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Business Insurance Guide
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Contents
Do I need business insurance?
Is it a legal requirement?
Types of insurance available for business
Public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
Professional indemnity insurance
Product liability insurance
Business contents insurance
Business Insurance
When you start working for yourself, among the most crucial things to think about is insurance. Accidents, errors, and unexpected events occur in life, and you can’t prevent them all. However, you can take precautions to safeguard your company if the worst should happen. If a blunder or accident prevents you from trading, insurance can mean the difference between staying afloat and going bankrupt.
Do I need business insurance?
Everyday risks come with running a business. If any of the potential drawbacks occurred, your company may suffer severely. Having business insurance in place aids in reducing those dangers, ensuring that you can continue to operate if something goes wrong. Consider the following example. If you have a company and welcome visitors, there is a chance that someone will have an accident and blame you. If this were to occur, an assertion against you could be expensive. Instead of dealing with the claim yourself, public liability insurance can cover it, requiring you to only pay the excess. Public liability insurance is just one of many options available for your company. You should be able to customize your insurance to your individual needs, adding coverage as needed.
Is it a legal requirement?
Employers’ liability insurance is probable to be a legal obligation if you have employees; it’s the only type of company insurance required by UK law. Having said that, some trade and different agencies may require business insurance. The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales is a great example of this, as it requires practicing members to have professional liability insurance. Furthermore, before working with you, some customers may request that you have the appropriate insurance coverage in place.
Types of insurance available for business
Accidents, mistakes, and theft – commercial insurance can cover all of these scenarios. These are some of the most common types of insurance on the market:
- Public liability insurance
- Employers’ liability insurance
- Professional indemnity insurance
- Product liability insurance
- Business contents insurance
Public liability insurance
We’ve already mentioned public liability insurance, but it’s worth repeating because it’s essential protection for many businesses. Not only does it cover you if you operate a company that people visit, but it also covers businesses that visit customers, such as cleaning companies working at someone’s home. It can protect you if someone is injured or suffers damage and tries to blame your company. In the case of a cleaning company, public liability insurance can cover an assertion if the client’s carpet was damaged as a result of using the incorrect type of product.
Employers’ liability insurance
This is typically a legal obligation for businesses with employees, including temporary workers, and contractors. If you do require employers’ liability, you could face a £2,500 fine for each day you do not have it. Employers’ liability insurance can protect you from assertions made by employees who have been wounded or become ill as a result of their employment with you. It also implies you’d be covered if one of your staff made a mistake that would be protected by public liability insurance if you did it, such as the damaged carpet mentioned above. Your employees are not covered by public liability. It’s critical to follow all of your industry’s health and safety practices and regulations, as well as to conduct regular inspections.
Professional indemnity insurance
This is a critical type of company insurance for companies that provide guidance or a professional service. It can protect you if you make an error in your work that causes your customers to suffer financial or professional losses. It can also be used for unintended copyright infringement, accidental breach of confidentiality, document loss, and defamatory or libel claims.
Product liability insurance
If you create, fabricate, or sell products (or even give them away for free), you may be made responsible for accidents and injuries caused by defective products. Product liability insurance can support these claims; however, keep in mind that you may be held liable even if you did not create the product.
Business contents insurance
Would you be able to continue trading if you kept important company equipment in your establishments and it was lost, stolen, or damaged? In that case, business content insurance should be able to assist you in getting back to normal quickly. It can even cover your business furniture as well as you if you work from home.
