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- Looking for public liability insurance for your business?
- Read more business insurance guides
What is business insurance?
Business insurance is there to cover your company in case anything goes wrong.
It can help to cover the cost of compensation claims and legal fees, and to pay for damage to your property and others property. It can be tailored to your industry and specialism.
Business insurance is a broad term as there’s lots of different types of companies in the UK, but it exists to protect your firm and make sure you can continue to operate, should anything happen.
What are the different types of business insurance?
There are three main types of business insurance:
- Public liability insurance
- Professional indemnity insurance
- Employers’ liability insurance
However, you might be able to get more tailored cover for your particular line of business
What is public liability insurance cover?
Public liability insurance covers you in case a member of the public is injured or their property damaged because of your business activity.
What is professional indemnity insurance in the UK?
Professional indemnity (PI) insurance protects your company against legal action when you offer professional advice and expertise to other businesses or clients.
Indemnity cover and professional liability insurance are other names for PI insurance.
What’s covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Employer’s liability protects your company against compensation claims and legal fees from a member of your staff if they fall ill or are injured due to their work.
Employers' liability insurance is a legal requirement in the UK even if you only have one member of staff.†
Other common types of business insurance you’ll see include:
- Business interruption insurance
- Business premises insurance (also known as commercial buildings insurance)
- Business assets insurance (also known as business contents insurance)
- Cyber-risk business insurance
- Credit risk insurance
- Key man insurance
Business notes
- Employers' liability insurance is compulsory for businesses that have one or more employees
- Glass and shutters insurance can cover replacement following accidental or malicious damage
What does business insurance cost?
Every business is different. And there’s lots of factors that go into calculating the cost of your company insurance. Broadly speaking an insurance provider will look at:
- Your location
- Previous claims
- Type of work you do
- Size of your business
- How much cover you need
- How long you've been in business
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If you know what level of cover you want and have a few of your company’s details to hand, getting business insurance quotes can be straightforward.
GoCompare has teamed with Simply Business to help you find cheap business insurance quotes from some of the UK’s major insurance companies.
Simply Business also has insurance specialists on call to help you with any questions you have about the cover you need.
FAQs
Only employers’ liability insurance is required by law.
However, customers, suppliers, and lenders may require you to have more cover in place before they do business with you.
Getting the right cover in place can protect your business, clients, staff, and members of the public, so think carefully about your level of cover.
It depends on what your small business does and where you’re located. In fact, there’s lots of parts that go into a small business insurance quote. So, there’s no ballpark figure but if you compare prices with GoCompare you may be able to drive down the cost.
You might want to explore business insurance that’s tailored to your industry. We’ve got guides on builders' insurance, catering business insurance, cleaning business insurance, events insurance, hotel insurance, insurance for pop-up shops and restaurants, market traders’ insurance, office insurance, pub insurance, restaurant insurance, and shop insurance.
If you have employees, then you must have employers’ liability cover. It’s the law. Other forms of building insurance are optional but can provide vital cover for your company’s activities.
Certain business contents policies will cover tools, equipment and stock, but check before you buy that it’s right for your needs. Think about your business requirements and the value of your equipment or stock. Would you need new-for-old cover in the event of items getting damaged, lost or stolen?