Introduction to Insurance for the Self-Employed - in partnership with Simply Business  

When becoming self employed and/or setting up a small business it is necessary to decide what insurance(s) you need to protect yourself and others.  Every year something between 4-500,000 new small businesses begin trading and there are currently something over 2 million businesses being run from home, many as sole traders, yet it is likely that many of these people do not have appropriate insurance to cover them.

Whether you run your business from home or from premises it is important that you think through what insurances are required to protect your business properly.  The alternative could be very costly financially and could conceivably cost you your home, livelihood and much more.

UKES has therefore teamed up with Simply Business, a very well regarded business insurance comparative web site, to provide you with a quick and easy method to get information about the various types of Insurance you might require and a quote for the business insurances that you need. We have, for simplicity, split the main types of insurance into 3 distinct areas: -

• Insurance for Home-based small businesses
• Insurance for Businesses based from premises
• Other Insurances.

Insurance for Home-based Small Businesses

Before you start to think of what business-related Insurances you might need, let's think about the Insurance Policies you probably already have that could be affected as a result of your decision to become self employed and start a small business from home.

1. Your Buildings and Contents Insurance - You should certainly notify the Insurance Company who hold your buildings and contents insurance to let them know about your change of circumstance, that you are now running a small business from your home.  Be aware that most Contents Policies do not cover business contents and your insurers may charge you an additional premium to factor in this risk. It will almost certainly be the same for your Buildings Insurance so be sensible and let them know.
2. Your Car Insurance - This is another insurance policy where you need to notify your insurers that your circumstances have changed. Most insurers cover business driving by the policy holder but you need to check that it is included.  Also think about any 'things' that you may take with you in the car that could get stolen from the car or damaged if you are in an accident, samples, product, your laptop etc.  The last thing you want in that situation is for your insurers to turn round and say those immortal words "sorry but your policy doesn't cover you for that".  The rule in all situations is don't hide the facts, tell them upfront.

The next decision to make is what Insurances are necessary for the protection of your business and your customers and to get a quote.

1. Public Liability Insurance - Public Liability Insurance protects you against claims from third parties, your customers of suppliers, as a result of damage to them or their property.  The cost of this is generally not high and will depend on the type of business you are running but the peace of mind is great.  You will need to let your insurers know that you work from home. - GET A QUOTE 
2. Products Liability - This is an obvious requirement if you sell any kind of product.  Cover yourself against a claim from damaged or faulty goods.  This applies by the way even if you are just selling on eBay and the vast majority of eBay sellers are unaware of this. - GET A QUOTE 
3. Professional Indemnity Insurance - This covers you if you give professional advice and could be sued by a client for negligence as a result of services you have provided to that client.  This insurance could cover a negligent act, loss of data or documents entrusted to you, unintentional infringement of intellectual property rights, unintentional breach of confidence, unintentional libel or slander and dishonesty. - GET A QUOTE 
4. Employers Liability Insurance - Employers Liability Insurance covers your responsibility to an employee and is a mandatory insurance.  It covers you in case an employee gets injured or gets ill at work. You will need to display the Certificate of insurance at your workplace where your employee(s) can see it. - GET A QUOTE 
5. Equipment Insurance - If you are unable to get your Buildings/Contents insurer to insure your business equipment at home you may find it necessary to obtain Office Insurance to cover your computer, printer, fax machine, photocopier etc. - GET A QUOTE 

If you would like to download a useful Business information Factsheet that covers the subject of Insurance in more depth - CLICK HERE.

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