Web design sits across three exposures that arrive from different directions: the project that went wrong, the content that infringed something, and the site you are still responsible for after launch.
The project claim
A launch missed before a campaign, a site that does not do what the specification said, a migration that lost content or search rankings, an e-commerce build that took orders incorrectly. These are financial losses flowing from the service, answered by professional indemnity on a claims made basis. Limits should reflect the client's exposure, which for a retailer at a seasonal peak is far larger than the build fee suggests.
Rights, fonts and stock images
The routine claim in this trade is not a bug. It is an image used beyond its licence, a font embedded without a web licence, a theme or plugin used outside its terms, or copy lifted from somewhere. Rights holders pursue these systematically. Some professional indemnity wordings include unintentional infringement and some exclude intellectual property entirely, which is the single most important thing to establish about your own policy.
Hosting, maintenance and what you stay responsible for
A designer who hosts, maintains, updates or manages a client's site has an ongoing obligation rather than a delivered project. Downtime, an unpatched plugin exploited, a backup that did not exist when it was needed: each is a claim about the service after handover. Insurers treat hosting and managed maintenance as declared activities, and a designer who added them to the offer should say so rather than assume the original policy stretched.
Client data, accessibility and the contract
Sites collect personal data, so a breach through a site you built or maintain has a cyber dimension, and clients increasingly ask about it in contracts. Accessibility obligations are becoming a contractual requirement in public sector and larger commercial work, and a claim that a delivered site failed a stated standard is a professional indemnity claim. Contracts commonly name a limit and an intellectual property indemnity, which is what the insurance exists to answer.
Questions people ask about web designer insurance
Is using a stock image beyond its licence covered?
It depends on the wording. Some professional indemnity policies include unintentional infringement, others exclude intellectual property entirely.
Does hosting a client's site change the cover?
Yes. Hosting and managed maintenance are ongoing obligations rather than a delivered project, and insurers treat them as declared activities.
What limit does a web designer need?
One sized to the client's possible loss, not the build fee. A retailer's missed seasonal launch is worth far more than the project.