You didn't build it, but you designed how it fails
You're engaged to design the experience, and clients hold you to that brief, so when something goes wrong, whether it's a flow that quietly loses customers, a design that misses accessibility requirements, or research data that isn't handled carefully, the client comes back to you. Professional indemnity cover, built for design work.
Where a UX or UI designer actually gets exposed
Your risk is a decision, not a defect. If a client can argue your design caused a commercial loss or a compliance failure, that's a professional indemnity claim. It's the same category a developer or consultant faces, even though you never touched the code.
The checkout flow nobody could finish
You design a new checkout flow for a client's e-commerce platform. A usability flaw isn't caught until after launch, and abandoned purchases spike sharply in the weeks that follow.
The client's revenue takes a real hit, and they argue proper usability testing would have caught the flaw before it went live.
The design that wasn't accessible
You deliver a design for a government project with a contractually mandated accessibility standard. The delivered design falls short of WCAG requirements, and a complaint is lodged against the client.
The client says accessibility compliance was explicitly part of your brief.
The research data that went missing
You run usability testing sessions for a client, recording interviews with real users. The recordings, containing personal information, are exposed in a breach of your storage.
Under the Privacy Act, participants have to be notified, and the client looks to you for the response costs.
Who's going to ask you for it
It's often written into the brief
For UX and UI designers, cover shows up as a contract term more often as clients scale:
- Agency subcontracts commonly require professional indemnity before a designer is engaged on a client project.
- Government and enterprise design panels often mandate accessibility compliance contractually, with insurance to match.
- Direct client engagements increasingly name a minimum PI figure in the design agreement.
The exclusion designers assume is covered
The most common trap is treating design as "creative, not professional services" and going uninsured. A claim that your design caused a compliance failure or a commercial loss sits in the same category as a developer's or consultant's negligence claim.
Separately, research and testing data, the interview recordings and personal information from usability sessions, creates real privacy exposure that many designers don't think to insure against.
Common questions
I only design, I don't build, where's my risk?
Your risk is in the decisions the design drives. If a client acts on a flawed flow or a design that misses a compliance requirement, and it costs them, that's a professional indemnity claim regardless of who wrote the code.
Isn't this just professional indemnity?
PI is the core, but usability testing often involves personal data from real users, so cyber exposure applies too. ICT cover combines professional indemnity with cyber so there isn't a gap between policies.
What limit should I get?
Take it from the client's design agreement or panel requirement. Government and accessibility-mandated work often names a higher figure. If you're unsure, we'll read it with you before you buy.
A panel needs a certificate of currency, how fast can I get one?
Once you're bound, a certificate is quick to issue. If a project is waiting on it, tell us and we'll prioritise it.
Does it cover a design I delivered before I was insured?
Professional indemnity is claims-made and usually responds to claims first made while you're insured, provided the issue wasn't already known to you. It's best to have cover in place before a dispute surfaces.