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’s property, caused by your work
• an injury or illness caused by your business activities
• certain accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees

For example:

• you accidentally knock a shelf of products onto the floor while working on a client’s premises, which break and need replacing
• you leave a trailing cable outside your premises, causing someone to trip and injure their back
• an accident happens at your premises and someone is injured because of your work

**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 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 professional indemnity insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• costs related to fixing inadequacies or other errors in your work
• advice that your client believes was wrong and caused a financial loss
• problems in your services, ranging from mistakes to negligence

For example :

• you send erroneous documents to your client, delaying their project and causing a financial loss
• your client spends money combating damage you caused when sending documents to the wrong people
• you’re advising a new business but setting up isn’t smooth – they claim for financial losses

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 contents insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• destruction and damage of your contents equipment, such as furniture or photocopiers
• cover for flood or fire damage, plus theft and vandalism

For example:

• some of your business equipment, including a printer, is damaged by a fire
• several TV screens you use for virtual meetings are stolen by thieves
• an upstairs leak in your premises causes damage to the sofa and chairs in your reception area

Read more about business contents 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:

• VAT disputes
• theft of your company’s identity illegally
• compensation under data protection legislation

For example:

• HMRC is investigating your VAT affairs, triggered by seemingly incorrect figures on your return
• a fraudster steals your company’s bank details and buys goods to set up a new line of credit with banks or retailers
• a client is claiming you didn’t process their data in accordance with GDPR, and is seeking compensation

Read more about business legal insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or off-duty.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• accidental injury or death of anyone you’ve chosen to cover in your policy – whether this happens at work or elsewhere
• medical costs, lost income, and hospitalisation benefit

For example:

• your business partner, who’s named on the policy, is injured while ice skating and left permanently disabled
• you fall down some stairs at home and lose the use of your right arm
• an employee you’ve covered is playing squash at the weekend and hits their head on the wall, causing concussion and a hospital stay

Read more about personal accident 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, damage or theft of essential stock
• destruction of stock caused by fire or flood
• the cost of replacing items that you’re going to sell

For example :

• a fire in your shop destroys key stock
• your stockroom gets flooded by a leaking pipe
• someone breaks into your shop, stealing stock and damaging stock they leave behind

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:

• stolen tools and equipment
• accidental damage to the tools you need for your business
• loss of specialist equipment and [TRADE] tools

For example:

• your tools are stolen from your car or van
• you lose some expensive equipment on the way to a job
• a flood causes irreparable damage to your tools

Read more about tool insurance

Buildings insurance

In case something happens to your business premises.

What’s typically covered by business building insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• the cost of structural repair (or rebuilding from scratch) following damage to your building
• damage to fixtures and fittings
• underground pipes and cables that you’re responsible for

For example:

• your shop’s wooden floor is damaged during a flood and needs replacing
• your employee damages an interior wall installing new equipment, as well as a glass door
• after a pipe bursts, you need to spend lots of money replacing flooring

Read more about business buildings 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:

• expensive costs and charges, if hired equipment gets damaged, lost, or stolen
• equipment that’s on-site or in transit
• causing injury or property damage while you’re working, or afterwards following your work

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:

• work in progress on domestic and commercial sites
• on-site damage to your tools that you need to complete the job

For example :

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

Read more about contract works insurance

Excess insurance – select options

In case you need to make a claim on your insurance policy.

What’s typically covered by excess insurance?

Claims made by you for:

• the cost of the excess you’d have to pay when making a claim on a cover included in your business insurance policy

For example :

• strong winds cause severe damage to the roof of your property – you don’t have to pay the £250 excess thanks to your excess insurance
• a guest accidentally breaks a television during their stay at your property and thanks to your excess insurance, you don’t need to pay excess on the claim
• a guest’s child trips on a loose carpet and breaks their arm – they claim compensation and you don’t pay excess due to your excess insurance