a different kind of obligation with the same practical effect.
Nothing is compulsory until somebody works for you
A self employed person working alone has no statutory insurance duty beyond motor cover for a vehicle used on the road. That changes the moment anybody else works for the business, because employers' liability becomes compulsory and applies to casual and part time help as well as to formal employees. Family members and people paid cash for a day's help are the cases most often assumed to be outside it, and they frequently are not.
What clients and platforms require instead
In practice the requirement comes from clients. Agencies, main contractors, local authorities, venues, letting agents and online platforms all commonly require a stated public liability limit before work is allocated, and many professional clients require professional indemnity. These requirements are contractual, they are checked with a certificate, and they are usually non negotiable, so for most self employed people the real question is not whether to buy but at what limit.
The covers that protect you rather than a third party
Liability policies protect other people from you. A self employed person also has exposures pointing the other way: tools and equipment that are the means of earning, a van, stock, and the loss of income if illness or injury stops the work. Those are separate products with separate rules, and income protection in particular is a personal policy on a different regulatory footing from the business covers, so it is bought through a different route.
Trading name, limited company and who is insured
Many self employed people start in their own name and incorporate later. The policy follows the insured entity named on the schedule, so a person who incorporates and does not tell the insurer can end up with a policy insuring a sole trader who no longer trades while the company that signs the contracts is uninsured. It is an administrative change, it is normally free, and it is the sort of thing nobody notices until a claim.
Questions people ask about self employed insurance
Is insurance compulsory if I am self employed?
Only motor insurance for a vehicle on the road, and employers' liability once anybody works for you. Everything else is required by clients and contracts rather than by law.
Does casual help count as employment for insurance?
Usually yes. Employers' liability is triggered by employing a person, and casual, part time and some family arrangements can fall inside it, so check the current guidance rather than assume.
What happens to my policy if I form a limited company?
Tell the insurer. The policy insures the entity named on the schedule, so a company that is not named is not insured even though the same person does the work.