The tour guide industry is inherently a flexible enterprise and is designed around crafting a variety of experiences.
These experiences are provided by a range of different tour operators and organisers, so it is natural for a tour guide to act as an independent entity to engage and offer their services to multiple organisations.
With the current tour guide shortage in Australia, acting as an independent entity is increasing the common practice for this industry. Being an independent contractor comes with the same responsibilities as any independent business, and proper insurance arrangements should be considered a top concern to protect yourself from all potential commercial liability risk, whether from those you are guiding, or the tour companies who are engaging you.
Why do I need insurance?
No matter how small the tour, if you are profiting commercially from the service, you hold a liability risk from those you are engaging with.
Sole Traders also have their personal assets at risk, should the services and activities they provide cause or contribute to loss or injury in any way – even if not directly responsible, there is nothing to stop anyone from attempting to hold you fully or partially liable for a loss if they believe you were negligent in the provision of your services.
An insurance policy is tied to the ABN entity that takes out the policy and covers that entity and all their direct employees. As an independent contractor, you are not automatically considered an employee, and in most instances, need to take out your own separate insurance policy to protect your risk.
If a claim is made against you directly, instead of the tour company, then the tour company’s insurance policy will not respond to protect you from legal action.
Further, as with any contractor engaged to do any works, it is possible for the tour company themselves to hold you liable for a loss if they believe it was your negligence which caused or contributed to the loss.
This is why it is important to take out your own insurance policy for your business. This is true of any business enterprise.
Aside from properly insuring your entity from Commercial Liability risk, it is also important to understand the conditions of the Tour Companies Insurance policies.
Most insurance policies held by tour operators who contract you with have a “Contractor/Sub-Contractor” Insurance clause which advises that if that company engages any contractor who does not hold their own liability insurance policy, than that tour company’s insurance is void in relation to any incident involving that contractor.
As Australia becomes increasingly litigious, tour companies, cannot afford to create any risk gap in their insurance policy and will practicably utilise only insured tour guides to ensure no threat to their own business.
To protect both yourself and your employers, and to grow your own business, Liability Insurance is a must.
JMD Ross Insurance tailored Tour Guide Combined Liability Insurance
Our Tour Guide Combined Liability insurance offers Public Liability insurance and Professional Indemnity insurance to provide liability cover for physical injury/loss and financial loss you are accused of causing while conducting your business activities.
Partnering with Tour Guides Australia, we have also secured significant member discounting which you can access by completing our webform. We will review your individual risk and provide insurance terms to protect your business and meet the insurance requirements of your business agreements.
Our policies have been designed from the ground up with tour guides in mind and can be tailored to suit to the individual needs of your business and provide liability cover beyond domestic Australian tours as may be needed.
If you would like more information, please contact our tourism insurance specialist, Jonathan Ross by phoning 0420 796 628 or email jross@jmdross.com.au. Jonathan has over a decade of experience serving the tourism industry and is happy to answer any and all tourism insurance related queries you may have.
