Public liability insurance

In case your business and products cause an injury or property damage.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• damage to someone else’s property, caused by your work
• injuries caused by you at work, or afterwards because of your work
• accidental injury or damage caused by your employees (if you have any)

For example:

• you accidentally knock your client’s car when parking up outside their house, causing damage to the paintwork on one side
• a customer trips on a loose cable while on your premises, falling and breaking their arm in several places
• an employee is mopping the floor, but forgets to put up a safety sign, causing an electrician to fall and injure their back

**If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.**

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your solar panel installation business.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• an injury to someone you employ, including contractors and temps, that happens as a result of working for you
• a member of staff (including casual workers) falling ill due to your business

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

• one of your employees falls down some stairs in your business premises, and makes a claim against you for chronic shoulder pain
• a temporary employee traps their hand in a door at your premises, causing several fractures
• a member of staff trips on a ledge on their way to a meeting, injuring their hip

Professional indemnity

In case a client loses money because of your advice, services or designs.

What’s typically covered by solar panel installation professional indemnity insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• negligence or mistakes that leave your client out of pocket, leading to costly legal disputes
• when your client decides your work is inadequate and you lose out financially fixing it
• other faults that lead to fines, claims, or other losses for your client

For example :

• you repair something for your client that doesn’t work as intended, causing a financial loss
• you miss a contractual deadline due to supply chain issues, delaying your client’s product launch
• you recommend your client uses a particular service, then their performance drops – they blame you

Read more about professional indemnity insurance

Contents insurance

In case something happens to your fixtures, fittings, or operational equipment.

What’s typically covered by business equipment insurance?

Claims against your business for:

For example:

• a faulty toaster causes a fire in your office kitchen, badly damaging the oven and microwave
• a three-piece sofa suite is ripped by vandals and needs replacing
• thieves break into your office and steal three tablets used by your sales team

Read more about business equipment insurance

Stock insurance

In case something happens to your products and consumables.

What’s typically covered by stock insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• loss of stock, and theft or malicious damage to your stock
• damage or destruction to stock caused by fire or flood
• the essentials you keep as stock – the items you need to sell to operate

For example :

• flooding in your storage unit destroys your stock
• you make a big Christmas packaging order that’s stolen while you’re speaking with a supplier
• someone drives into your shop, smashing the windows and destroying a week’s worth of stock

Read more about stock insurance

Tool insurance

In case your tools are lost, stolen or damaged.

What’s typically covered by tool insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• damage to the tools you use for work
• loss of your business tools or specialist equipment
• theft of your tools and equipment

For example:

• a thief steals your business equipment and you miss out on a job
• you accidentally leave some specialist equipment out in the rain, damaging it beyond repair
• you lose your tools on a work trip

Read more about tool insurance

Own plant insurance

In case plant machinery, like excavators, you own is lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by own plant insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• replacement of own plant machinery should yours be damaged or stolen
• water damage to your own plant machinery
• accidentally injuring someone else while you’re working, or afterwards as a result of the work you’ve done

For example :

• an excavator is stolen during an overnight break-in at your works site
• you drill through a water pipe while working on a construction site, causing extensive damage
• your storage unit is flooded, damaging your cement mixer and generator beyond repair

Read more about plant machinery insurance

Hired-in plant insurance

In case plant machinery, like excavators, you’ve hired in is lost, stolen, or damaged.

What’s typically covered by hired-in plant insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• replacing hired-in plant machinery should it be damaged or stolen
• water damage to hired-in plant machinery
• accidentally injuring someone else while you’re working, or afterwards as a result of the work you’ve done

For example :

• there’s an overnight break-in at your work site and an excavator is stolen
• you cause damage to a water pipe by drilling through it while working on site
• a flood damages a hired cement mixer and generator beyond repair

Read more about plant machinery insurance

Contract works insurance

In case your building work in progress is damaged by something like a fire, flood or vandalism.

What’s typically covered by contract works insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• repair costs for work that’s been damaged or destroyed while on the job
• labour, materials and tools that’ll get your work back to the stage it was in before the damage
• damage caused by fires, floods, storms, vandalism, or theft

For example :

• there’s a fire at your place of work, setting back the completion date of the job
• a flood destroys your specialist tools and equipment
• someone breaks into your site and steals your tools

Read more about contract works insurance

Business interruption insurance

In case something is stolen or damaged and you lose income.

What’s typically covered by business interruption insurance?

• you can’t trade because of stock, contents, or building damage

For example:

• your inventory is damaged and you lose income because you’re unable to sell
• your work laptop is stolen or damaged and you can’t run your business

Read more about business interruption insurance

Business legal insurance

In case you’re hit with legal expenses connected to your business.

What’s typically covered by business legal insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• costs and expenses for legal representation to recover debts or unpaid invoices
• costs and expenses following identity theft
• tax protection if there’s an investigation into your business

For example:

• one of your clients is unhappy with your work and believes you haven’t met the contractual requirements – as a result they’re refusing to pay their outstanding invoice
• your CEO’s contact details are used by a fraudster to set up a new line of credit with a business bank
• HMRC is investigating your recent tax return as they noticed a fluctuation in your business income

Read more about business legal insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or away from work.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• compensation if you or an employee are injured in an accident, including weekly payments if you or they are unable to work for two weeks or more
• virtual Medical Care service with unlimited 24/7 access to medical advice, consultations, referrals and prescriptions
• 24/7 access to myStrength emotional health support app

You can buy this cover for:

• yourself
• your employees

For example:

• imagine one of your employees breaks their leg in an accident and is out of work for six weeks. Personal accident insurance would provide £300 for the broken leg diagnosis. After the employee’s second week off, you’d receive four weekly payments to assist with costs during their absence. You could use the money as you wish – whether for loss of earnings, hiring a temporary replacement, or compensating the injured employee.

What’s not covered?

• issues caused by sickness, illness, or disease
• conditions that develop over time without a direct connection to an accident
• mental illness, even if triggered by an accident
• self-inflicted injuries
• accidents that occur under the influence of drugs or misuse of medication
• deliberate exposure to danger, except when attempting to save a life
• injuries caused by taking part in a professional or semi-professional sport

Read more about personal accident insurance