Strategy

I work in an office – do I need business insurance?

If your work is office-based, you might be hard-pressed to discern many risks in your day-to-day working life and, for that reason, wonder whether you really need business insurance. You wouldn’t even have to commute if your firm is home-based – as 2.1 million firms are, says bytestart.co.uk.

However, even if you never leave the office during your workday, you still aren’t eliminating all of the risks that particular types of business cover & insurance can help to cover. Consider, for example…

Employer’s liability insurance

This is worth mentioning as a matter of priority, as it is the sole legally necessary type of business insurance, Small Business notes. This necessity is, however, likely to only come into effect if you employ people other than close family members.

Employer’s liability enables you to meet financial expenses of employees’ legal claims that they have suffered an injury or illness as a result of working for your company. Skipping employer’s liability in violation of the law can daily cost you up to £2,500 in fines.

Public liability insurance

You might have heard of public liability insurance but questioned whether it would really be practically necessary in your case. It is, after all, aimed at helping a business to fund compensation if, due to an accident by the firm, someone has been injured or their property has been damaged.

However, this cover can still reassure if you regularly welcome customers or clients to your office. If you often leave the office to carry out building work, consider builders public liability insurance.

Professional indemnity insurance

Even from the confines of your office, you might still regularly provide professional advice or a service to clients. In carrying out this work, you would run the risk of inflicting a financial blow to your clients due to a mistake on your part.

However, with the right policy in professional indemnity insurance, you would be well-positioned to cover compensation claims that are being levelled in your direction as a result of your error. It’s clear, then, why professional indemnity is a vital cover for architects and accountants.

Financial loss insurance

Why should you source a public liability policy from Tradesman Saver, an increasingly reputable provider of insurance for tradesmen and professionals? One especially good reason is that an array of other covers would be provided automatically with that policy.

One of these covers is financial loss insurance. With this cover, you could help another business to make up a gap in their financial takings if your business was originally responsible for the loss.

Legal expenses insurance

Another of the insurances automatically included with each public liability policy from Tradesman Saver is legal expenses insurance. Unfortunately, even office-based businesses can get caught up in a range of legal tussles, such as employment disputes, property disputes and tax investigations.

However, legal expenses insurance can provide as much as £250,000 in cover for legal costs and expenses. Other examples of legal conflicts where this insurance can provide a financial cushion include VAT appeals and defending prosecutions.