Professional indemnity cover sized to each client contract, for freelancers
TL;DR Gigindemnity sells professional indemnity cover to Indian freelancers in tech, design and writing. A small base policy runs all year, and the freelancer raises the limit for the length of any contract whose client demands more. The client gets a certificate the same day. Freelancers pay monthly and a partner insurer carries the risk.
India supplies more online freelancers than any other country. Its share of the global online freelance workforce rose from 25% in 2017 to 33% in 2021, and software and tech made up 42% of the work[1].
A lot of their clients are abroad, and foreign contracts often ask for professional indemnity. One UK specialist insurer notes that clients may make PI a contract condition, sometimes with a minimum limit[2].
Indian PI policies are built for firms and named professions. One large Indian general insurer's PI page lists doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants, architects, IT consultants and agencies, the policy is usually annual and priced on a quote, and freelancers aren't named at all[3]. So what does a solo developer do when a contract has a ₹1 Cr limit clause? Usually signs anyway and hopes nothing goes wrong.
First, the regulatory bit - Gigindemnity does insurance distribution only. A partner general insurer issues the PI policy and decides claims, and Gigindemnity sells it as an IRDAI-registered corporate agent.
A freelancer signs up with a profile covering service type, past clients and revenue band. They get a base policy with a modest limit, paid monthly. When a new contract asks for a higher limit, they upload the clause or type in the amount and Gigindemnity arranges a limit increase from the insurer for the contract's term. A certificate naming the client follows the same day, and a dashboard tracks which contracts need what cover.
The original version of this idea pitched cover you switch on and off with usage. PI is usually written on a claims-made basis, so the policy must be active when the claim arrives and not just when the work was done[3]. A client complaint about last year's project, landing after cover was switched off, would go unpaid. So the base stays on and only the limit flexes.
The freelancer pays. For comparison, that UK specialist insurer says its PI cover starts from about ₹1,090 a month (£8.50), an average across its policies[2]. I found no public Indian price for a freelancer's PI policy, so the base premium here is an assumption to test with insurers. Freelance platforms and co-working operators could later bundle the base cover for their members.
The 2025 insurance amendment allowed full foreign ownership of insurers and added managing general agents as a category of intermediary[4]. New entrants will need niche distribution. The freelancer base keeps growing too, mostly in software work, where client contracts are the most likely to ask for PI[1].
Nobody publishes a figure for freelancer PI policies or premiums in India. The firmest number is India's 33% share of online freelancers in 2021[1].
For context, non-life insurance penetration was 1% of GDP in FY25[5], so most small service businesses carry no liability cover at all.
UK specialist insurers sell PI directly to small firms and freelancers, with monthly payment[2]. Indian general insurers sell annual PI to professionals and firms through quotes[3].
I couldn't verify an Indian product that gives a solo freelancer a contract-sized limit and a same-day client certificate. That gap is the product.
| Difficulty | Moderate (44/100) |
| Starting capital | ₹60 L–1.2 Cr |
| Time to launch | 6–9 months |
The app is straightforward. The hard part is getting an insurer to agree to quick mid-term limit changes for thousands of small policies, and to price solo freelancers with no claims history. Reaching freelancers cheaply takes partnerships with platforms and communities, because paid ads for insurance cost a bomb.
Yes, selling insurance needs IRDAI registration, and a partner insurer has to issue every policy.
Building this outside India? The categories above usually have a local equivalent, so check with your own regulator.
Don't let AI tell a freelancer whether a claim is covered or what a contract means legally. The insurer decides claims and a lawyer reads contracts.
Want to work out the AI layer for Gigindemnity? Talk to Yash →
Here's what can go south -
I like this one for a founder from general-insurance distribution who knows the freelance community well. If you need fast consumer growth then look elsewhere, because this builds slowly.
Prove two things first - that one insurer will issue a contract-linked limit increase within a day, and that 100 freelancers pay for the base policy within three months.
Plan for roughly ₹60 L–1.2 Cr, covering IRDAI registration, the app and partnerships with freelance platforms and communities.
Yes. You need IRDAI registration as an intermediary, such as a corporate agent, or you can start under a registered broker. The insurer issues the policy and decides claims.
Yes, and UK specialist insurers already sell monthly PI to UK freelancers. You'd need a local insurance licence and an insurer willing to change limits mid-term.
The free Gigindemnity validation kit has the line-by-line capital breakdown, the effort scoring, the insurance-intermediary and data-protection checklist, a 14-day validation sprint with pass/fail targets, a 90-day launch plan, 10 interview questions for freelancers and their clients, and 5 assumptions to test. Download the kit →
Thinking about building Gigindemnity or something close to it? The make-or-break work is finding an insurer partner willing to change limits per contract at low cost, and that's exactly the kind of thing I help founders with. If you need a hand, you know where to find me. Talk to Yash →
For illustration only. Names are fictional and ideas hypothetical; sourced facts are real but may be out of date. Nothing here is legal, financial or professional advice, and Yash Khatri is not personally liable for any use of it. Read the full disclaimer.