Business insurance covers your company for financial losses in case anything goes wrong. It can help towards the cost of compensation claims and legal fees, as well as damage to your property. Business insurance can be tailored to your industry or specialism too.
Legally speaking, you only need to have employer’s liability insurance to operate as a business. And that’s only if you have one or more employees, so sole traders can operate legally without it.
But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get business insurance. Having the right cover will protect your business, staff, clients and the general public from damage and losses.
You don’t want to have to cease trading because of a catastrophe that means you can’t afford to carry on - check out your options and take out appropriate cover.
According to Health and Safety Executive statistics[†]
Even small businesses should consider insurance cover – you might not have the funds to keep trading if something happens and you don’t have cover.
Every business is different, and there are lots of factors that go into calculating the cost of your insurance. Broadly speaking, a business insurance provider will look at:
There are a few different types of business insurance, so you’ll need to choose the right cover for your company.
Covers you in case a member of the public is injured, or their property’s damaged because of your business activity.Â
Read more >Professional indemnity (PI) insurance protects your company against legal action when you offer professional advice and expertise to other businesses or to clients.
Indemnity cover and professional liability insurance are other names for PI insurance.
Employer’s liability insurance protects your company against compensation claims and legal fees if a staff member falls ill or suffers a work-related injury.
Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement in the UK even if you only have one member of staff.[†]
Helps to cover your loss of income if you need to temporarily stop trading, due to an unexpected incident.
This might be something like a fire, flood or break-in that puts your business premises out of action.
Otherwise known as commercial property insurance, this will cover for rebuilding or repairing your premises if it’s damaged by something like a fire, flood, burst pipe or vandalism.
This is also called business contents insurance and it’ll cover you for the things you keep in your workplace – for instance, any equipment you use, furniture or tools.
Cyber-risk insurance can help to protect your business if your data is breached or you’re hit by an email scam.
Read more >This can cover you for any losses if a customer becomes insolvent or refuses to pay their debt to you.
Key man insurance will cover you for a loss of income if one of your most valuable employees dies or becomes critically ill.
We only need a few details to get you some quotes.
Things like your address and what type of company you are
Who you’ve got on your books
What type of things you want to be covered for – you can add contents and stock cover, employers’ liability and legal expenses, as well as choose the amount of cover for public liability insurance
Whether you have customers outside the UK
Whether you’ve made any previous claims or have any ongoing legal disputes
It’s not a legal requirement but having cover in place can protect you if a client doesn’t pay out or any of your stock is damaged.
Cyber-risk insurance can also help you out if you’re the victim of malware and cyber attack.
You can get business insurance without a trade licence but you’ll need to make sure it’s valid once you start trading, if that’s a condition of your policy.
Some business contents policies cover tools, equipment and stock, so make sure that the cover you buy is right for your needs.
Think about your business requirements, the value of your equipment or stock and whether you might need new-for-old cover in the event of items getting damaged, lost or stolen.