Starting a Business? What insurance do you need?
Having the right insurance in place is crucial for protecting your business. Every business has slightly different needs and it’s important to make sure that the risks you face are covered. A good business insurance policy will cover your business in case something goes wrong and can foot the bill for things like compensation payments and legal costs. Here, we outline the main types of business insurance you should consider.
Employers’ Liability Insurance
The only type of business insurance that is legally required is employers’ liability insurance. If your business employs anyone then you need at least £5 million of cover. You could be fined a maximum of £2,500 for every day that you don’t have insurance. Employer’s liability insurance is designed to cover any compensation claims made by your employees for injury or damage that’s caused by their work.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Another important insurance to consider when starting your own business is professional indemnity insurance. This protects you against compensation claims made by a client because they think you’ve made a mistake in your work. This includes things like breaching confidentiality, infringing copyright, or giving advice that causes your client to lose money. This makes it a really important cover for your business if you offer a professional service or provide advice.
Some professional bodies and regulators insist that their members have a professional indemnity policy, including in areas like law, financial advice, accountancy, architecture and healthcare.
Public Liability Insurance
Public liability insurance is worth considering if your business comes into contact with the public, either because customers come to your premises or because you visit client premises or work in public. It’s designed to cover compensation claims made by someone who blames injury or damage on your business. For example, if a customer is injured when they slip on a wet floor in your shop.
Product Liability Insurance
Product liability insurance protects you if a product that you sell causes injury or damage to a member of the public. As with professional indemnity insurance, public and product liability cover can pay out for the legal costs as well as any compensation payments, up to your policy limit.
Property Insurance
If you’ve got a business premises such as a shop or an office, buildings and contents insurance is another consideration. If you rent the space then you’re only responsible for covering your contents (your landlord should cover the building), but if you own your premises then you need to insure the building too. If you’re running your business from your home then you should check your home insurance policy documents carefully, as business activities may not be covered under a standard home insurance policy.
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Still have questions?
It’s so important to have the correct business insurance in place, especially if you are just starting out, to give you the peace of mind that your insurance policy will cover you if anything goes wrong. Never wait for things to go wrong before getting insured – it really does need to be one of the first practical things you get in place when starting a business.
At All Sport Insurance our experienced team are able to offer advise on the best type of policy for you and your business and answer any questions you might have about the cover you require. Get in touch with the team to find out more or to arrange a personal quotation.