Insurance for Business Professionals
Insurance for Business Professionals
When starting your own professional business, its important that you take time out to review your insurance needs, it can be difficult to figure out what insurance product you need and how much insurance to buy.
To help you through this weve outlined some of the key areas of cover below:
What cover do I need as business professional?
Business professionals may have a number of different insurance requirements to cover varying types of risk they face in their work. Whether you are a consultant, graphic designer or other it is important to remember you should always check through your contracts with customers as they may stipulate some minimum levels of insurance cover.
As a minimum you should consider insuring your place of work and business equipment as well as choosing from the appropriate covers below.
Professional indemnity insurance
Professional indemnity insurance can protect you in situations when yor work is not correct, or if the advice you give to a client isnt valid.
If your client suffers financial losses as a result of your work, you may be faced with a claim for compensation.
Professional Indemnity insurance can help to cover this compensation and any legal costs incurred, meaning you can keep your business on track.
In deciding whether you require professional indemnity cover, you need to think about what could happen if something went wrong with one of your contracts and how much compensation your client might want in the event of things going completely awry.
Public liability insurance
Public liability Insurance protects you against claims for compensation from third parties who have been injured, fallen to illness or whose property has been damaged because of your business.
Public liability cover will pay for the compensation and legal costs arising from accidents like this.
When deciding whether you need this cover, think about whether your business brings you into contact with other people do they come to see you, do you go to them? If you do you may find it wise to purchase this insurance.
Employers liability insurance
Employers’ Liability Insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people, even part-time or on a short-term basis. If an employee suffers injury or illness as a result of their work, you may be held liable.
If you do have employees make sure that you include employers liability within your insurance portfolio.
Property insurance
Most professional businesses these days would find it difficult to trade without their equipment — computers, laptops and mobile phones. Decide whether you could afford the lump sum it would cost to replace your business equipment in the event of it being destroyed, lost or stolen.