Compare Business Insurance With Money Pug

In the process of running a business, there will, of course, be everyday risks. Protecting yourself against the negative consequences of mistakes, accidents, theft, damage or legal disputes is important if you want to avoid being left with a costly mess. But the exact cover that you will require will depend on what sort of business you have and how and where you run it.

If you work at home, you may need business insurance if you welcome clients onto your premises. Public liability insurance will cover you if a client has an accident and suffers an injury while in your home. If you work from home offering advice or a professional service, or you handle client data or intellectual property then you may find the need for professional indemnity insurance.

If you have an online business, you may need stock cover to protect the items you sell online against theft or damage. If you work with specialised tools or equipment, tool insurance could also keep those items covered. Again, if you offer a service rather than a product, professional indemnity insurance could be a good idea, as this will protect you if a client suffers a financial loss because of your work.

While, if you are a sole trader and work alone, you will not require employers’ liability insurance, there are other forms of insurance cover that you may still need to consider. The trade you are in will obviously determine exactly which form of insurance will be right for you.

The type of business you have will determine whether or not business insurance is a legal requirement. Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement for most businesses that have staff, while other types of insurance (professional indemnity, for example) may be required by certain regulatory bodies. Solicitors, accountants and some healthcare professionals, for example, are usually required to have professional indemnity insurance.

Even if you find that there is no compulsory insurance for your particular type of business, it can often still be a good idea to consider taking out a policy. It can give you peace of mind to know that you will be covered should something go wrong.

When trying to determine which type of business insurance you may need, you should think about the kind of work that you do, how and where you do it. Think about what the potential risk areas for your business may be. This should help you to work out where cover is required.

The most common forms of business insurance are outlined above. You may wish to consider:

• Employers’ liability insurance
• Professional indemnity insurance
• Public liability insurance
• Property insurance (Forms of buildings insurance & contents insurance)

Specific businesses my also find it useful to consider:

• Personal accident insurance
• Stock insurance
• Specialist tool insurance
• Business interruption insurance
• Business legal protection insurance

Your exact business and requirements, as well as how high risk you are considered to be will dictate how much you will pay for your business insurance. Money Pug can help you to quickly search for and find quotes from leading providers of business insurance.

The amount that you will pay for your insurance is called a ‘premium’. Insurers will work out your premium using a number of criteria, including the work that you do, the size of your contracts, the cover types and cover levels you choose, and how likely you are deemed to be to claim on your policy. Businesses that face higher levels or risk will usually have to pay more on their premiums.

Different types of business insurance will cover you and protect you from different risks. Public liability insurance will cover compensation claims made by members of the public. Professional indemnity insurance will cover you if you are sued by a client. Employers’ liability insurance will cover you in case an employee makes a claim against your business. Other types of insurance such as buildings or contents insurance, stock or tool insurance will protect against loss due to damage or theft. Always read the small print on a policy that you are considering taking out to make sure it delivers the right level of cover for your business, and that you will be adequately covered for all the main risk areas for your business.

While in some industries, you will be required by law to have a minimum level of cover, and most businesses with employees are legally required to have at least £5 million of employers’ liability insurance,  mostly, the level of business insurance that you need will depend on the specifics of your business. If you are looking at business buildings insurance, you should make sure that you have a level of cover commensurate with how much it would cost to rebuild the structure from scratch. When covering business equipment, tools or stock, the cover level will be based on how much these items would cost to replace.

When starting a new business, you can get insurances in place before you register as a company and before you even begin trading, so you can be covered right from the get go. If you are a sole trader, the only registration you will need to do will be the one for the HMRC self-assessment tax system. If you set up as a limited company, you will need to register your business with Companies House, and will be given a registration number (CRN). Some businesses can complete this online.

Although, of course, it is important to jump through all the hoops and register your business  through official channels, you do not need to do so before you get insurance in place. You will need to know details such as your business premises address, your trade type, your actual or projected turnover and business structure, you will not need to provide a CRN or other business registration details. So you can get insurance in place while you are getting all the other paperwork together in the earliest stages of forming your business.

Public liability insurance is to cover your business for:

• injury compensation claims made against you.
• property damage compensation claims made against you.
• legal fees associated with injury or damage compensation claims.

Professional indemnity insurance can cover your business for compensation claims made by a client because of an error that you have made. The mistakes it covers could include:

• professional negligence.
• unintentional breaches of copyright or confidentiality.
• loss of documents or data.
• defamation or libel.

Which will be right for you will depend on what you and your business do, and exactly who you interact with and how during your business operations.

Both public liability insurance and employers’ liability insurance cover you for compensation claims. The former, however, covers you for claims from third parties, while the latter covers you against injury claims by your employees (or ex-employees). In some cases, you can buy both forms of cover in a single policy.