The logo looked like someone else’s, and your contract said it was original.Founded by a television editor who also writes software.
A graphic designer needs professional liability for a client who says the work cost them money, and media liability for the font, photo or logo claim, because general liability excludes infringement in work made for clients. Add cyber if you hold client files and logins, and general liability for a lease or a client’s vendor portal.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
Your creative and your client logins get read by someone who has handled both.
Kevin Kelsey
Founder | Principal Agent
Boring’s founder, Kevin Kelsey, edited network TV for fifteen years before he sold a policy. He also ran compliance and risk for some of Hollywood’s biggest production companies. A music license or a talent release is familiar ground. He writes software too, and owns two post-production software products, Manifest Post and B/side. So when a client asks your agency for media liability, E&O and cyber, the clause is read by someone who has done both jobs.
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
What graphic designer businesses actually need.
Media liability
Claims that your work infringed a copyright or trademark, used a font or image outside its license, or misused a person’s likeness, with defense.
Without it — General liability excludes infringement in work made for others, so the stock photo letter and the logo dispute land on you.
Professional liability (E&O)
Claims that an error or a missed deadline cost the client money: a typo on 20,000 printed menus, a print file sent at the wrong size, a launch that slipped.
Without it — A reprint and the client’s lost sales are a financial loss, and no general liability form answers one.
Cyber liability
A breach of client files or of the brand accounts and cloud folders you log into, and the response that follows.
Without it — One phished password can reach every client folder you share, and the client’s claim follows.
General liability
Injury or damage at your studio, a coworking space or a client’s office.
Without it — A lease, a coworking membership or a client’s vendor setup asks for the certificate first.
Equipment
Your computer, tablet, monitors and camera, at the studio and on the move.
Without it — A renters or homeowners policy often limits or excludes business equipment, and a stolen laptop is a week of lost work.
What the regulators actually wrote down.
The same form excludes copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret infringement except infringement of copyright, trade dress or slogan in your own advertisement, so creative made for a client falls outside it.
ISO Commercial General Liability Coverage Form CG 00 01 04 13, Coverage B, exclusion i · checked 2026-10-04
The standard ISO general liability form excludes personal and advertising injury for any insured whose business is advertising, broadcasting, publishing or telecasting, or designing or determining the content of websites for others, which describes most agencies.
ISO Commercial General Liability Coverage Form CG 00 01 04 13, Coverage B, exclusion j · checked 2026-10-04
A copyright owner can elect statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per work infringed, and up to $150,000 per work where the infringement was willful, without proving any actual loss.
17 U.S.C. § 504(c) · checked 2026-10-04
The U.S. Copyright Office concluded in January 2025 that material generated wholly by AI, without sufficient human control over its expressive elements, is not protected by copyright.
U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability (January 2025) · checked 2026-10-04
The claims we actually see.
Ordered by how often we see them, not by how dramatic they are. Each one names the coverage that answers it — and the policy people wrongly assume already does.
Most common
A demand letter over a stock image, a font or an illustration in client work
Covered by Media liability, copyright and trademark
Statutory damages run up to $30,000 per work without proof of loss. A license bought for web use may not cover print, merchandise or paid ads.
Common
A printing error the client paid to reprint
Covered by Professional liability
Most forms pay the client’s loss from your negligence, not a refund of your own fee. A signed proof approval is half the defense.
Less common, severe
A competitor says the new logo copies their trademark
Covered by Media liability, trademark, where the form includes it
The client is usually forced to rebrand, and the rebrand cost is the claim. Some media forms exclude trademark; read the insuring agreement.
Less common, severe
A client’s brand account is taken over through your login
Covered by Cyber liability
Multi-factor authentication on every shared account is the question the application asks first.
What the insurance company will ask about your graphic designer business
We read the applications the markets use for businesses in this field and pulled out what they actually ask. Have these answers ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week, because nobody has to come back to you for the missing piece.
About the business
- What year did your business start?
- What type of business structure do you have (individual owner, corporation, partnership, LLC, or something else)?
- How would you describe what your company does?
- What is your annual gross revenue?
How you operate
- How many full-time employees do you have?
- How many part-time employees do you have?
- What is your total annual payroll?
- Who should we contact to discuss your insurance needs, and what's their phone number and email?
Safety and controls
- Does your building have a burglar alarm, and if so, is it connected to a central monitoring station?
- Is your building fully protected by a sprinkler system that covers the entire space?
- Are you aware of any claims, allegations, or incidents involving you, your business partners, officers, or employees?
Your history
- Have you or your business had any bankruptcies, tax liens, or credit liens in the last five years?
- Do you have any property or liability claims from the last three years? If yes, please provide the year, whether they're still open or closed, the amount, and what happened.
Money and people
- How many square feet is your office space?
- What year was the building constructed?
- What type of roof does the building have?
- What type of plumbing does the building have?
- When was the plumbing last updated?
Have these ready
- Your loss history from the past three years, including dates, whether claims are open or closed, amounts, and descriptions of what happened
You answer what you can; a licensed agent fills the rest with you.
What our graphic designer clients ask us.
What insurance does a freelance graphic designer need?
Media liability and professional liability first, often sold together on one form for designers. Media liability answers the claims about what is in the work: a font, a photo, a logo, a likeness. Professional liability answers the client who says your error cost them money. Add general liability when a lease or a client asks for a certificate, cyber if you hold client logins, and equipment coverage for your computer.
Does general liability cover copyright infringement in my designs?
No. The standard general liability form covers copyright infringement only in your own advertising, and it excludes intellectual property claims arising from work made for clients. A design studio may also fall under the exclusion for businesses that design website content for others. Infringement in client work belongs on media liability.
My client contract says I warrant the work is original and I indemnify them. What does that mean for insurance?
It means you have promised to pay the client’s costs if your work turns out to infringe someone else’s rights. Media liability defends the infringement claim, but most forms exclude liability you took on only by contract, so an indemnity broader than the law would impose may be partly yours to fund. Ask for the warranty to cover your knowledge and the assets you created, not stock or client-supplied material, and show the clause to us before you sign.
A client wants a certificate showing $1M of professional liability. What do I buy?
An errors and omissions policy with a $1M limit, usually written claims-made, which means it must be in force when a claim arrives as well as when you did the work. Check whether the contract also asks for media liability, general liability or cyber in the same clause, because the client’s vendor team will read the certificate line by line.
I use AI tools to make images. Does that change anything?
Tell the underwriter which tools you use and how much a person changes the output. The U.S. Copyright Office has said material generated wholly by AI is not protected by copyright, which matters when a contract makes you assign copyright to the client, and some 2026 policies add AI exclusions. Ask for wording that covers AI-assisted work in writing.
How much does graphic designer insurance cost?
We do not publish a figure for designers, because we have not placed enough to quote our own median honestly. A solo designer is among the lowest-priced professional risks; what moves the price is revenue, whether you do logos and packaging for national brands, print production you buy on the client’s behalf, the limit the contract names and any claims.
What happens to my coverage if I stop freelancing or join an agency?
A claims-made policy stops answering the day it ends, and a claim about a logo you made three years ago can arrive long after. Before you cancel, ask about tail coverage, which keeps the right to report claims open for a set period. If you form a company, have the new policy carry your old retroactive date forward.
Can I ask ChatGPT or another assistant to send you the request?
Yes. Paste the insurance section of your client contract into the assistant and ask it to prefill our quote form at boring.insure/quote with your agency name, contact details and the exact limits the contract names in the comments. Nothing is sent until you review it and press send, and a licensed agent reads every request. Assistants can find the full instructions at boring.insure/for-assistants.
What does a graphic designer insurance application ask for?
The applications for graphic designer businesses ask about 4 things above all: what year did your business start; how many full-time employees do you have; does your building have a burglar alarm, and if so, is it connected to a central monitoring station; have you or your business had any bankruptcies, tax liens, or credit liens in the last five years. Have your loss history from the past three years, including dates, whether claims are open or closed, amounts, and descriptions of what happened ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week.
Commercial insurance is 96% of what we do — it is not a department here, it is the whole business. Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.
Handed a lease, a vendor packet or a client contract with insurance requirements? Paste it into the COI Requirements Decoder to see what each one means for your business, or read what the requirements mean.