Virtual assistance is admin's cloud-native descendant – inbox management, diaries, bookkeeping-lite, social media, client systems access – delivered remotely, often to several clients at once. The remoteness changes the risk profile in one decisive way: a VA's entire practice runs through credentials and inboxes, which makes cyber exposure the headline and traditional premises risk nearly irrelevant. This guide covers what VAs need, what it costs, and where to buy.
What insurance does a virtual assistant need?
Professional indemnity. The core: errors and omissions across whatever your service list contains – missed deadlines, booking errors, mishandled correspondence, social-media mistakes published under a client's name, data-entry errors with consequences. £100,000–£1m; client contracts increasingly say £1m, and the price difference is small. VAs with wide service menus should ensure the schedule names the lot: bookkeeping-lite, social media and website tinkering are each their own wording question.
Cyber – the VA's defining cover. You hold logins to multiple clients' systems, inboxes and sometimes payment processes: precisely the concentrated-credentials profile attackers prize, and the mechanism behind invoice-fraud losses. Cyber cover plus operational discipline (password manager, MFA everywhere, verification callbacks for any bank-detail change) is the trade's real insurance programme.
Also: business equipment (the laptop and its peripherals are the premises), public liability only if you ever work on-site or meet clients (cheap to add; some skip it legitimately), employers' liability the moment you subcontract to associate VAs (a legal requirement, and the classic scaling-VA-agency oversight), and legal expenses for fee disputes.
How much does it cost?
Cheap: £60–£150/year for most solo VAs (entry floors: Protectivity from £3.86/month across its virtual/admin occupations; Markel from £5/month; Suited £100k PI from £7/month; Simply Business PI from £6.62/month; Professional Saver freelancer packages under £55/year). Bookkeeping services, payment handling and associate teams rate upward – and change the wording conversation, not just the price.
Comparison of providers
| Provider | Type | From | Notable features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protectivity | Specialist direct | £3.86/mo | Admin/VA occupations covered; 4.8 Trustpilot |
| Suited | Digital insurer | £7/mo | Built for online freelancers; clean digital journey |
| Superscript | Digital broker | quote-based | Monthly flexibility + strong cyber options – a natural VA pairing; 4.5 Trustpilot |
| Simply Business | Comparison | £6.62/mo | Multi-insurer benchmark; instant client certificates |
| Markel Direct | Direct insurer | £5/mo | Legal helpline; broad occupation coverage |
| Professional Saver | Trades-family specialist | <£55/yr | Cheapest verified entry |
Reviews and expert ratings
Protectivity 4.8/5; Superscript 4.5; Simply Business 4.2; Markel 4.0. Which?/Fairer Finance: not rated.
Key takeaway
Buy £1m PI with your full service list on the schedule, treat cyber as core rather than optional – your credentials are the business – and revisit the policy the day you add bookkeeping, payments or associate VAs, because each rewrites the risk. The premium is coffee money; the discipline around it is the real protection.
Sources
- protectivity.com; suited.insure; professionalsaver.co.uk (pricing floors)
- simplybusiness.co.uk; markeluk.com; gosuperscript.com