All businesses are built out of a vision. It could be the vision of one person or twenty. Either way, from the very first moment an entrepreneur decides to start a business they are at risk. Understanding the risks and safeguarding yourself and your business against those risks is imperative to the success of the business.
Having the right business insurance policies in place for your business is something you need to think about from day one. Failing to buy the correct business insurance that fully covers you and your business could lead to all manner of unfortunate events.
Thankfully, we live in a world that is well adapted to business insurance and the options are quite possibly limitless. Here are the business insurance policies every business should consider having in place.
Professional Liability Insurance
The first on the list and the most important. Public liability insurance is essential to any business that will be in contact with the general public whether this is inside or outside your office. This business insurance policy will help protect you against compensation claims for injury or damage from members of the public.
Without this policy, you leave your company vulnerable to all sorts of legal action which could have devastating effects.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
If you’re in the business of giving out advice or professional services to other businesses you will want to make sure you have professional indemnity insurance. You will also want this policy should you deal with client or intellectual data. This policy will ensure that if you make a mistake that loses your client money and they decide to sue you, it will cover any of the legal fees or compensation claims.
You may find that many professional bodies and regulators require that you have this insurance to run your business. Always check in advance.
Employers’ Liability Insurance
This policy will be a legal requirement if you hire employees for your business. It will cover any compensation claims made by employees against you should they suffer severe injury or illness as a direct result of your business operations.
Some businesses may be exempt from this requirement. You should always check with HSE first.
Business Buildings Insurance
No matter what building you are operating in it’s likely you will need to have business building insurance, even if it’s not a legal requirement. It can be extremely useful should the unexpected or worse happen.
Those that have taken a mortgage out on their business building will be required to have a business building insurance policy.
Business Contents Insurance
As well as protecting the physical building itself you may also want to protect all the things inside it too. This is especially important if you operate a business that uses expensive equipment. If anything should get stolen, damaged or destroyed then you can claim on this policy to replace the equipment affected.
Remember, loss of data can’t be protected or replaced by an insurance policy. Always have your business data backed up in the safest way possible.
Stock Insurance
If you operate a business that needs to hold on to a lot of stock at any one time then stock insurance will help protect it. Should the unfortunate happen to your stock such as it being stolen, damaged or destroyed this policy will help to cover the loss of money and replace the stock.
Your stock should always be stored in a highly secure place within your business building or with a storage specialist company.
Product Liability Insurance
Should one of our customers fall victim to injury or damage as a result of a product you sold, your business will be held accountable, even if you didn’t manufacture the product. It’s therefore important that you protect your business with product liability insurance which will protect you from any legal action and compensation claims.
Personal Accident Insurance
Serious injuries or deaths caused by accidents can be covered with a personal accident insurance policy. It will pay out for hospital bills, loss of income and medical costs. Usually, this policy pays up to £10,000 for an injury and £20,000 for death.
Business Interruption Insurance
You can get peace of mind with business interruption insurance which will cover your business in the case of material damage caused by floods or fires. The policy will cover the loss of money to help you get back up and running as quickly as possible.
Business Legal Protection Insurance
Put simply, this business insurance policy helps protect you against any legal action brought against your business. It will also cover any costs in making legal action against another business or persons.
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