In short. Law 20/2007, the Spanish Self-Employed Workers' Statute, imposes no liability insurance. The duty does not arise from being self-employed: it arises from the activity carried out or from the contract signed. Hence three categories worth keeping apart: compulsory by law —a handful of activities, each with its own rule and amount—, required by contract —the real route in the corporate world— and advisable by exposure. Article 21.1 of Law 17/2009 is the provision that explains why some activities and not others.
Spain has 3,448,635 registered self-employed workers, according to the self-employment statistics of the Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration for March 2026. There is not a single rule obliging all of them to hold liability insurance.
The opposite claim circulates across much of the published material on the subject, almost always as a list of "obliged" professions without a single legal citation behind it. It is worth putting in order, because a procurement department requiring documentation from its supplier chain needs to know what it can demand by law and what it can only demand by contract.
Does Spanish law require the self-employed to hold liability insurance?
No. Law 20/2007 of 11 July, the Self-Employed Workers' Statute, contains no provision imposing liability insurance on a self-employed worker. Its text governs professional status, rights and duties, the figure of the economically dependent self-employed worker —article 11.1 defines it by reference to receiving at least 75% of income from a single client— and health and safety duties when the self-employed worker operates on another company's site. On compulsory insurance, nothing.
What does exist is liability. Articles 1902 and 1903 of the Spanish Civil Code require damage caused by fault or negligence to be made good, whether one's own or that of persons for whom one is answerable. That liability is unlimited and is met from the whole of one's assets. The absence of a statutory duty to insure it does not reduce the exposure: it merely means nobody will stop you trading for want of a policy.
Which is why the correct map has three boxes, not two: compulsory by law, required by contract and advisable by exposure. Mixing them is what produces the mistaken lists.
Why some activities and not others
The answer lies in article 21.1 of Law 17/2009 of 23 November on free access to service activities and their exercise. That provision sets out when compulsory insurance may be imposed and on what conditions:
- It may only be established by a rule having the rank of statute.
- Only where the service presents a direct and specific risk to the health or safety of the recipient or of a third party, or to the financial security of the recipient.
- And the guarantee required must be proportionate to the nature and extent of that risk.
It is a test, not a list. It explains why the legislator imposes cover on those who work on a gas installation or lift loads over a public highway, and not on those providing design or consultancy services. It also explains why the duty always appears tied to an administrative authorisation: it is the requirement that permits trading, not a measure of liability.
One widespread error is worth dismissing here: Law 2/1974 on professional associations does not impose general liability insurance on members. Where that requirement exists, it stems from the sector statute governing the profession or from the relevant professional body's rules, not from that law.
The activities that do carry compulsory liability cover, with the rule
The table sets out the cases where the duty genuinely applies and the amount each rule fixes. The last two rows are there for contrast: the two cases most frequently assumed to be compulsory when they are not.
| Activity | Rule and article | Minimum amount set by the rule |
|---|---|---|
| Low-voltage installation company, basic category | REBT, ITC-BT-03 (as worded by RD 298/2021) | 600,000 € per claim |
| Low-voltage installation company, specialist category | ibid. | 900,000 € per claim |
| Thermal installation or maintenance company | RITE, article 37 c) | 300,000 € |
| Ibid. with level 2 refrigeration equipment | RITE, article 37 f) (RD 178/2021) | 900,000 € |
| Gas installation company, categories A / B / C | ITC-ICG 09 (RD 298/2021) | 900,000 / 600,000 / 300,000 € |
| Tower cranes | ITC MIE-AEM-2 | 600,000 € |
| Self-propelled mobile cranes | ITC MIE-AEM-4 | 1,000,000 € |
| Healthcare professionals in private practice | Law 44/2003, article 46 | The statute sets no amount: it defers to the autonomous communities |
| Private security firms | Law 5/2014, article 19.1 e) | Defers to implementing regulations |
| Public entertainment and leisure activities (Catalonia) | Law 11/2009, art. 23.2, and Decree 112/2010 | From 300,000 to 6,000,000 € depending on capacity |
| Public carriage of goods | Law 16/1987, article 43 | None: the rule requires no insurance |
| Self-employed worker in an unregulated activity | Law 20/2007 | None: no rule imposes it |
Three points change how the table reads.
The party under the duty is the authorised installation company, not the individual card holder. The amounts in the technical regulations are required of whoever is registered as an authorised installation or maintenance company. A self-employed professional acting in that capacity is caught; an employee holding the professional qualification and working for the authorised company is not.
Public entertainment is a regional competence. The table cites the Catalan rules because our brokerage is based in Barcelona. Amounts and triggers differ in each autonomous community: do not extrapolate these figures beyond your own territory.
Transport is the most cited case and the most misunderstood. Article 43 of Law 16/1987 lists the requirements for the licence —nationality, legal personality, an address in Spain, registered vehicles and tax, employment and social security compliance in paragraph 1; establishment, good repute, financial standing and professional competence in paragraph 2, for vehicles over 3.5 tonnes— and mentions no insurance at all. We develop the point in our analysis of the self-employed carrier's liability, a population that matters to any logistics chain: there are 58,340 goods transport undertakings operating heavy vehicles and 53.8% of them run a single vehicle, according to the road freight observatory of the Spanish Ministry of Transport, with data as at 1 January 2024.
Have you checked whether your critical suppliers comply by law or only because your contract says so? Let us review the requirements across your subcontracting chain.
When the obligation comes from your client, not from the law
This is the real route. In the corporate world, the vast majority of self-employed professionals who hold a liability policy hold it because whoever awards them the work requires it.
No logistics operator, no engineering firm and no industrial owner of any size signs a framework agreement today with an independent professional without a current insurance certificate. It is not a recommendation: it is a condition of access, with its minimum limit, its required sections of cover and its renewal frequency.
The operational origin of that practice lies in the coordination of business activities. Article 24.5 of Law 31/1995 extends coordination duties to self-employed workers, and Royal Decree 171/2004 expressly includes them among the concurrent parties subject to the duty to cooperate. Once a documentary circuit exists before works begin, the insurance certificate enters it naturally — though it should be said that Royal Decree 171/2004 requires health and safety documentation, not a policy.
Which is why the requirement must be properly drafted in the contract, because the rule does not supply it. We cover what to ask for and how to verify it in what liability cover to require from a subcontracted self-employed professional and in insurance documentation within the CAE circuit.
Add a cost point that falls on the buyer: article 8.6 of Law 20/2007 provides that a company failing in its duties of information and supervision towards a concurrent self-employed worker assumes the obligation to indemnify the damage caused, provided there is a direct causal link. It is a civil duty to indemnify, not a penalty. And it explains why documentary requirements down the chain are not bureaucracy: they are risk transfer.
Statutory minimum limits do not measure your risk
The amounts in the table serve an administrative purpose: they are the floor for trading. They are not, and do not seek to be, an estimate of the real exposure of the activity.
An authorised basic-category installer with 600,000 euros per claim complies with the low-voltage regulation. That same professional, working on the main switchboard of a logistics platform, can cause material damage and a business interruption an order of magnitude above that figure. He complies with the rule and still cannot sign with a large account requiring higher limits, cover for property being worked upon or consequential financial loss cover.
The reasoning is that of article 21.1 of Law 17/2009 read in reverse: the guarantee must be proportionate to the risk, and the legislator calibrates it against the typical risk of the authorisation, not against the value of the specific environment being worked in. That gap is closed by the contract, not by the regulation. We develop it for assembly and installation work, where the distance between the regulatory minimum and the contractual requirement is widest.
In every case, the extent of each section and the existence of sub-limits are governed by the specific terms of each policy.
A regulatory minimum met is not an insurance programme properly sized. Request an analysis of your exposure.
What no policy can cover
If the self-employed professional has employees, there is one liability that cannot be transferred however high the limit bought: the Social Security benefits surcharge. Article 164.2 of the Spanish General Social Security Act places it directly on the infringing employer and renders void as a matter of law any agreement or contract intended to cover, offset or transfer it. Paragraph 1 quantifies it at between 30% and 50% of the economic benefits, depending on the seriousness of the breach.
It is not a negotiable policy exclusion: it is a statutory nullity. We analyse it in why the benefits surcharge cannot be insured.
Another frequent confusion is worth clearing up. The ten-year structural warranty under Law 38/1999 is not liability insurance: it is damage insurance whose policyholder is the developer, with the cover and guarantee percentages of article 19.5. The statute does not oblige building agents to insure the liability that article 17 attributes to them. Those who insure it do so by their own decision or because a contract requires it.
What that cover costs is the next question, and it rarely has the expected answer: we set it out in what sits inside a liability premium.
The role of an independent broker
The useful question is not whether the law obliges you, but with what limit and what wording you —or your supplier chain— can enter a framework agreement. They are two different conversations and only the second has financial consequences. As an independent brokerage registered with the Spanish DGSFP under reference J0140, we act on the client's mandate: we analyse the real exposure of the activity, we negotiate the wording with the market and not only the price, and when a claim arises we represent the client before the insurer.
For departments managing subcontracting chains, that work has a second dimension: defining what to require from each supplier profile, with what limit and what sections of cover, and verifying that what is produced answers what was asked for. Our liability cover page sets out how we structure those programmes.
Frequently asked questions
Is liability insurance compulsory for a self-employed professional? Not as a general rule. Law 20/2007 imposes no liability insurance by reason of being registered as self-employed. Where the duty exists, it derives from the specific activity carried out or from the contract signed with the client.
Which activities carry a statutory duty to hold liability cover? Few, and exhaustively listed: low-voltage, thermal and gas installation and maintenance companies; tower cranes and self-propelled mobile cranes; healthcare professionals in private practice —article 46 of Law 44/2003— and private security firms —article 19.1(e) of Law 5/2014—. Public entertainment is governed by regional rules.
Is liability insurance compulsory for a self-employed haulier? The transport operator licence does not require it. Article 43 of Law 16/1987 mentions no insurance among its requirements, in either paragraph 1 or paragraph 2. Compulsory motor insurance is a different matter: it attaches to the vehicle and does not respond for the goods carried.
Can my client require liability cover under the contract? Yes, and it is the usual route. The buyer can make a minimum limit, specific sections of cover and a current certificate a condition of award. It is not a statutory duty but a contractual one, with the consequences the contract itself provides.
Is the statutory minimum limit enough? It is enough to trade. It does not measure exposure: regulatory amounts are the administrative floor for authorisation, and large-account framework agreements normally require appreciably more.
Sources and legislation
- Law 20/2007 of 11 July, the Self-Employed Workers' Statute, articles 8.3, 8.4, 8.6 and 11.1.
- Law 17/2009 of 23 November on free access to service activities and their exercise, article 21.1 (compulsory liability insurance).
- Law 16/1987 on Inland Transport, article 43, paragraphs 1 and 2.
- Law 31/1995 on the Prevention of Occupational Risks, article 24.5.
- Royal Decree 171/2004, implementing article 24 of Law 31/1995.
- Spanish low-voltage electrotechnical regulation, ITC-BT-03, as worded by Royal Decree 298/2021.
- Regulation on Thermal Installations in Buildings, article 37, paragraphs c) and f) —the latter as worded by Royal Decree 178/2021—.
- ITC-ICG 09 of the technical regulation on the distribution and use of gaseous fuels, as worded by Royal Decree 298/2021.
- ITC MIE-AEM-2 (tower cranes) and ITC MIE-AEM-4 (self-propelled mobile cranes).
- Law 44/2003 on the organisation of the healthcare professions, article 46.
- Law 5/2014 on Private Security, article 19.1(e).
- Law 11/2009 of the Catalan Parliament, article 23.2, and Decree 112/2010 (regional rules on public entertainment and leisure activities).
- Royal Legislative Decree 8/2015, consolidated text of the General Social Security Act, article 164, paragraphs 1 and 2.
- Law 38/1999, the Spanish Building Regulation Act, articles 17 and 19.5.
- Spanish Civil Code, articles 1902 and 1903.
- Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, self-employment statistics, March 2026.
- Ministry of Transport, road freight transport observatory, data as at 1 January 2024.
This information is for guidance only and does not constitute binding advice. Cover, limits and exclusions are governed in all cases by the particular conditions of each policy. New Brokers Correduría de Seguros, S.L., registered with the Spanish DGSFP under reference J0140.
