Skip to main content

Insurance for therapists by Oxygen™

0333 0609 687

Welcome to Oxygen, we provide insurance for therapists. In fact, we arrange specialist insurance policies for over 15,000 talking therapists.

You can get comprehensive specialist cover at a competitive price in the next few minutes from as little as £1.79 per week (student counsellors can get cover from £1.36 per week).* This includes a professional association discount and a 24-hour legal helpline, as well as no excess on the core therapists insurance.**

The benefits of Oxygen™ insurance

Be your best self and do what you love with confidence.

Our insurance for therapists includes:

  • Public and products liability.
  • Professional indemnity insurance and malpractice.
  • 24-hour commercial assistance and legal helpline.
  • Complaints and disciplinary hearings.
  • Crisis containment.
  • Directors and officers liability (for limited companies).
  • Therapeutic wills.

Plus, key options where necessary...

  • Employers liability insurance.
  • Cyber insurance.
  • Management liability insurance.
  • Contents insurance.
  • Personal accident.
  • Legal expenses.

Get Oxygen Insurance

Get in touch with an insurance expert to get a product liability insurance quote today.

What type of therapist insurance do you need?

We have years of experience working with many professionals throughout the talking therapy sector, so we know the daily risks you face. We're here to help you manage everyday challenges, protect your reputation, your business and the people you care for.

Not listed? Don't worry, we provide cover for over 100 specialist disciplines and therapies. 

Want to talk to someone?

Get the advice and guidance you need by speaking with one of our experts on the phone. Alternatively, get a quote in minutes and arrange your counselling insurance online.

What does an Oxygen™ insurance policy cover?

Professional indemnity/malpractice
This insurance covers claims arising from your work as a talking therapist, supervisor or educator. Cover is provided on a full civil liability basis which means it is not restricted just to allegations of professional negligence. With a choice of five cover levels, it should be possible to select a level which suits your business and gives you peace of mind.

Public and products liability
This is the insurance that deals with your public liability for causing bodily injury to people or damage to property due to an accident caused by your negligence (for example your client tripping and falling in your home or workplace). Cover of £10 million is a standard feature of the policy.

Complaints and disciplinary hearings
Full help and support is provided should a complaint be made about you to your professional body or other regulator including specialist help in submitting your response and legal representation at disciplinary hearings.

Professional wills
Cover up to £5,000 in the event of death or incapacity to help with reallocation or secure destruction of client notes and records.

Additional options:

  • Crisis containment insurance
  • Disputed fees cover
  • Confidential notes and records cover
  • Directors and officers liability cover
  • Loss of documents, including your business records, (up to £60,000)
  • Statutory and criminal prosecution defence costs (up to £10 million)
  • Worldwide cover including overseas personal liability
  • Court or disciplinary hearing expenses ‒ up to £500 per day, when your attendance is required by the insurers at a court or disciplinary hearing
  • In the event of death, retirement or a career break, the policy will be extended to allow notification for up to three years of claims arising from prior work
  • 24-hour commercial assistance and legal helpline.

Still not sure what therapist insurance you need?

Get the advice and guidance needed by speaking to an expert on the phone. Alternatively, get a quote in minutes and arrange everything online.

Why Oxygen™?

As a trained talking therapist, we know you're focused on supporting and guiding your clients through challenging times. However, giving this support also presents risks to you and your business. It's essential to have the right insurance in place that offers the necessary protection.

Our cover gives peace of mind for you and your business, including:

Protection
Our professional liability insurance protects you so you can focus on supporting your clients.

Professional advice and support
Throughout the life of your policy, we'll be on hand to help you with any queries, problems or issues you may have. We're here to support you should you need to make a claim.

Saving you time
It's quick to get a quote and buy your insurance online. If you'd prefer to speak to a member of our experienced team, we're here to give you the help you need, whenever and however you need it.

As a professional therapist, you’re focused on giving your clients the best possible care and support. In the background, professional indemnity (PI) insurance protects you and your business from the risks involved in your day-to-day activities.

Reviewing claims made by other therapists over the last five years can help demonstrate the cover PI insurance provides. Claims are also a good indicator for areas of improvement – learn from the mistakes of others and how to better manage risk in your practice.

The most common claims made by therapists insured through Oxygen fall into the following three categories:

  • Complaints about advice and services
  • Professional body claims
  • Alleged breach of confidentiality/loss of documents.

Read more about the top three claims made by therapists insured by Oxygen Insurance.

*How we work out example prices. Customers will pay £93.42 a year for professional indemnity of £1.5m if they are also a member of one of the recognised professional bodies that receive 20% discount from us. £1.79 per week is based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. This is the prices from amount as customers have the option of increasing their level of cover and therefore may pay more than this. Students or trainees will pay £70.99 a year for professional indemnity of £1.5m. £1.36 per week is based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. This is the prices from amount as customers have the option of increasing their level of cover and therefore may pay more than this. **No excess applies to the core therapists insurance (public liability, professional indemnity, employers liability, directors and officers), however for any additional insurance taken certain excess may apply. Please contact us for details.

Frequently asked questions

Our client service portal provides 24/7 access to your account and policy documents.

The portal enables us to be more environmentally friendly as we reduce the amount of printed policies and adopt a digital approach.

Log-in to portal

Yes, professional indemnity (PI) insurance is essential for counsellors as this directly covers the advice they provide to clients in sessions. PI insurance will be a requirement of a counsellor's professional body membership and any other contractual agreements they might have in place with businesses they work with.

Just as important as the policy cover is the knowledge you will be supported by experienced claims professionals.

Our dedicated in-house claims team will be by your side, fighting your corner, from start to finish. We promise to be there when it matters most.

Make a claim

  • Psychology
  • Counselling
  • Psychotherapy
  • Hypnotherapy
  • CBT
  • NLP
  • Stress management
  • Life coaching
  • Some alternative therapies
  • Coaching
  • Mentoring
  • Business executive coaching
  • Mediation
  • HR consultancy
  • Education consultancy and school inspectors
  • Management consultancy and complaints investigation.

You should have employers liability cover in place from the day your practice starts employing staff. Whether paid or not, you are at risk of legal action from the moment you have any person for whom you are responsible.

Counsellors require insurance to protect them against the risks they face whilst delivering their services. Insurance can cover the cost of defending claims of poor advice, malpractice, negligence, injury or property damage in relation to services provided to clients during their sessions. Counsellors may require certain insurances to meet the membership requirements of their professional body or other contractual agreements with businesses they work with.

Your individual circumstances and business activities will dictate the insurance you require. Counsellors generally require products liability and professional indemnity insurance as a minimum, along with employers liability insurance should they employ others. Your broker might recommend further cover based on your individual needs, such as management liability portfolio, cyber insurance and cover for contents such as computer equipment.

We provide discounts for members of the following professional bodies:

  • ABP – The Association for Business Psychology
  • AC – The Association for Coaching
  • ACC – The Association of Christian Counsellors
  • ACP – The Association of Child Psychotherapists
  • APHP – The Association for Professional Hypnosis and Psychotherapy
  • Barefoot Coaching
  • BACP – British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy
  • BABCP - British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies
  • BPC – British Psychoanalytic Council
  • BPS – British Psychological Society
  • CPD – Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
  • CMC – Civil Mediation Council
  • CNHC – Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council
  • CoM – College of Mediators
  • COSCA – Counselling and Psychotherapy in Scotland
  • CORST – College of Sexual and Relationship Therapists
  • EMCC – European Mentoring and Coaching Council
  • FMA – The Family Mediators Association 
  • GHR – General Hypnotherapy Register
  • HCPC – Health & Care Professions Council
  • ICF – International Coach Federation
  • NCH – The National Council for Hypnotherapy
  • NCS – The National Counselling Society
  • PTUK – Play Therapy United Kingdom
  • UKATA – The Association f0or Transactional Analysis
  • UKCP – The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy.